Executive Chair–AeroTech Americas 2019 Vice President–Advanced Aircraft Programs, Gulfstream Aerospace
Mark Kohler serves as Vice President of Advanced Aircraft Programs. In that role, he is responsible for the design, certification, and entry into service of the all-new Gulfstream G500 and Gulfstream G600. Under Kohler’s leadership, both the G500 and G600 exceeded their performance targets, delivering significant range above the company’s original projections. Similarly, Kohler led the Gulfstream G280 program from design to delivery, achieving significant improvements over the initially announced aircraft performance goals for range, balanced field length and weight―exceeding both company requirements and customer expectations. Since joining Gulfstream in 1992, Kohler has held key positions in GIV, GV, and G550 entry into service and lead the GV design build team during the development of the GV forward fuselage. Kohler was part of the G550 industry team when it earned the 2003 Robert J. Collier Trophy and was also on the teams that won Aviation Week Laureate Awards in 2009 and 2017.
Executive Chair–AeroTech Americas 2019 787 Production Engineering Chief Engineer, Boeing South Carolina/Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Carole Murray was named 787 Production Engineering Chief Engineer in October 2017. She is responsible for the development, implementation, and optimization of the 787 build plan across both Everett, WA, and North Charleston, SC, production lines. Included are oversight of tooling, liaison, manufacturing engineers, NC programmers, customer engineers, and weights analysts for the Composite Fabrication Center, Mid/Aft body Assembly & Integration, Final Assembly, and Delivery. In addition, Murray provides Production Engineering functional oversight for the South Carolina Engineering Design Center, Emergent Operations, Propulsion South Carolina, and the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina. Murray joined Boeing in 2004 as an intern in Flight Controls for commercial aircraft and then returned for a second internship with the C17 in Charleston. Joining the 787 program in 2009, she began as the BSC 787 Environmental Control Systems Lead Project Manufacturing Engineer. She has held various engineering positions at the site, including Senior Manager Manufacturing Engineering and Skill Team Leader. Murray holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s in organizational management from Charleston Southern University.
General Chair–AeroTech Americas 2019 Senior Manager–ADC Production Engineering, Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Technical Chair–AeroTech Americas 2019 Associate Technical Fellow, Boeing
Technical Fellow–Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Development, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
George N. Bullen is an internationally recognized expert and consultant to industry for the manufacture of fixed and rotary wing air vehicles, rockets, missiles, and space vehicles. He is founder of the International Aerospace Automation Consortium and cofounder of the International Economics of Composites Symposium. Bullen is also a Technical Fellow in Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Innovation at Northrop Grumman Corp. Being a Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Certified in Production and Inventory Control Management (CPIM), Bullen has an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and a BSMG degree from Pepperdine University. His expertise includes inhabited and uninhabited aerial vehicles, space vehicle design and manufacture, laser weapon system design and manufacture, and lean processes and applications. He has been awarded 16 U.S. and international patents for technology innovations related to manufacturing, mechanization, robotics, robotics control software, and nuclear testing/quality devices. He received SAE International’s Forest McFarland Award in 2014 and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design Engineering Award in 2000 for significant advances in aerospace engineering. Bullen is an internationally published author of six books that span the depth and breadth of manufacturing that include advanced automation, technology transfer, composites, economics, and the digital enterprise. His inventions and patents for technology innovations related to manufacturing, automation, robotics, robotics control software, and nuclear testing/quality metrology devices that are the foundation of all automated systems for the assembly of airframes in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Russia.
Group Director–Engineering & Strategy, Meggitt PLC
Hugh Clayton joined Meggitt from Rolls-Royce early in 2017 as Group Director, Engineering & Strategy. His goals are focused on developing Meggitt’s growth strategy, improving its competitiveness, engaging customers, and the development and engagement of its workforce. Clayton also has a key role in the Meggitt engineering graduate scheme. He was previously Head of Transformation at Rolls-Royce, overseeing a far-reaching program focused on cost, complexity, culture, engineering excellence, and operational performance. He joined Rolls-Royce in 2012, leading its Aftermarket and Services business for the Energy sector and then the global engineering teams developing power and propulsion systems in the marine, industrial, nuclear, and off-highway sectors. Prior to Rolls-Royce, he spent 15 years at ABB. Clayton has a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Sheffield University and a master’s in subsea engineering from Heriot-Watt University.
