People Category: AVIATION Forum 2023

Jason Merrett

Jason M Merret (B.S. ’99, M.S. -01, Ph.D., ’04 in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois) is a Clinical Associate Professor in Aerospace Engineering and Program Coordinator for Aerospace Systems Engineering.   As part of his role here at Illinois he teaches the senior aircraft design sequence, graduate level aerospace systems engineering, and is faculty adviser for the Design, Build, Fly Team and Student Aircraft Builders.  As Chair of the Engineering Design Council in the Grainger College of Engineering he coordinates funding a space allocation for a number of design teams spread throughout the College.  His research focuses on experimental and computational applied aerodynamics and aircraft design. 

Dr. Merret previously worked at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation as a Technical Specialist in the Preliminary Design Department. During his time there, he participated in the preliminary design of multiple products including the G650, G500, and G600 aircraft.  On the G650 he also participated in a number of flight tests on low-speed and high-speed performance. In between programs, he helped conduct many supersonic subsonic, transonic, and wind tunnel test studies on engine inlets and aircraft configurations. During his time in Savannah GA, he taught at the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University/Gulfstream MMSE program.  

Beyond Gulfstream, Dr. Merret is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, is an Aircraft Design Technical Committee member and Chair, and was an Organizing Committee member of the AIAA Design Build Fly competition.

John Katsoudas

John Katsoudas is responsible for the company’s overall operations and drives Influit’s company vision. John has over 17 years of experience in material science as well as the named inventor on our core technology’s patents. He spent a career in applied physics, working with government agencies, renowned research groups, and policy makers. John’s expertise spans from ideation to manufacturing and business development. A former member of the Material Research Collaboration Access Team at Illinois Tech, he designed and built multiple beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, and is an expert in battery materials.

Outside of work, he loves music and moonlights as a recording engineer.

Pete Francis

Pete Francis is Chief Engineer for Advanced Hypersonic Weapons at Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD).

Mr. Francis’ 32 years of defense-industry experience includes technical leadership primarily in advanced development and pre-milestone-C systems, systems design, signal processing, software, and integration/test. Previously he was Director of RMD Software Engineering, a program manager in Air Warfare Systems, and Program Chief Engineer in Advanced Missile systems.

 at Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD).

Mr. Francis’ 32 years of defense-industry experience includes technical leadership primarily in advanced development and pre-milestone-C systems, systems design, signal processing, software, and integration/test. Previously he was Director of RMD Software Engineering, a program manager in Air Warfare Systems, and Program Chief Engineer in Advanced Missile systems.

Michael Brown

Dr. Michael S. Brown is the Principal Scientist for the High Speed Systems Division within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson AFB. He has 24 years of experience in propulsion, the last 14 of which have been in the hypersonic flight regime. In his present role he is responsible for the High Speed Systems Division’s foundational research portfolio in hypersonic aerodynamics, propulsion, and structures. He leads the AFRL Hypersonic Overall Integrated Product Team and works collaboratively with NASA, the JHTO, and OUSD-R&E. Previously he served as the Branch Chief for the Hypersonic Sciences Branch leading foundational research in modeling and experimentation across five ground test facilities. His early career was spent applying optical diagnostics to both low and high-speed reacting flows to identify relevant physical dynamics and obtain data for engineering needs. He successfully collected optical data in the scramjet engine on HIFiRE Research Flight 2 at Mach 8. He has authored over 120 papers and presentations. He received his PhD in physics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ezinne Uzo-Okoro

In almost 20 years of U.S. government service, Dr. Uzo-Okoro has developed several national policies and contributed to over 60 NASA missions and programs – as an engineer, technical expert, manager, and executive – in space science and technology topics. At the White House, she leads the aeronautics, space, and manufacturing portfolios, and has released policy on Aeronautics Priorities, Earth Observations, Orbital Debris, Microgravity research, Space Weather, In-space Servicing Assembly and Manufacturing, and Advanced Manufacturing. Her 17-year engineering career spanned contributions to earth observations, planetary science, heliophysics, astrophysics, human exploration, and space communications missions, which represent over $9.2 Billion in total program value to NASA. She has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and three masters degrees in Space Systems, Space Robotics, and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University (APL), MIT (the Media Lab), and Harvard University, respectively. She earned her doctorate degree in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. Her story is profiled in President George W. Bush’s book, Out of Many, One.

