George Cusimano

George Cusimano is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Vector LLC aviation consulting services. He is a flight test engineer and educator with more than 40 years of experience in research, development, and test of important leading edge technologies. He has flight-tested complex systems, such as the F-117, B-2, X-33 (single stage to orbit prototype), DarkStar UAV and X-35 (Joint Strike Fighter prototype). In addition to multiple postings as a flight test engineer, George was: the Director of Test and Evaluation for the F-117 System Program Office; the Chief of Flight Test Engineering for the B-2 Combined Test Force; the Deputy Director of the Joint STARS Combined Test Force; and the Director of Flight Test at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. George has also taught at the National Test Pilot School and has served as a Technical Advisor to the United States Air Force. He retired from the United States Air Force as a colonel after 24 years of service. George holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Arizona State University. He is a graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School and a Fellow of the Society of Flight Test Engineers.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Flight Testing Unmanned Aircraft Systems - Unique Challenges

Travis Dahna

Travis Dahna is the Principal member and Electrical Systems and Equipment DER for TD Aerospace, LLC, a professional aerospace engineering design and certification company based in Kansas. He started his career over 25 years ago as an avionics technician and troubleshooter in the United States Navy, where he served with distinction and was honorably discharged. As a Gulf War Veteran, Mr. Dahna joined the civilian aviation sector where he has worked on, designed, and certified a wide variety of new products and articles for the last 20 years. He has held positions as a senior electrical engineer for a large aircraft manufacturer and served as the Certification Coordinator for all the factory owned service/modification centers in the United States, providing all interface with the geographic FAA Aircraft Certification Offices for all standard certification STC projects. Following his time at the aircraft manufacturer, he assisted in the development of an STC ODA for a consulting company and held the position as the Principal Certification Engineer, while also training as an alternate ODA administrator. He has been actively involved in several hundred certification projects, ranging from TC, STC, PMA, and Major Alterations. In addition to duties as a consultant DER (14 CFR Part 23 and 25), including major alterations, he holds positions as a unit member on several TC and STC Organization Designation Authorizations (ODA). Mr. Dahna's combination of practical experience, analytical knowledge, and in-depth certification experience brings a unique and viable approach to aircraft certification in an uncomplicated yet thorough manner.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Introduction to FAA Airworthiness Approval Requirements

Dennis C. Philpot

Mr. Philpot began his career in the aerospace industry at the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International in 1983, immediately after completed his bachelor?s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University, Corvallis. During his nearly 14 years at Rocketdyne, Mr. Philpot was involved in several diverse programs, including the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) and the International Space Station; also, during his employment at Rocketdyne Mr. Philpot completed his master?s degree in Applied Mechanics at California State University, Northridge.During the late 1990?s Mr. Philpot became involved with performing advanced fighter aircraft structural analysis on both the F/A 18 E/F program for Northrop Grumman and the Joint Strike Fighter for Lockheed-Martin Skunk Works. He also served as a principal structural analyst on two launch systems? the Kistler reusable launch system and the Delta IV EELV developed by the Boeing Company.Currently, Mr. Philpot is the Airframe IPT Technical Lead for the AARGM ER EMD program; in that role he leads or oversees all of the technical/analytical aspects of hardware design development and works with the design team to help ensure that all aspects of the product meet requirements. Mr. Philpot has held many roles in missile development, including Section Head for mechanical analysis, Test Director for the AARGM Environmental Qualification Testing, Mechanical Analysis Lead AARGM missile integration on the Tornado aircraft for the Italian Airforce, IPT Lead for AARGM ER FEDA Program Aerodynamics, Modeling & Simulation, Mechanical Design and Internal Loads and Static Strength Analysis, MSST Mechanical Analysis Lead, Structural Dynamics Lead and Technical Advisor to the Jordan Multirole Combat Aircraft JLG & JMCA Programs, Technical Lead on the Hyper-Velocity Projectile (HVP) Program, based out of Plymouth, MN, Structural Analysis SME for all advanced (SAP) programs that require that skill set at Northrop Grumman, Advanced Weapons Division.An internationally-recognized expert in aerospace structural analysis, Mr. Philpot has been teaching post-graduate courses on Stress Analysis and Structural Dynamics in the greater Los Angeles area, Seattle, WA, Orlando, FL, and on-site at The Boeing Company, Northrop-Grumman, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, NASA-Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, FL, Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, UT, the Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, NM, Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, FL, Aviation and Missile Research, Development, Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL and at ST Aerospace in Singapore. At the 50th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Mr. Philpot was honored to present a special two-day seminar on Structural Dynamics in Mechanical Design at the Palm Springs Convention Center/Wyndham Palm Springs. The public courses are very international in nature, attracting students from Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Turkey, The Netherlands, China, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico and, of course, the United States of America. Mr. Philpot holds two US Patents and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Stress Analysis for Aerospace Structures

Josh Sementi

Dr. Josh Sementi has 20 years of applied aeroelasticity and aircraft loads experience including both analysis and testing on Part 23 and 25 aircraft. Josh is also an FAA Consultant Loads DER with full approval authority for both Part 23 and Part 25 Static and Dynamic Loads. This experience has included developing aerodynamic models, structural models, and aero-structural splines for certification loads and flutter analysis as well as validating the models against flight loads survey and flight flutter testing measurements. This analysis has been performed in a variety of tools from classical beam theory methods to complete aircraft FEM based aeroelastic models. During his career Dr. Sementi has developed certification dynamic and static flight loads for over 25 STC's or STC amendments ranging from radomes and other minor modifications to blended and split scimitar winglets on a variety of Boeing aircraft. In addition to Structural Loads, Josh has extensive flight flutter test experience, as well as aircraft vibration environment development. Prior to working at TLG, Josh was a Senior Loads Engineer at Aviation Partners Boeing.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Aircraft Structural Loads: Criteria, Analysis, and Validation