Chief Engineer, Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems
Consultant–Aerospace Composites
Chief Technology Officer Emeritus, Meggitt PLC
Richard Greaves graduated from University College London in 1968 with a degree in physics. He went to work for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in its reactor Control and Instrumentation division at Winfrith Heath. His scholarship with the UKAEA enabled him to study part time at the University of Southampton for his Doctorate, awarded in 1973. At the end of 1972 he went to work for Vibro-Meter S.A. in Fribourg, Switzerland, heading up its piezo-electric transducer engineering department. In 1981, Greaves moved to Los Angeles to head up Vibro-Meter’s U.S. operations. In 1982, Greaves became a member of SAE and joined their E-32 Engine Health Monitoring Technical Committee.In 1990, Greaves left Vibro-Meter and set up his own company, Greaves & Associates, which acted as sales representatives in Eastern Europe in the field of engine health monitoring. After the acquisition of Vibro-Meter in 1998 by Meggitt Plc., Greaves became the divisional head of Meggitt Sensing Systems responsible for nine companies in six countries with about $500M in sales. In 2009, he became Meggitt’s Senior V.P. of Engineering and Technology and in 2012 Chief Technology Officer Emeritus. In 2009, he became a Fellow of SAE and in 2013 was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom. He served on the Board of Directors of SAE International from 2012 to 2016 and was President and Chairman of SAE in 2015.
Strategic Technology Group–Product Development Engineering, Bombardier
Jonathan Hack is an innovation leader in the Canadian aerospace sector. He joined Bombardier’s aerospace group in 2010 after an extensive career in the automotive industry with General Motors, both in Canada and internationally. Hack is currently leading Bombardier’s aerospace R&D efforts in the area of advanced aircraft interiors and systems. In his role, Hack also has responsibility for university and government relations in Ontario and is very active on various sector policy initiatives to improve aerospace sector growth in Ontario, and across Canada. In addition, Hack is President & Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE). Hack also sits on the Ontario Advisory Board for NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council), and is on the board of directors of the Green Aviation Research and Development (GARDN) initiative. He holds a bachelor's of engineering and management degree (mechanical) from McMaster University and an MBA from York University.
Managing Director of Engineering and Maintenance, Airlines for America
Robert Ireland is Managing Director of Engineering and Maintenance at Airlines for America (formerly the Air Transport Association) in Washington, DC, whose member airlines represent more than 90% of US passenger and cargo traffic. In his A4A role, he coordinates engineering and maintenance interfaces between the member airlines and an array of government and industry entities. Ireland served United Airlines from 1981-2011, originally as a staff engineer, leading its participation in the development of industry-standard wind shear training techniques teaming with Boeing, Douglas, Lockheed and NCAR, as well as SAE Committee S-7. He held a variety of positions including Factory Representative at Boeing, leading the delivery team for 200 new aircraft, and manager of Maintenance Division automation. During his tenure as Manager of Corporate Programs, his team was responsible for $450 million in cabin equipment upgrades for the international fleet. Leading engineering services in United’s maintenance organization at San Francisco, he was responsible for technical data management, maintenance records, engineering standards, and the aircraft delivery activities at Boeing and Airbus. From 1999 until his retirement from United in 2011, Ireland was Managing Director of Flight Training Center Services in Denver, overseeing flight simulator engineering and maintenance as well as all facility functions. Prior to joining United Airlines, Ireland was employed by Boeing and Honeywell’s avionics division. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Princeton University, majoring in aerospace engineering and secondary education, and remains an active alumni volunteer. Ireland has been an active SAE International volunteer for over three decades, originally chairing the Wind Shear Subcommittee of the Flight Deck and Handling Qualities Standards for Transport Aircraft Committee (S-7). He was General Chair of the 1997 World Aviation Congress, and served on the Engineering Meetings Board. He has been a member the Aerospace Council since 1997. A multi-term member of the SAE International Board of Directors, he recently completed his term as Sector Vice President-Aerospace and is embarking on a second term on the Technical Standards Board, the Fellows Committee and the Finance Committee.
Engineering Source Approval Engineer Pratt & Whitney
Howard Jones is an Engineering Source Approval Engineer at Pratt & Whitney working in the area of process validation for metallurgical processes used to manufacture critical parts. Focus areas are additive manufacturing, castings, metal injection molding, and bearing manufacture. In 34 years at Pratt and Whitney, Jones has spent a large amount of this time responsible for the metallographic lab mostly in the areas of metallography and X-ray diffraction supporting failure analysis and material/processes development for Ni and Ti alloys. He has also worked on foreign assignment as a Supplier Metallurgical Quality Engineer for special processes such as heat treatment, plating, welding. Jones is a Fellow of the International Centre for Diffraction Data and is a metals task team editor of the Powder Diffraction File. He holds a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois.
Technical Lead Engineer, Boeing
Jeff Morgan is a Technical Lead Engineer with the Materials & Process development organization supporting the development of the 777X Program of Boeing Research and Technology (BR&T) in Seattle, WA. In this position, Morgan leads research projects for the development of materials and manufacturing processes to support the fabrication of components on the next generation of commercial composite aircraft. In his 34 years at The Boeing Company, Morgan has been responsible for supporting many manufacturing technology development efforts within Boeing Commercial Airplanes, including material implementation, metal forming, metal and composite machining, large component assembly, and manufacturing process automation. He holds a bachelor's degree in manufacturing engineering technology from Brigham Young University.
