Adam Amar

Orion Aerothermodynamics System Manager
NASA Johnson Space Center

After growing up in Charlotte, NC, Adam studied Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University and received his BS in 2004 and MS in 2006. His graduate school research focussed on computational fluid dynamics and modeling ablative thermal protection systems (TPS). During graduate school, Adam worked as a graduate student intern at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM where he applied his research through development of software tools for ablative TPS analysis. Since graduating, Adam has worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, primarily as an aerothermodynamicist supporting the Orion and Artemis Programs. He is currently the Orion Aerothermodynamics System Manager and the JSC Technical Discipline Lead for Aerothermodynamics. In his roles, Adam leads an Agency-wide team in the development of aerothermodynamic environments for Orion design and mission execution.

David Robinson

CEO
Corvid Technologies and Corvid Cyberdefense

Our Thursday luncheon speaker is Dr. David Robinson. He is the CEO of Corvid Technologies and Corvid Cyberdefense. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University with Minors in Mathematics and Computer Science. Prior to founding Corvid, Dr. Robinson worked at the Weapons Effectiveness and Lethality Branch of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in the Computational Physics Group. He was also involved in several research projects for NASA-Langley Research Center, and has been a part of several technical publications in his field. He graduated from the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Program.

Patrick Porter

Vice President of Flight Test and Flight Operations
Honda Aircraft Company

Patrick Porter is a native of New York City. Upon graduating from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. in Naval Architecture, he reported for training as a Naval Flight Officer to Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL. After receiving his wings he served as an A-6E Intruder Bombardier/Navigator, based at Whidbey Island, WA and Atsugi, Japan, making three deployments on three different aircraft carriers during this period. With the retirement of the A-6E, he was selected for transition as a Radar Intercept Officer in the F-14A Tomcat, serving in Virginia Beach, VA and Atsugi, Japan, making two deployments in the F-14A on two different aircraft carriers. Following his last F-14 tour, Patrick moved into the Research, Development and Acquisition branch of the Navy, serving at the F-14 Program Office at Patuxent River, MD. He was subsequently selected for the United States Naval Test Pilot School where he completed the Flight Test Engineering curriculum before being re-assigned to the Naval Stike Aircraft Test Squadron, working on F/A-18F Superhornet projects.

During this period he earned a Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He later joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program Office as the Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Lead, and then as the F-35 Air Vehicle System Engineering Integration Team Lead. Upon retirement from active duty, he joined a growing company in the northern VA area who supported Defense, Intelligence, and Homeland Security programs. Following this, he returned to government service as a civil servant for Naval Air Systems Command as the F-35 Program Deputy Director for the Integrated Test Force which spanned all government and contractor flight test facilities and activities. He then served a year in a career broadening role as the Naval Air Systems Command liaison to the Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carrier Programs before returning to the F-35 Program as the Deputy Director for the System Development and Demonstration Program. At this point in his career, Patrick decided to move to the civil aerospace sector, assuming a position with Gulfstream Aerospace leading the flight test effort for the GVII-G600 from manufacturing handoff through Type Certification. He was then invited to join Flight Operations at Gulfstream where he served as a Production Test Pilot on the GVI and GVII aircraft while standing up a new team to overhaul the tools and processes used to author and publish all Gulfstream flight crew publications.

Patrick now serves as the Vice President of Flight Test and Flight Operations at Honda Aircraft Company, where he leads a team of instrumentation engineers, flight coordinators and maintenance personnel, flight test engineers, and pilots, in the planning and execution of flight test projects and corporate transportation missions. He is leading his team in the preparations for the certification flight test program of the HondaJet Echelon in the near future. In this role, Patrick also serves as an active type rated HondaJet pilot.

As an Airline Transport rated pilot and Naval Flight Officer, Patrick has accumulated 5,200 flight hours in many types of aircraft operating globally. Patrick additionally has recently earned certification as a National Business Aircraft Association Certified Aviation Manager.