Robert Roedts, 2021

Robert (Rob) Roedts is the Senior Director of Technical Operations at Columbia Helicopters where he has worked since 2010. Columbia is unique in the fact that it is an operator, maintainer, and OEM for the Model 107-II, 234, and CH-47D helicopters as well as the General Electric CT58 engine. Since 2020, Rob has been responsible for executive oversight of Columbia’s Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain organizations, which support all of Columbia’s product and service lines.

Throughout the duration of both his academic and professional careers, Rob has been deeply involved with the development of talent and facilitating opportunities for young engineers to learn and grow in the industry. Internal to Virginia Tech, he has mentored senior design teams on an annual basis, facilitated summer internships at Columbia, and served as a member of the AOE Advisory Board. Rob’s external outreach has been primarily through the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) student competition, Design Build Fly (DBF), which provides students with their first practical experience in aircraft design, manufacturing, and testing. Rob was introduced to DBF when he was a student at Virginia Tech between 2002 and 2005 participating as both a team member and program manager. While at Penn State, he was the founder and graduate advisor of their DBF team. 

After completing his MS Degree at Penn State in 2008, Rob began his ongoing commitment to the organization and management of the annual AIAA DBF competition. After starting as a tech inspector, Rob’s role and responsibilities have evolved from volunteer tech advisor to the senior leadership of the AIAA DBF Organizing Committee as a Standing Member with voting rights. Through the efforts of the leadership team, the annual DBF competition has grown to include teams from more than 100 universities from around world.