Phipps, Claude: - Claude Phipps holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from MIT and a Ph.D. in plasma physics from Stanford, where he conducted the first laser-plasma interaction experiment in 1972. He founded Photonic Associates, LLC in 1995 to advance laser space propulsion and invented "ORION" and "L'ADROIT" concepts for laser space debris re-entry. He collaborated with Christophe Bonnal on the Just-in-time Collision Avoidance concept. Phipps has published 150 refereed articles and presented at 172 international conferences. He chaired the High Power Laser Ablation conferences from 1998 to 2022 and authored three books on laser interaction, including a popular science book titled No Wonder you Wonder (2016).