26^th DASC Plenary Session Speakers

Kevin Brown
Vice President, Air Traffic Management
Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Robert Drewes
Corporate Senior Vice President and President and Chief Operating Officer L-3 Communications Integrated Systems

John Pyburn
Chief Scientist for Operations Evolution and Integration
MITRE/Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD)

Michael DeJonge
Chief Engineer, Flight Management Systems
GE Aviation - Digital Systems

"Flight to the Future"

"The Business Environment of the Military Aircraft Modernization Market"

"Current National Airspace System (NAS) Performance and Near-Term Improvements"

"Trajectory-Based Operations with Flight Management Systems"

In his role as vice president of ATM, Kevin Brown is responsible for the business unit’s overall plan for the creation of global air traffic management solutions that meet safety, capacity and security goals. Brown has broad responsibility for setting the strategic direction of the business unit, integrating business partnering and stakeholder strategies, and supporting business capture and company-sponsored research and development plans. His responsibilities also include ensuring that the strategic direction of Boeing Air Traffic Management harmonizes with the other business units of the Boeing enterprise. Brown serves as the ATM representative to the Program Management Process Council.

Prior to accepting this position in June 2002, Brown was vice president of Programs for ATM and, before that, ATM Business Director.

Brown joined Boeing in 1978 as a system engineer on B-52 Offensive Avionics System/Cruise Missile Integration programs. He progressed through a series of leadership positions within Boeing, including System Engineering manager for the Joint Surveillance and the Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), chief engineer for 777 Airplane Integration, Vehicle Systems manager for the International Space Station, System Engineering manager for Joint Strike Fighter and program manager for Next-Generation 737 airplane development.

Robert W. Drewes is Corporate Senior Vice President and President and Chief Operating Officer of L-3 Communications Integrated Systems Group, which has more than 22,000 employees worldwide and more than $4 billion in annual sales. Prior to his current position, Drewes was Vice President of Productivity for Raytheon Company. He retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of Major General. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from Colby College and a master's degree from Harvard Business School.

John Pyburn is Chief Scientist for Operational Evolution and Integration for the MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development. In this role, his operational and technical purview is the entire scope of getting to NextGen, from OEP implementation through advanced concept exploration. Prior to this assignment, he was the Director for Program Analysis and Evaluation. His responsibilities included the overall development, coordination and integration of CAASD's work program for the FAA.

For 19 years, Pyburn has worked on a broad set of projects and initiatives within CAASD, starting with early prototype/concept work on collaborative decision-making that began in the 1980s. Pyburn was part of the first Integration and Interaction lab (I-Lab) team. His experience on TFM ranges from systems engineering support on the Enhanced Traffic Management System and other deployed capabilities, to advanced concept development and exploration.

Pyburn was one of the key staff working on the development and enhancement of CAASD’s work for FAA's Air Traffic Service, including work on the procedures outcome. Pyburn was a key member of the operational concept team of the Free Flight Task Force in the summer of 1995. He was a leader on MITRE/CAASD's move into supporting the FAA's implementation of area navigation procedures, and, more recently, has been a core member of CAASD's and the FAA's Operational Evolution Partnership team, serving as a member of the OEP review board and the FAA’s Enterprise Architecture Board. Pyburn has a bachelor's degree in computer management information systems from the University of Maryland and a master's of science in software systems engineering from George Mason University. He is active in ATCA and a member of AIAA.

Michael DeJonge has been with GE Aviation (formerly Smiths Aerospace) for 35 years and is currently the chief engineer for civil and military Flight Management System product line. During this career at Smiths Aerospace he was responsible for the initial development of Flight Management Systems in the early 1980's and is now a leading authority in lateral and vertical flight management and an expert in navigation and guidance. He holds patents on a Performance Data Computer System and a Required Time-of-Arrival Control System.

DeJonge has recently served as co-chair for RTCA Special Committee 194 Working Group 2, Aeronautical Data Link Flight Operations and Air Traffic Management Integration.

Bernard Miaillier
SESAR Program Manager
EUROCONTROL

Jim Eck
Director for Air Traffic Control Communications Services
Technical Operations Service Unit
FAA-Air Traffic Organization

P. Jay Merkle, Jr.
Chief Architect and Division Director
U. S. Joint Planning and Development Office

"The SESAR Vision"

"Data Communications Program"

"NextGen Overview"

After one year of air traffic control experience at Paris Air Traffic Control Centre and eight years of R&D execution and management in the French Air Navigation Directorate, Bernard Miaillier joined EUROCONTROL in 1987. Since then, he's been involved in future ATM/CNS concept definition and implementation planning, and in management and co-ordination of R&D programmes. Miaillier led the development of the European ATM2000+ Strategy. He is currently Head of the "SESAR and ATM Strategy" Division and the SESAR Definition Phase Project Manager.

Miaillier graduated in engineering from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the French National Civil Aviation School in Toulouse in 1978.

Jim Eck's directorate is responsible for all NAS infrastructure modernization activities associated with telecommunications, voice switching and recording systems, radio systems, air/ground voice and data communications, and system wide information management. Eck's organization works directly with the aviation users to develop and implement avionics systems to satisfy safety critical voice and data communications for the Next Generation Air Transportation System.

Eck has been working voice and data communications programs since joining the FAA in 1996. Previously, he spent 18 years working for the Navy, concluding his work with the Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center in tactical communications research and development. Eck is a 1978 BSEE graduate from the Pennsylvania State University and a 1983 MSE System Engineering graduate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jay Merkle is the Chief Architect of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Joint Planning and Development Office. In that capacity, he will be responsible for planning and executing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) enterprise architecture. Merkle also manages the integration with other key documents, such as the concept of operations, integrated work plan, and research and development plan. His responsibilities include defining the future air transportation system in concert with member agencies and multi-agency work groups, maintaining comprehensive NGATS scope defined within the NGATS enterprise architecture, and updating the enterprise architecture as a result of policy decisions and research findings or through demonstration, simulation, and or analysis.

Merkle’s expertise in Air Traffic systems and operations spans the en route, terminal, surface and traffic flow management domains. His experience in Air Traffic System development encompasses all phases of the system life cycle from research, through development, test, and life cycle support. He has been the Chief System Engineer of both the En Route and Terminal domains.