"Reorganization For Next Stage of Growth"
Some changes at the top
for Eclipse Aviation were announced Tuesday, with a number of
executive promotions.
"We have reached an inflection point in our growth," said Vern
Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation.
"The design of the Eclipse 500 is essentially complete and we
are accelerating into certification flight test and production. It
is a logical time to align our executive leadership team to ensure
we can continue to deliver the caliber of breakthrough innovations
that will enrich general aviation for years to come," he said.
And that, says Raburn, means realigning some of the company's
management.
Eclipse has elevated both Dr. Oliver Masefield (top
right) and Don Burtis (center right) to the
distinguished role of senior vice president, senior fellow.
Masefield previously served as the company's senior vice
president of engineering and Burtis previously led Eclipse's
avionics & electronics organization.
In the newly established position of senior fellow, Masefield
and Burtis will guide Eclipse's technical vision and create the
technical innovations that will fuel the company's next stage of
growth and future generation of aircraft.
Being appointed to a
fellow role is the highest honor a technologist can receive at
innovation-centric companies including Apple, Disney, IBM and
Xerox.
While the position of fellow exists in commercial aviation
organizations such as Boeing and United Technologies Corp., Eclipse
is thought to be the first general aviation company to embrace this
central technical leadership role.
"Eclipse Aviation is built on a foundation of technical
innovation," Raburn said. "Don and Oliver are largely responsible
for the key innovations of the Eclipse 500. In the role of senior
fellows, they will be able to focus on bringing innovations to our
future aircraft and ongoing enhancements of the Eclipse 500."
Eclipse also promoted Ken Harness (bottom right) to the role of
vice president of engineering. Harness, who previously served as
Eclipse's director of propulsion systems in the engineering
organization, will assume responsibility for the day-to-day
management of Eclipse's engineering and avionics & electronics
operations.
Harness, known for his strong leadership and management
expertise, was instrumental in enabling Eclipse to successfully
architect and navigate the transition from Williams International
to Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) engines.
Before joining Eclipse,
Harness held leadership positions with Sikorsky Aircraft, Pratt
& Whitney and Williams International. Earlier in his career,
Ken served as an Army aviator in various assignments globally,
including aviation company command, US State Department aviation
operations support and combat aviation operations in Southwest
Asia.
An aviation enthusiast, Harness is qualified as a UH-60 test
pilot, and as a commercial instrument pilot in UH-1's, AH-1's and
OH-58 helicopters. Harness holds a bachelor's degree from Purdue
University and MBA from Oakland University.