Technical depth.
Public purpose.

President and Chief Researcher

Dr. Joseph Atalla, PMP, CISM, SecurityX

Dr. Joseph Atalla is an engineer and technology executive whose career connects hands-on systems development with leadership in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, and enterprise modernization.

For more than 25 years, he has worked across public and private sector organizations, progressing from programming and systems analysis through software and hardware engineering to CIO, CTO, and technology security leadership. His experience includes county justice systems, banking data governance, global clinical-trial technology, enterprise platforms, and embedded transaction systems.

During 17 years with the Riverside County Probation Department, he directed technology strategy, information security, application development, data management, and digital transformation. Working with operational leaders and justice partners, he helped turn complex requirements into integrated case management, electronic information exchange, analytics, and automated reporting solutions. His work connected technology decisions with the needs of officers, courts, administrators, and the communities they serve.

In the private sector, he has led global technology and security functions and worked on AI, data quality, lineage, governance, and executive analytics. He brings experience translating technical detail into decisions about investment, security, delivery, and organizational change. His approach to emerging technology—including LLM and agentic AI capabilities—combines practical engineering with attention to reliability, accountability, and responsible use.

Joseph holds a PhD in Information Technology from the University of the Cumberlands and a master’s degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (Computer Engineering) and a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical and Clinical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach. He also served as an Adjunct Assistant in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech.

His public service contributions include a 2009 Certificate of Distinguished Service from the Chief Probation Officers of California and a 2011 California Department of Justice letter specifically thanking him for leadership and supervision in providing electronic access to Riverside County disposition information.

His research also examines the relationship between telework, organizational support, and employee outcomes. Using 425,815 federal employee survey responses, he studied engagement, satisfaction, perceived performance confidence, and perceived innovation, and proposed the Support-Integrated Telework Model to guide further research and management discussion.

Chief Information Security Officer

George Hawat, M.S., PNPT, CySA+, SSCP

George Hawat is the Institute’s full-time Chief Information Security Officer, leading its cybersecurity work. He is a security operations leader and engineer with more than a decade of experience defending critical infrastructure, public-sector systems, and cloud environments.

Before joining TDTI full time, George served as Cybersecurity Expert, leading security operations for a managed security operations center that protected more than 3,000 devices across a large public water agency’s on-premises and cloud infrastructure. He architected and administered the enterprise security stack, directed incident response for escalated threats, including active cyberattacks, and served as the client’s primary point of contact for incident updates and threat briefings.

His work joins defense and offense. In that role he engineered detection analytics and shared query libraries that cut false positives and sped investigations, hunted threats across endpoint, identity, and network telemetry, and supported red team engagements and operational technology (OT/ICS) security testing. He fed those offensive findings back into detection rules, hunt hypotheses, and playbooks in a continuous purple-team cycle, authored incident response playbooks for phishing, ransomware, business email compromise, and lateral movement, and mentored new analysts.

From 2016 to 2024, he was Cybersecurity and Systems Administrator for a software firm building operational platforms for the Los Angeles County courts and municipal probation departments. As the firm’s sole systems and security administrator, he hardened and segmented the networks that handled public-sector data, enforced least-privilege access, ran vulnerability assessments, backup, and disaster recovery, and reduced active security incidents by 25 percent.

George holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance from Western Governors University. He is a member of the Sword & Shield National Honor Society.

Director of Development

Abir Samaan, M.S.

Abir Samaan is a technology and business leader with more than nine years of experience in technical operations, enterprise systems, and service delivery. As TDTI’s Director of Development, she brings a practical understanding of how people, processes, and technology work together to support organizational goals.

Abir has led technical teams across multiple companies, managing support operations, coordinating complex issue resolution, and helping teams deliver dependable service. Her experience spans educational technology, enterprise applications, IT infrastructure, and customer-facing systems. She combines technical problem-solving with clear communication, translating operational needs into priorities that technical teams can address.

Her leadership approach emphasizes accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. She has worked with technical and nontechnical stakeholders to identify recurring problems, strengthen documentation, coordinate escalations, and improve the experience of people who depend on technology in their daily work.

Abir holds a Master of Science in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University and two Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in Information Technology Infrastructure and Applied Business. This combination of technical and business education informs her approach to team leadership and organizational development.

At TDTI, Abir supports the development and delivery of the Institute’s initiatives, connecting user needs, team coordination, and practical implementation with its public-benefit mission.