Diane Dimeff

Executive Director
diane@espacecenter.org
303-630-1611

Diane Dimeff is the executive director of eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship where she oversees the three programs the Center offers: The eSpace Business Incubator, the Straight to Space workforce development program, and the Venture Design program with the University of Colorado, Boulder. She also teaches entrepreneurship, market analysis, and strategy in the CU Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES) Graduate Projects course, a course supported by eSpace.

Diane has over 30 years of experience in the field of education - as a teacher, consultant, and program developer. Prior to joining eSpace, Diane was the associate dean at Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley campus, the assistant dean and director of MBA programs at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder, executive director of the evening and weekend MBA programs at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and director of MBA programs at the University of San Francisco. In addition to her work with a wide variety of educational institutions, Diane was a consultant with the San Francisco office of KPMG Peat Marwick (now BearingPoint), where she specialized in operations for corporate clients and marketing, management, and operations for educational clients.

Diane is the co-author of a case study entitled Energy and Climate Change Strategy at Diageo, PLC and a mathematics textbook used to prepare high school students for the California State Hart Bill Examination. While at KPMG Peat Marwick, she co-authored Cost Accounting for Universities for NACUBO.

An educator by background, Diane began her career as a high school mathematics teacher and has taught quantitative methods, marketing, and strategy in business schools at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Diane earned her B.A. in anthropology and mathematics, her mathematics and social sciences teaching credentials, as well as her MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Tom Zelibor

Director of the eSpace Incubator
tom@espacecenter.org
303-630-1612

Thomas E. (Tom) Zelibor joined the Center for Space Entrepreneurship in Boulder, CO as Director of the eSpace Incubator in July 2011. In this position, he is responsible for overseeing the development, operation and success of the eSpace Incubator including all elements of operation such as: promoting the eSpace incubator nationally, sourcing high-quality incubator candidates, sourcing mentors and experienced business driver leader/partners for the ventures and providing introductions and relationships into the aerospace community for the incubator participants.

Tom is a retired Navy Rear Admiral with 30 years of significant leadership experience in Naval Operations, Space Operations, Information Operations, C4ISR, IT, and Nuclear Operations. In his varied career, Tom, a seasoned combat veteran, commanded a fighter squadron, carrier air wing, Naval Space Command, a carrier battle group and Director, Global Operations (J-3) at US Strategic Command. The highlight of his command tours was his assignment as Commander, Task Force Fifty for Operation Enduring Freedom where he led a three Carrier Task Force in combat operations in Afghanistan after 9-11. In his private sector life he has served as VP at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and CEO of a high tech - IT services company. In addition to his role as Director of the eSpace Incubator, Tom is a business consultant and serves on a public company Board of Directors.

To accompany his senior business executive experience, Tom has an extensive and broad space background that enables him to coach and mentor entrepreneurial space companies to success. His space expertise is highlighted by space operations management; classified space programs within the Intelligence Community; space debris cataloguing and systems; space requirements and budgeting; information architecture and networks; Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (TENCAP); NASA and Naval Astronaut support and sponsorship; space operations and acquisition personnel development.