C. Bruce Stephens

C. Bruce Stephens is an HIRF/Lightning/EWIS ODA UM/AR at the Boeing Company and a consultant DER at his company, Stephens Aviation, with a wealth of experience in High Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF) and Lightning protection of Aircraft. Stephens retired from Hawker Beechcraft after 28 years of service. He has HIRF/Lightning experience on both Part 23 and Part 25 including composite aircraft. Stephens is working with the Boeing Team to develop EWIS requirements and means of compliance on several aircraft projects. Stephens is a Six-Sigma/Lean Master Black Belt consultant, developing implementation and training materials, and teaches at a number of universities, including Webster University and Southwestern College. He has an executive M.B.A. and M.S. in Management from Friends University and a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Wichita State University.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Aircraft Lightning: Requirements, Component Testing, Aircraft Testing and Certification

Darren Stout

Darren Stout is an EME/HIRF/Lightning ODA UM/AR at the Boeing Company. Darren has a wealth of experience in Electromagnetic Effects (EME), High Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF), lightning effects, p-static effects, and transmitting personal electronic devices, RTCA/DO-160, MIL-STD-461, along with extensive experience in laboratory and aircraft testing. His experience is a result of over 30 combined years as an Electrical and EME engineer with Boeing, Lucent Technologies (Bell Labs), FAA, and BancTec. He also served six years in the United States Air Force as a B-52 navigator, instructor navigator, and radar navigator (bombardier), directing and performing higher headquarters missions including aircraft, systems, and munitions testing, and is a Desert Storm veteran. He has a BSEE degree in electrical engineering (lasers, fiber optics, and antenna arrays) from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, is an iNARTE certified EMC Engineer, and is a Level 2 Certified TEMPEST Professional.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Introduction to RTCA DO-160 Qualification: Purpose, Testing and Design Considerations

Ray Taghavi

Dr. Ray Taghavi is "John E. and Winifred E. Sharp Professor" & Associate Chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Kansas. He teaches and conducts research in jet propulsion, rocket propulsion, aircraft reciprocating engines, fluid mechanics, aircraft aerodynamics, and advanced experimental techniques. Before joining the KU Faculty in 1991, he was a research engineer at NASA John Glenn Research Center, conducting experimental research on supersonic jet noise reduction techniques, acoustic excitation of free shear layers, and stability and control of swirling flows. He is the co-inventor and patent holder for a "supersonic vortex generator" and a "Novel Air Data Sensor with Power Scavenge System" for subsonic aircraft. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA). Dr. Taghavi has been the recipient of the Abe M. Zarem Educator Award from AIAA, the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from SAE, the John E. and Winifred E. Sharp Award from the KU School of Engineering (twice), Henry E. Gould Award from the KU School of Engineering, and is a four-time winner of the Aerospace Engineering Outstanding Educator Award from the graduating seniors of the department. Dr. Taghavi received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1988.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Aircraft Propulsion Systems: Principles and Practices

Thomas N. Taylor

Thomas (Tom) Taylor is an FAA Consultant DER, ODA E-UM/Advisor and Technical Fellow at The Boeing Company, with 30 years of commercial and military aircraft electrical design and certification experience. Tom was the technical focal and DER/AR during the development of the 787-8 and was responsible for the certification of the 787-9, which was the first commercial airplane fully certified to the EWIS regulations. Most recently, he has been extensively involved in the analysis, testing and re-certification of the 737MAX. Tom also provides engineering consultation, training, and aircraft certification services through his company, Taylor Aerospace Consultants. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: Electrical Wiring Interconnection System (EWIS) Safety Assessment - 25.1709

Pierre Trudel

Pierre Trudel is a System Safety Engineer and ODA Unit Member currently working for Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). He brings 29 years of system safety, systems engineering, and reliability experience in several segments of our aerospace industry. He has worked system safety, reliability, and systems engineering on airplanes, rotorcrafts, and space vehicles. He has experience with commercial and military system safety, Development Assurance practices. He developed companywide processes to facilitate product development and compliance to commercial airworthiness standards and military requirements. He has worked system safety for both equipment suppliers and as an integrator for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Pierre has worked system safety using several industry accepted processes including SAE ARP4761, SAE ARP4754, and MIL-STD-882 to satisfy safety requirements for Part 23 (small aircrafts), Part, 25 (Transport Category Aircraft) and MIL-HDBK-516 (Airworthiness Certification Criteria). His certification experience as an FAA representative spans the spectrum of TC, ATC, and STC projects on commercial projects such as the Hawker 4000, Hawker 800XP, Premier 1, Cessna CJ4, Citation Latitude, Citation Sovereign, Citation X, KC-46A (767 Tanker), and several other aircraft models and types. Pierre holds a Bachelor of Science in Space Sciences with minors in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.

2024 Seattle Aerospace Short Course: System Safety Assessment for Commercial Aircraft Certification