Mr. Robert Sears is the branch chief for N-Wave, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Enterprise Network program. N-Wave operates within the NOAA Office of the Chief Information Officer to align and execute on NOAA's strategic plan for network transport and optimization. It offers a diverse portfolio of enterprise networking services, including a NOAA operated and managed national and international wide area network, NOAA Trusted Internet Connection Access Points, and multiple nation-wide NOAA campus networks. Through these services, N-Wave supports critical operations and research missions, enabling NOAA’s mission of science, stewardship and service through highly available, secure, high-speed network transport and services.
 
Mr. Sears has 30 years of combined military and federal service. His Naval career involved supporting Submarine Squadron Twenty-Two during Operation Desert Storm as an electronics calibration technician; duty assignment with Command Second Fleet on the USS Mount Whitney supporting meteorological systems, communications and surface and air RADAR; and a transition to networking and IT services at the Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Center. His career with NOAA has now spanned 18 years, 10 of which have been with the N-Wave program. Mr. Sears’s background and degree are in electronic engineering and communications.