Longtime fed joins Orkand IT team

Eli Walker, former associate deputy administrator of public health and science at the Food Safety and Inspection Service, has joined Orkand Corp.

At the Falls Church, Va., company, Walker will direct IT efforts for Orkand's natural resources markets group.

Walker's management experience at the Agriculture Department agency will help Orkand build relationships with agencies such as the Geological Survey and the Interior, Energy and Labor departments, said Cal LaRoche, the company's chief operating officer.

Walker has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University and a master's in clinical engineering from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins' Leadership Development Program. And before he came to USDA, he spent 26 years at the National Institutes of Health's Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation Program.