Systems Engineer, Airworthiness, System Safety
CurrentI am a systems engineer assigned to the System Safety and Quality Assurance Directorate, and initially had responsibility for airworthiness (AW) management on the Euro Hawk unmanned air vehicle system program. I was able to work with the AW authorities and establish a solid plan to achieve a preliminary type certificate for this unmanned aircraft. I was able to utilize my German language capabilities and my knowledge of the German AW culture to negotiate a viable approach to demonstrate airworthiness. I applied common civil aviation standards, such as ARP 4761, RTCA/DO-178B, DO-254, and DO-160. An especially challenging set of problems were the in-house SW development processes. I conducted a detailed gap analysis against DO-178B, and then established a plan to handle the non-compliances by conducting a risk assessment and introducing appropriate mitigating measures. Later, I moved on to the more general airworthiness problems common to all unmanned air vehicle programs, while applying the lessons learned on Euro Hawk. I assisted in the formulation of proposed regulatory standards with the goal of achieving access to national airspace on a “file and fly” basis.I worked as a systems and safety engineer on the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) Joint Urgent Operational Need (JUON) program where the BACN payload is being installed onto the Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle. I performed safety analyses, maintained the hazard tracking log, and reviewed change requests for safety and AW impacts. This system has deployed and is making a significant impact in OCO.I worked as a safety engineer on the Fire-X unmanned helicopter system, which turned into the successful production contract for MQ-8C.I worked on the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter weaponization program, which became the first unmanned aircraft to receive Navy WSESRB cert.I worked as safety engineer on the Fire Scout radar technology insertion program.