Program Manager II, Advanced Aircraft Systems, Gulfstream Aerospace
Project Manager–Special Projects & Operations, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Engineering
Technical Fellow Spirit AeroSystems Inc.
Amitabh “Amit” Vyas, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized researcher and Technical Fellow at Spirit AeroSystems Inc. He leads one of the seven distinctive capabilities identified for the company. Vyas joined The Boeing Company in 1998 and transitioned to Spirit upon its divesture from Boeing in 2005. His research work has been referenced over 200 times in published research papers and books. He is a recipient of the 2012 Achievement Award from The Composites Consortium. He pioneered High Resolution Electron Microscopy for machining chips and applied it to reveal structure of the “white layers.” His other research contributions include single-beam laser velocimetry method, new definition of chip length ratio for saw tooth chips, residual stresses in machining, Micro and Macro aspects in machining, Automated Fiber Placement of Out-of-Autoclave materials, materials issues in machining, and cutting of cornea for vision correction. He recently finished development and implementation of drilling acoustic perforations using robots for the world’s largest acoustic inner barrel for the Boeing 777X airplane. He holds bachelor’s and master’s (IIT New Delhi, India) degrees and a Ph.D. (Arizona State University) in mechanical engineering.
Technical Fellow, Prognostics & Health Management, Collins Aerospace
Rhonda Walthall is a leader in the development of standards and best practices for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) and Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM). She is a Technical Fellow, Aftermarket Digital Strategies, at UTC Aerospace Systems, where she has been employed for 15 years. Prior to joining UTC, Walthall worked for Northwest Airlines Technical Operations as an Engine Condition Monitoring Powerplant Engineer and for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company as an Engine Performance Flight test Engineer. Walthall is a member of the Board of Directors of SAE International and the PHM Society. Walthall is the 2018 recipient of the SAE Rodica Baranescu Award for Technical & Leadership Excellence in the Aerospace Sector and the 2016 recipient of the SAE James M. Crawford Technical Standards Award for Outstanding Achievement. Walthall has contributed significantly to numerous SAE standards committees and has authored documents and chapters in SAE publications and in IEEE publications. She has presented technical papers and has participated as a keynote speaker, invited speaker, or panelist at numerous PHM-related conferences. Walthall is serving on the Purdue Industrial Advisory Council to the School of Aeronautics & Astronautics, where she earned her bachelor of science degree in engineering in 1986. In 1993, she earned an MBA degree from Pepperdine University.
Head of the Centre for Structures, Assembly and Intelligent Automation, Cranfield University
Professor Phil Webb is head of the Centre for Structures, Assembly and Intelligent Automation at Cranfield University, where he holds a Royal Academy of Engineering and Airbus Chair. He was also Deputy Director of the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation. He has more than 20 years of experience in research into advanced automation and robotics and has published widely on the subject. His particular specialty is the application of automation in the aerospace industry, and he has worked with most of the major aerospace companies including Airbus, BAE System, Bombardier and Rolls-Royce. He is a member of the SAE Automated Assembly and Fastening Committee and the Council of the British Automation and Robotics Association and has served as the UK representative to the International Federation for Robotics
Chief Engineer Roberts Engineering Development
Senior Chief Engineer of Airplane Systems, Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Todd Zarfos is Vice President for Engineering Functions and the Washington State Design Center and Senior Chief Engineer of Airplane Systems within Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Zarfos is responsible for engineering functional organizations and the Washington state design centers for all commercial airplanes, as well as the continuous improvement and utilization of the technical workforce and for supply chain management for technical services. In his role as senior chief of Airplane Systems, he is responsible for driving technical excellence within the airplane systems community while also ensuring the technical integrity and success of Commercial Airplanes’ development and production programs. Prior to this position, he was Senior Chief Engineer of Support and Vice President of Engineering for Commercial Aviation Services responsible for developing, deploying and integrating engineering and technology strategies to meet Commercial Aviation Services' business goals and commitments. He also provided oversight for design, certification and product integrity for all CAS business and product-development efforts. Previously, Zarfos served as Vice President of 747-8 engineering and Senior Chief Engineer of Airplane Systems. In this role, Zarfos led the development activities for the 747-8 program, culminating in the certification and entry into service of the 747-8 Freighter and Intercontinental airplanes. He holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master of science in electrical engineering from the University of Washington.
Technical Lead Engineer, Fiber Optic Technology Boeing Research & Technology
Mr. Zika has over 33-years of service with The Boeing Company and Heritage McDonnell Douglas. He has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and David is the Lead Engineer in the St. Louis Electrical and Fiber Optic Laboratories. He is a recognized industry Subject Mater Expert and Boeing Designated Expert in Fiber Optic Interconnect Systems and is past Chair of AS-3 Fiber Optics and Applied Photonics Committee and Division Chairman of the SAE International-Aerospace Avionic Systems Group.