AEROTECH® Americas

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.
 

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.

Dave Amirehteshami is the Senior Manager for Advanced Developmental Composites (ADC) Production Engineering. In 2015, he led the Everett Equipment Engineering team responsible for defining, planning, implementing, and sustaining affordable automation, tooling, and test equipment/software solutions for Everett site/programs that satisfy factory customers’ needs by significantly improving safety/ergonomics, quality, flow, cost, and process stability. During this assignment, Amirehteshami spent six months on special assignment for 777 Fuselage Automated Upright Build (FAUB) in which this complex equipment and automation functionality were made production ready. From 2008 to 2014, Amirehteshami led the Boeing Research and Technology Assembly and Automation Technology Team responsible for process and equipment technology development, transition, and implementation across The Boeing Company. In 2006 and 2007, Amirehteshami was the Deputy Leader for Materials, Structures, and Manufacturing Technology Thrust responsible for common technology development across Boeing. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona in 1984 and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from University of Washington in 1998.  He also is a registered professional engineer.  He has held various positions including technical chair in SAE aerospace manufacturing technical conferences since 1999.  He served as the SAE Air and Space Group Chair for two years as well as the Engineering Meetings Board.

Ron Clements is a recognized hydraulics industry expert who drives innovation through collaboration as demonstrated by his work on many cross-platform projects and through his leadership with SAE G3 and participation in ISO TC20. Clements has leveraged his knowledge to develop and deliver a wide range of products required by Boeing programs (both commercial and military), and is often sought out to help resolve complex problems involving thrust reversers, mechanical/hydraulic, and fuel systems. Clements’ experience includes full design/build responsibility for numerous hydraulic systems in mobile and industrial hydraulic applications and gives him a unique blend of technical expertise enabling him to understand complex problems and drive to rapid solutions. Clements is currently providing technical leadership for a number of Boeing projects that resulted in the creation or revision of nearly 100 SAE standards: Conductive Aluminum Fittings; Titanium Axial Swage Fittings installed on Aluminum Tubing; and a FAR 981 Lightning Strike compliant fuel coupling. Clements is routinely called upon to resolve production and in-service problems, including leading and participating in root cause corrective action investigations across the Boeing enterprise. Clements is also sought out as an instructor and has taught three separate courses inside and outside the Boeing Company. Clements is focused on finding solutions to reduce the cost of parts and factory build processes. Four of the five patents that he has submitted are intentionally created to reduce part cost and eliminate factory build hours. Clements has served SAE as Chair of the SAE G3 committee (10 years), PRI G3 Chair (3 years), and as a member the G3 sub-committees for 21 years.

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.

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.
 

Jon Fifield is a Chief Engineer for Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems and the Chairperson for the SAE AE-7 Aerospace Electrical Power and Equipment Committee. Fifield has more than 32 years of experience in designing large-scale electrical power systems for both military and commercial applications. Currently, he manages all the research and development activities for designing power supplies for commercial cabin system products targeted for in-flight entertainment systems and in-seat power system applications. He is also a member of IEEE, INCOSE, ASTM, and Phi Kappa Phi. Fifield holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Northern Arizona University.

Carroll Grant has 44 years’ experience in the aerospace/aircraft industry. His experience includes 34 years in composites and 10 years in metal aircraft structure. He has experience in engineering, program management, marketing, and consulting. His primary expertise is in the field of automated lamination processes—automated fiber placement (AFP) and automated tape layers (ATL). For the past 19 years, he has operated as an independent contractor/consultant in the aerospace composites industry. While working as an independent, his primary activities have been marketing of aircraft parts fabrication services, and automated composites processing equipment (ATL and AFP machines). His marketing pursuits have been primarily in North America and Europe. Grant has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Technology from Texas A&M University–Commerce.       
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Robby O’Dell is Program Manager II for Advanced Aircraft Systems at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. In this role, he is responsible for leading the programmatic activities related to aircraft system research, development, and certification on large cabin Gulfstream aircraft. From 2013 to 2018, O’Dell was responsible for activities related to new technology development and deployment within the Gulfstream flight deck. His responsibilities included leading a cross-functional team to evaluate and develop technology to the appropriate maturity for consideration on the aircraft, to coordinate with customers to determine specific requirements, and to prepare Gulfstream aircraft for future regulations through interfacing with standards development organizations and regulatory agencies. In addition, O'Dell is active in standards development, and his efforts include multiple roles—Vice Chair of the SAE International Aerospace Council, a member of the SAE Executive Nominating Committee, and a liaison on the SAE HM-1 Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) and G-20 Airport Lighting committees. He was also a contributing author to multiple SAE books, including “IVHM – Business Case Theory and Practice” and “Integrated Vehicle Health Management: Implementation and Lessons Learned.” O'Dell earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and a master’s degree in business administration, all from Mercer University.

Patrick Pepper is a member of the BCA Special Projects Team responsible for managing special projects in support of BCA Engineering Leadership, the BCA Executive Leadership Team and Boeing Corporate Office. Responsibilities include: liaison with external technical affiliations including serving as the Boeing Focal to SAE International, assisting sales with the donation/restoration of historic aircraft to airline customers, advisory support to aircraft restoration projects, and liaison with aviation museums. Pepper is also a member of the Boeing Historic Council. Pepper has a bachelor of arts in urban geography and a master's degree in public administration from California State University, Long Beach. 

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.
 

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.

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
 
 

Bob Welge is a Manager/Engineer experienced in numerous diverse programs with emphasis on advanced technology and new concept development.  His background includes programs spanning low speed to hypersonic speed air vehicles, space launch vehicles and army systems.  Involvement in these programs has included concept development and analysis, wind tunnel testing and flight tests.  Bob is the author of 35 professional papers and reports and co‑author of the text “Applied Computational Aerodynamics” (AIAA).  He is a Fellow Emeritus in the SAE International and an Associate Fellow Emeritus in the AIAA.  Bob is past Chair of the SAE Air and Space Group (ASG) and the Engineering Meetings Board (EMB). He is a member of the SAE Aerodynamics, Flight Sciences and Motorsports Committees and is Chair of the SAE Manly Award Committee.  He has received several industry/government awards, lectured at UCLA, University of Illinois and Cal Tech and served on NASA’s Aeronautics Advisory Council.  He has a Master of Science Degree from UCLA. 

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.

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.