Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Tess Hatch, an investor in Bessemer Venture Partners’ Silicon Valley office. She is focused on frontier tech, specifically commercial space, cyber security, and drones. She currently serves as board observer for Impossible Aerospace, Iris Automation, Rocket Lab, Spire, Auth0, Endgame, Distil Networks, Team8, Virtru, Claroty, CyberGRX, and Illusive Networks.
In this lecture, she shares insight on pitching to venture capitalists and provides advice to new businesses.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Carl Dietrich, co-founder and CEO of Terrafugia. Dietrich received his BS, MS and Ph.D. from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shortly after receiving the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Innovation in 2006. Dietrich was also recognized by the Aero/Astro Department at MIT as one of sixteen exceptional graduates under the age of 35.
In addition, Dietrich has received “40 Under 40” awards from the Boston Business Journal and Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine. He has spoken internationally and is generally regarded as the leader of the emerging modern flying car industry. He has been a private pilot since the age of seventeen.
In this video, he shares the story of his company, Terrafugia.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Bob Parks, a Technical Fellow at Aurora Flight Sciences, a subsidiary of Boeing. He mainly works on the design of non-traditional aircraft, including sub-scale and full-scale prototyping. He has been working on VTOL aircraft professionally for 20 years, but has also worked on Mars aircraft, solar aircraft, submersible aircraft and even a few conventional aircrafts.
In this video, he lectures about using ducted fans for hover and cruise.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society and Dr. Marilyn Smith, director of the AE School’s Computational Nonlinear Computational Aeroelasticity Lab at Georgia Tech.
As Executive Director of The Vertical Flight Society, Mike Hirschberg is responsible for the execution of the strategic direction set by the VFS Board of Directors. He was previously a principal aerospace engineer with CENTRA Technology, Inc., providing technical and program management support for over 10 years to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Office of Naval Research (ONR) on advanced aircraft and rotorcraft concepts.
Dr. Smith received her PhD from Georgia Tech in 1994 while working in industry from 1982 to 1997. She joined the School of Aerospace Engineering in 1997, and is currently a full professor and Associate Director of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE). Smith performs research in the areas of non-linear computational aeroelasticity (using CFD) and the integrated multidisciplinary areas of unsteady aerodynamics and acoustic/fluid/structure interactions across rotating and fixed wing vehicles and systems.
In this video, they lecture about technical resources for vertical flight.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Earl Lawrence, the executive director of the UAS Integration Office at the FAA, responsible for the facilitation of all regulations, policies, and procedures required to support FAA’s UAS integration efforts.
Lawrence also represents the FAA on the Senior Steering Group of the UAS Executive Committee, focusing on coordination and alignment of efforts among key federal government agencies. He previously served as the Manager of the FAA’s Small Airplane Directorate and was the designated executive focal for unmanned aircraft systems within the Aircraft Certification Service. He received the 2003 Robert J. Painter Memorial Award from the Standards Engineering Society for his standards work for Light Sport Aircraft. Lawrence holds a commercial multi-engine pilot certificate as well as an airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate with an Inspection Authorization. He is a graduate of Northrop University in Los Angeles.
In this video, he lectures about the challenges of the regulatory environment and offers advice on identifying the right path to follow.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome David Neely. Neely has been with the Boeing Company 14 years. He is currently the chief engineer for the Boeing NeXt Cargo Air Vehicle Program. Prior to that role, he was a senior manager at Phantom Works for the Integration of Advanced Operations and Quality. He was also the IPT manager for 777x rudder/elevator prior to that assignment. Neely additionally served as the F-15 IPT wing manager supporting new development, production, flight test, fatigue test, and fleet sustainment.
In this video, he lectures about the importance of considering safety in development.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Brian Schettler, managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. Schettler leads the Boeing venture capital team chartered with investing in selected startups throughout the world. His team identifies and pursues opportunities to make strategic investments in startup companies with discriminating and disruptive technologies for next-generation applications.
Schettler has more than 17 years of experience in aerospace, technology, and defense companies in areas of corporate and business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business development, and product portfolio management. Most recently at Boeing, he was senior strategist for Boeing Military Aircraft, where he led mergers and acquisitions, business strategy, and partnership development in Silicon Valley and beyond. He also served as a strategist for Phantom Works, where he partnered with Boeing Research & Technology to build development strategies for new technologies and products while also building product and market strategies for new platforms and concepts.
Schettler holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. He has completed executive education courses at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and has certifications from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
In this video, he lectures about attracting startup capital and investments.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome John Langford, the president and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, which he founded in 1989. Aurora uses autonomy and robotics to develop advanced aircraft and was acquired by The Boeing Company in 2017. Dr. Langford is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and serves as President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He received his Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics (1979), Masters in Aeronautics & Astronautics (1984), Masters in Defense Policy (1983), and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Public Policy (1987) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In this video, he lectures about the future of personalized flight and holds a question and answer session.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Boris Popov, founder of BRS Aerospace. Popov founded BRS in 1981, and is currently the Director / Senior Vice President of Sales. He was born in Munich, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1949 through Ellis Island. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s in Economics and a minor in Aeronautical Engineering in IT. He holds rating as a Private Pilot and FAA Ground instructor and in Sailplanes, Hang-Gliding, and Floatplanes. He has received many awards over the past years, including the 1986 Lycoming Aviation Safety Award, the 2005 Aviation Week & Space Technology Laureate Award, the 2010 Sperry Award, the 2015 Flieger Magazine Award, and the 2017 NALL Award. He has also been inducted into the 2000 EAA Ultralight Hall of Fame, the 2005 Space Hall of Fame, and the 2016 Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
In this video, he describes his company and how it can help GoFly Prize competitors, and holds a question and answer session.
Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.
For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Dr. Darryll J. Pines, dean of the Clark School of Engineering and professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland.
In the past, Dr. Pines has served as the 2015 chair of the National Academy of Engineering-NAE Frontiers in Engineering Education-FOEE Symposium, which recognizes faculty from around the United States for their innovations in engineering education. At $141 million, the school’s research expenditures are at a record high, and the school was ranked as high as 11th worldwide in 2011 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, which focuses on research citations, and as high as 17th in the US News and World Report Graduate Rankings. He is the co-author of over 70 journal articles, three edited book volumes, eight book chapters, and 150 conference papers. Pines also is the holder of seven co-authored patents with his students and collaborators.
In this video, he lectures about the University of Maryland’s Gamera II, a human-powered helicopter, and holds a question and answer session.
