Deborah R. Stairs, Ph.D.
President | MDT Group
Debbie is a senior executive leader with more than 35 years of experience helping organizations strengthen leadership, workforce strategy, talent systems, and organizational effectiveness during periods of growth, transformation, and operational change.
As President of MDT Group, Debbie brings a rare combination of executive human capital leadership, organizational strategy, and mission-focused advisory experience to clients navigating complex technical and organizational challenges. Her work focuses on leadership systems, workforce readiness, organizational alignment, talent strategy, and enabling organizations to successfully adapt to modernization and technology-driven change.
Prior to MDT Group, Debbie served as Director of Human Resources for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where she led large-scale workforce and organizational initiatives supporting one of the nation’s premier scientific research institutions.
Her executive experience also includes senior leadership roles with the University of Tennessee at Martin, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, Faith Promise Church, Eastman Chemical, and consulting support for engineering and technology organizations. She has deep expertise in leadership development, executive coaching, workforce planning, organizational design, talent acquisition, employee engagement, and change leadership.
Debbie holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is certified in multiple leadership and assessment methodologies, including SPHR, Hogan, Predictive Index, and Caliper.
At MDT Group, Debbie helps organizations align people, leadership, and operating models with strategic mission objectives—particularly where workforce systems intersect with infrastructure modernization, innovation, and emerging technologies.
Travis M. Smith, P.E.
Executive Consultant
Travis is a senior power systems advisor and consultant with more than 35 years of experience across generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. His work focuses on protection architecture, advanced grid modeling, and deterministic evaluation of complex energy systems undergoing accelerating load growth and digital transformation.
At MDT Group, Mr. Smith advises utilities, infrastructure developers, and institutional stakeholders at the systems level on MW-scale interconnection strategy, infrastructure readiness, and structured modernization of grid evaluation methodologies. His work integrates advanced analytical modeling and carefully governed machine-assisted decision support within disciplined technical frameworks to support reliable expansion of energy infrastructure.
He previously served as Director of Research and Special Projects at DRG Technical Solutions and later as Executive Consultant, leading advanced modeling initiatives and modernization efforts for complex interconnection environments.
From 2008 to 2021, Mr. Smith was Senior R&D Staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he led and supported U.S. Department of Energy initiatives in advanced grid modeling, adaptive protection systems, microgrid protection strategy, and real-time simulation validation.
In parallel with his national laboratory work, he conducted independent system studies and technical advisory engagements for utility-scale wind, solar, geothermal, and MW-scale industrial facilities exceeding 500 MW of aggregate capacity, including load flow, short-circuit, harmonic, transient, and protection coordination evaluations.
Earlier in his career, he held protection and controls engineering roles at Tennessee Valley Authority and Georgia Power Company and later served as System Studies Group Leader at EnerNex Corporation.
Mr. Smith is a licensed Professional Engineer in Tennessee and Hawaii, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a current member of the NCEES Licensure Examination Development Committee.