Robert Powell has 28 years of engineering experience in the semiconductor industry. He helped Advanced Micro Devices develop its first flash memory technology that is used in todays flash cards for cameras, PCs, video cameras, and other products. His experience includes managing a state-of-the-art chemistry laboratory and managing a Research and Development group that worked on nanotechnology using atomic force microscopes, near-field optical microscopy, and other techniques. Robert is also a co-holder of four patents related to nanotechnology.

Robert Powell is a founding Board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU). He was the Director of Research at MUFON from 2007-2017 and created MUFON's Science Review Board in 2012. Robert is one of two authors of the detailed radar/witness report on the Stephenville Lights as well as the SCU report "UAP: 2013 Aguadilla, Puerto Rico". He is also the primary author on the recently published paper, A Forensic Analysis of Navy Carrier Strike Group Elevens Encounter with an Anomalous Aerial Vehicle and a secondary author of a paper published in the journal Entropy entitled, Estimating Flight Characteristics of Anomalous Unidentified Aerial Vehicles. Robert is a member of the Society for Scientific Exploration, the UFODATA project, and the National Space Society. Robert is active with FOIA requests to various government organizations to obtain information on historical cases and is a co-author of a book published in July 2012: UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry and is an author of a book designed for children published in Nov. 2020 entitled, The Truth About UFOs: A Scientific Perspective. Robert currently resides in Austin, Texas.