Marcus Johnson

Dr. Marcus Johnson serves as Project at the NASA Ames Research Center where he has conducted research on uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) since 2012. Marcus has been a thought leader for the development of the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) System and Advanced Air Mobility. He currently serves as a project manager for the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) which is focused on modernizing emergency response operations by integrating AAM technologies. The project is initially targeted at developing and transitioning technologies to wildland firefighters to make their aerial and ground operations more responsive and effective to save lives, property, and reduce the impact of disasters caused from climate change.

Robert Pearce

Mr. Robert A. Pearce is the associate administrator for NASA ARMD. Pearce manages the agency’s aeronautics research portfolio and guides its strategic direction, including research in quiet supersonic flight over land, urban air mobility, autonomy, highly efficient advanced air vehicle concepts, electrified aircraft propulsion, advanced materials, airspace operations and safety, integration and flight demonstrations of aviation systems, and the nurturing and development of transformative concepts for aviation.

Pearce served as acting associate administrator from August 2019. Prior to that he was ARMD’s deputy associate administrator for strategy, where he led aeronautics research mission strategic planning to guide the content, strategic progress and relevance of ARMD’s research portfolio, and led review and evaluation of ARMD’s budget and approval process.

His first position in ARMD was as director for strategy, architecture and analysis, where he established a strategic systems analysis capability focused on understanding the system-level impacts of NASA’s programs, the potential for integrated solutions, and the development of high-leverage options for new investment and partnership.

From 2003 until July 2010, Pearce was the deputy director of the FAA-led Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO). The JPDO was an interagency office tasked with developing and facilitating the implementation of a national plan to transform the air transportation system to meet the long-term transportation needs of the nation.

Prior to the JPDO, Pearce held various strategic and program management positions within NASA. In the mid-1990s he led the development of key national policy documents including the National Science and Technology Council’s “Goals for a National Partnership in Aeronautics Research and Technology” and the “Transportation Science and Technology Strategy.” These two documents provided a substantial basis for NASA’s expanded investment in aviation safety and airspace systems.

He began his career as a design engineer at the Grumman Corporation, working on such projects as the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighter and DARPA’s X-29 Forward Swept Wing Demonstrator. Pearce also has experience from the Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center where he made contributions in the area of advanced concepts for intercity transportation systems.

Pearce has received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal for sustained excellence in planning and advocating innovative aeronautics programs in conjunction with the White House and other federal agencies. He received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal for outstanding leadership of the JPDO in support of the transformation of the nation’s air transportation system. Pearce has also received NASA’s Cooperative External Achievement Award and several Exceptional Performance and Group Achievement Awards.

He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Syracuse University, and a master’s of science degree in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jeanne Yu

Jeanne Yu is a NASA senior technologist co-leading NASA’s Sky for All Vision for the pathway to an adaptive and intelligent mid-21st century airspace system. In her strategy role, she collaborates across the federal government, industry and internationally to shift paradigms towards open architectures and collective innovation to enable greater mobility, sustainability, and U.S. economic growth. Technology capabilities to realize Sky for All require development of cutting-edge autonomy, AI/ML, digital engineering, and advanced systems of systems engineering. 

Previously, Yu was the Director for Technology Integration overseeing new product research and development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development. As the Environmental Performance Director in 2007, Yu created the ecoDemonstrator Program, a flight test program flying never-flown technologies spurring sustainability improvements.  The program recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, having performed flight tests with over 200 technologies on nine aircraft, including 737, 787, 777, 757 and an Embraer E170. 

Prior, Yu was the Senior Manager for Environmental Performance developing environmental technologies for emissions, aircraft energy, noise, cabin environment, materials and processes. Earlier in her career, efforts include integration of technologies for the 787 Dreamliner Cabin environment and responsibilities as a manager for aircraft Environmental Control Systems.

Yu began her career as a thermal analyst at Sandia National Laboratories.

Yu received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in Thermosciences from Stanford University. 

Jeanne strives to Lean Forward, Learn Continuously and Lead with Courageous Optimism.