IRVINE, CALIF. – Supernal LLC, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) division of Hyundai Motor Group, has made a significant addition to its leadership team by naming David McBride as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Under the guidance of Jaiwon Shin, CEO of Supernal and president of Hyundai Motor Group, McBride is set to take the helm of the company’s technology strategy and the development of its ambitious vehicle projects.
Jaiwon Shin elaborated on the strategic vision propelling Supernal forward, stating, “Following the debut of our product concept earlier this year, Supernal has entered a new phase of our Advanced Air Mobility business – where we turn our innovative vehicle concepts into commercially sound and safe all-electric aircraft. David has spent his career making the ‘impossible’ ‘possible’ in aviation, leading numerous successful missions at NASA, and we are eager for him to help lead Supernal in bringing our scalable eVTOL vehicle to market in 2028.”
McBride’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Supernal, as the company transitions from conceptualization to the tangible phases of engineering, testing, and certifying its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. With over four decades of aerospace experience, particularly in spearheading groundbreaking technological advancements and complex program management at NASA, McBride is poised to drive Supernal’s Engineering and Technology Division (ETD), which boasts 400 employees dedicated to the vehicle’s engineering, evaluation, and research and development processes.
During his tenure at NASA, particularly as the director of the Armstrong Flight Research Center, McBride led remarkable projects, including the operational success of the Boeing 747SP aircraft that carried a stratospheric telescope, and the development of NASA’s all-electric aircraft. His leadership extended to NASA’s Earth Science missions and the Flight Research Program, significantly contributing to aerospace knowledge expansion, underscored by the Helios aircraft’s record-breaking flight.
Reflecting on his new role, McBride expressed, “I am honored to join Supernal to help certify and commercialize an aircraft that our team has been working toward for the past several years. It is an exciting time as we transition from the engineering design phase to the build and execution phases. We have an impressive ‘production-minded’ team and we look forward to taking our first flight later this year.”
McBride, an alumnus of the University of New Mexico with degrees in electrical engineering and business administration, embarked on his illustrious career at NASA, focusing on digital flight control systems analysis.
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