• 02 May 2024 10:43 AM
• 0

Leadership Moves, May/June 2024

Dan Newman Appointed Honeywell AAM CTO
Honeywell Aerospace Technologies appointed Dan Newman as the chief technology officer (CTO) of its advanced air mobility (AAM) business unit in January. Newman joined Honeywell from Boeing, where he was a Senior Technical Fellow and the Chief Engineer of Advanced Vertical Lift Research since 2012. Newman also chaired three NATO Industry Advisory Group (NIAG) Study Groups on Next Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities (NGRC). Previously, he was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) during 2006–2011, working on advanced rotorcraft and aircraft technologies, in addition to a previous 20 years at Boeing.

Newman is a Technical Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the VFS. As the Society’s Technical Director, he was one architect of the Transformational Vertical Flight (TVF) workshops that catalyzed the electric vertical takeoff and landing/AAM revolution. Since 2020, he has written a recurring column in Vertiflite May/June 2024, “Coming to Terms” (see pg. 12).

At Honeywell, he is now responsible for planning and executing the technology roadmap for the company’s AAM offerings, aligning with advanced technologies and macro trends, including autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI). “I look forward to this exciting opportunity to advance the technology, grow the industry, invest in the talent and expand the applications,” Newman stated on LinkedIn.

Federico Nordenstahl to Lead AutoFlight Europe
Chinese eVTOL developer AutoFlight appointed Federico Nordenstahl in February as the new managing director of AutoFlight Europe; he has been with the company since June 2023, where he has been (and continues) serving as chief financial officer (CFO) of the group. Previously, Nordenstahl had worked for 23 years at BMW, departing as the CFO for one of the company’s fleet management subsidiaries.

Nordenstahl succeeds Mark Henning, who departed AutoFlight after leading the company since January 2022. He had previously worked at Airbus for more than two decades in various engineering and program manager jobs.

NASA Alum David McBride Joins Supernal as CTO
Supernal, on March 25, announced the appointment of former director of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center David McBride to be the Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary’s new CTO. He reports to Supernal CEO Jaiwon Shin, formerly the NASA Associate Administrator for Aeronautics. McBride will lead Supernal’s technology strategy and vehicle development, as well as oversee staff of around 400 employees at Supernal’s Engineering and Technology Division.

“It is an exciting time as we transition from the engineering design phase to the build and execution phases,” McBride stated in a press release. “We have an impressive ‘production-minded’ team and we look forward to taking our first flight later this year.” Achievements during McBride’s 40 years at NASA included leading development of the agency’s electric aircraft and the record-breaking flight of the solar-powered Helios uncrewed aircraft to an altitude of nearly 100,000 ft (30,000 m).

Lilium Appoints Steve Vellacott as CTO
Lilium on March 1 announced the appointment of Steve Vellacott as its new CTO, as the company aims to operate the first manned flight of its Lilium Jet at the end of 2024. Vellacott succeeds Alastair McIntosh as CTO, who had been at Lilium since 2020; a press release stated he “is stepping down to pursue new ventures.”

Vellacott draws on four decades of aerospace engineering experience, having joined the Munich, Germany-based company in 2020 as chief development engineer and being appointed chief engineer in 2022. Achievements during his career include 38 years at Leonardo (1980–2019) included overseeing the design, certification and qualification of all AgustaWestland AW101 helicopter variants as the chief project engineer. Between February 2019 and November 2020, he worked as chief airworthiness engineer at United Arab Emirates-based Calidus.

Lilium appointed Johan Malmqvist as its new CFO effective April 1 as the German eVTOL developer “advances from design to industrialization,” he said in a press release. Malmqvist brings his experience in managing finances at public and private companies, including UK electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar Automotive Holding. He succeeds Oliver Vogelgesang, who had worked in the CFO position since January 2023 and joined Lilium in July 2021 as Senior Vice President of Finance and Controlling.

Archer’s Tom Muniz Appointed CTO
In a filing on March 29 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Archer Aviation announced the appointment of Tom Muniz as its new CTO, transitioning from his previous job as its chief operating officer (COO). Muniz joined Archer in December 2019 as Vice President of Engineering and became its COO in March 2021.

The Mountain View, California-based eVTOL developer also announced in that filing Eric Lentell, who had been serving as deputy general counsel since 2021, was promoted to general counsel in March; he had previously also served as chief of staff. Andy Missan, who had been serving as its chief legal officer (CLO) since 2021, stepped down, but will continue to serve as a senior advisor to Archer CEO Adam Goldstein for the next year.

Zhao Wang to Manage Business Growth at EHang as Co-COO
Guangzhou, China-based EHang announced on April 9 the appointment of Zhao Wang to be its new co-COO to lead business operations. Prior to joining EHang, the company stated that Wang had experience in “digital transformation initiatives” and “introducing self-driving vehicles” at resorts in Chinaas CEO of Mangrove Tree Technology Group since 2020. Wang had also worked as CEO at IT consulting firm Beijing Ganlan Technology Development Co. in 2017–2020, according to the press release.