James JP Stewart, 2021

JP Stewart is responsible for all aspects of aircraft development for Electra’s turbine hybrid-electric extremely short takeoff and landing aircraft. Prior to joining Electra, he led the development of the full-scale eVTOL aircraft for Porsche/Boeing as Senior Technical Program Manager at Boeing (post Aurora Flight Sciences acquisition) with a direct team of over 75 people. He also previously worked as the propulsion test and solar array lead for Aurora’s 240’ wingspan solar-powered aircraft and a mechanical engineer before that. Before joining Aurora, he founded a startup focused on collecting and processing aerial imagery from UAVs through the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute. JP started his career flying drones (inc. the 200 lb Yamaha RMAX) for Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Systems Lab and AVID LLC while in high school, growing out of his hobby flying giant scale (125” wingspan and 40 lb) radio-controlled aircraft in aerobatic competitions.

While at Virginia Tech (VT), he was selected by Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine and the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for the 20 Twenties program of the up and coming for “Fearless enthusiasm, curiosity, engineering capability, and concern about the world beyond themselves.” He was one of three founders of the VT Aerospace and Ocean Engineering (AOE) Alumni Mentoring Program (AMP) and administered the program for several years. He was also Chief Engineer of the VT AIAA Design Build Fly (DBF) team taking 2nd place at competition (with over 130 teams) and he continues to mentor students and AIAA DBF teams.

When not working on airplanes, he’s an active pilot and instructor flying both sailplane and powered aircraft. He learned to fly sailplanes at the Blue Ridge Soaring Society near Virginia Tech and has flown over 620 miles and 8 hrs in a single flight and up to 17,835 ft – all without an engine. He is a life member of the Soaring Society of America, holder of 19 state records, and has represented the US Soaring Team four-times in the World Championships. He can also be found riding his bike around Northern Virginia preparing for a 100 mi ride in the spring.