Dr. Don Philips is currently serving as the Coordinator of Homeland Security Research Initiatives for the Engineering Programs at Texas A&M University. He has specialized in forming interdisciplinary research teams to address a wide variety of research initiatives. Dr. Phillips is the past Director of the Program for Automation in Manufacturing (PAM), a consortium of 13 Texas Companies, the Sematech Manufacturing Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University, and the Sustainable Program for Rotary Wing Aircraft for Corpus Christi Army Depot. Dr. Phillips also is past Director of the Life Cycle Engineering and Operations Management Distance Learning Master's degree program.

Dr. Phillips is currently serving as a co-Principal Investigator and Technical Advisor to the Department of Homeland Security Systems Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER), an ongoing test and evaluation program sponsored by DHS and managed by the TEES Texas Center for Applied Technology (TCAT). Dr. Phillips was instrumental in forming the SouthWest Border Security Coalition (SBSC) and the Texas Homeland Security Group (THSG), both chartered between multiple universities to address homeland security, state security and border security issues. Dr. Phillips is the "Point of Contact" for Texas A&M University's membership in the America's Border Security Group (ABSG), a coalition of companies and universities chartered by Ericsson, Inc. to address America's Border Security Issues. Dr. Phillips is a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University where he teaches Total Quality Assurance, Systems Analysis and the Principles of Lean Thinking.