Kyle Smith
Recent Titles:
Senior Engineer, Project Engineer (AR)
Manager – Mechanical and Propulsion Division (AFS)
Focus on engagement and career development
Recent Roles:
Project Engineer/Integrated Product Team Lead
Bravo3, Bravo4, Charlie (AR)
Design Engineer & Part 107 Test Pilot
Bravo3, Bravo4, Charlie (AR)
MIDAS, Red Team, CoraX, SSTOL (Aurora)
CAD Admin – Solidworks, 3DX
Compliment to stereotypical engineer:
Fun Facts:
Ask me about wing foiling!
Hey Kyle, why do you want to be a manager?
Supervisor – Hayward Tyler Inc.
Supervisor – Hayward Tyler Inc.
Manager CAD Design – Terrafugia Inc.
Management, CAD Administration, CATIA V6 implementation.
Manager CAD Design – Terrafugia Inc.
Manager CAD Design – Terrafugia Inc.
Manager CAD Design – Terrafugia Inc.
Lessons Learned
Functional Manager - Aurora Flight Sciences
AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES, CAMBRIDGE MA
Hired into an engineering position based on performance and experience, promoted for leadership experience and communication skills.
Manager, Mechanical & Propulsion Division (11/2020- 5/2022) Leadership, Career Development
• Functional Manager of a team of 14 engineers designing manned and autonomous prototype aircraft.
• Navigated the Covid transition from office to remote work with zero attrition.
• Experience with interviewing, hiring, onboarding, goal setting, task assignment, mentorship and career development
• User Architect leading the transition to 3DExperience for a program employing 200 engineers.
Lead Weekly 30 minute team meetings
Focus on building rapport between the team,pass down information from outside the group, and highlight and celebrate team member successes.
Attended weekly group meetings
project resource allocation, staffing level projections
Attended bi-weekly company wide managers meeting
Mechanical Engineer (9/2019-11/2020) Mechanical Design , sUAS flight testing, CAD Administration • Design and fabrication of sUAS prototype vehicles including power system sizing, wiring harness fabrication, control system sizing, composite part fabrication as well as initial control system setup and configuration. • Flight test engineer including Flight Readiness Review presentations, Part 107 piloting, field repair, basic flight controller tuning and flight dynamics feedback. • Administer Solidworks and Enterprise PDM installations, first tier CAD IT support.
2021 Review (Aurora):
In Kyle’s first full year as a group manager, Kyle has demonstrated a focus on empowering a diverse and inclusive team – excelling at promoting a strong group culture and instilling positive energy amongst his team. This is evident from his team meetings – Kyle makes a distinct effort to get everyone comfortable and engaged. This is something that Kyle clearly builds on in one-on-one settings with his team members as well, as he received overwhelmingly positive feedback on his ability to engage with his team members in both a one-on-one and group setting. Kyle also excels at sharing his knowledge and mentoring others in areas where he feels he has expertise. I also appreciate Kyle's ability to represent the Mechanical & Propulsion Division in larger settings - Kyle communicates effectively and intelligently, asks very pointed and valuable questions, and has a great big-picture perspective that I value tremendously.
From an individual contributor perspective, Kyle supported a large number of program tasks in 2021, with the majority of them being in a SUAS Flight Ops role. The departure of the only other AMA safety pilot forced Kyle into being the only remaining AMA safety pilot. As a result, Kyle was called on to support nearly all of the SUAS flight test events led by AMA, including multiple deployments in 2021. Overall, Kyle was very valuable in this role and received positive feedback for his piloting skills, professionalism, attitude, ability to promote positive team energy, and enthusiasm.
2020 Review (Aurora):
As an individual contributor, Kyle has been a valuable member of several successful teams, supporting design, build and test of small autonomous aircraft. In his first full year at Aurora, he has demonstrated enthusiasm, initiative, and passion for his job that is seen in his day-to-day activities. He helped the sUAS programs navigate the challenging COVID pandemic by supporting development of a light hardware, work from home program which received recognition internally and by Boeing ET&T. Kyle’s passion for sUAS was evident in the early stages of the work from home program, almost single handedly building several initial surrogates and development articles for the Red Team program. Kyle has been an impactful contributor who helps to promote quick and efficient problem solving while having a good understating the big picture.
While still early in his group manager role, Kyle has clearly embraced his new responsibilities and shown a commitment to developing his team. Kyle’s passion and enthusiasm are evident in his new role, and he has performed well in getting up to speed.
Mechanical Engineer
– Aurora Flight Sciences
MIDAS 2
Red Team
Red Team 2 proposal and initial study (jets!)
Valiant
SSTOL
Functional Manager - Aurora Flight Sciences
Functional Manager - Aurora Flight Sciences
Senior Engineer – American Robotics
Program Management, sUAS design/Build - Promoted to Project Engineer after 3 months
Bi-weekly team meetings, Gantt schedule in Jira, Team tasking
in a 3 week sprint format. Coordinate with Flight Test and
Production. Report weekly progress to VP ENG
Senior Engineer - American Robotics
That’s cool, but what else can you do?
Sparrowhawk Design LLC
Questions?
What is the typical time commitment for managerial duties?
What does success look like as an Aerovironment manager and how is it measured?
Are there opportunities for management training available?
Is there anything about my background that makes you question whether I am a good fit for this role?
Current Shop - When I was searching for a house in 2019 I joked with my coworkers that what I really wanted was a four car garage with an apartment on the top!