Our Management Team

John S. Langford, Chairman and President  Dr. Langford is an experienced aerospace industry veteran and entrepreneur, having founded Aurora Flight Sciences in 1989 and Athena Technologies in 1998. Langford earned his undergraduate degree in aeronautics from MIT in 1979. As a student he was employed by Lockheed Corporation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. After graduation he worked for Lockheed as an engineer on the development of the F-117 stealth fighter. He returned to MIT in the mid 1980s for graduate work, where he earned a master’s in aeronautics, a master’s in defense policy, and a doctoral degree in aeronautics and public policy. He worked for the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia before founding his first company in 1989. While at MIT, Langford organized and led a series of human-powered aircraft projects, culminating in the Daedalus Project which in 1988 shattered the world distance and endurance records for human-powered flight with a 72 mile flight between the Greek islands of Crete and Santorini. Dr. Langford has been awarded the DeFlorez Prize from MIT (1979), the Kremer Speed Prize from the Royal Aeronautical Society (1984), the Young Engineer of the Year award from the AIAA National Capital Section (1989), the National Tibbets Award for outstanding contributions to the SBIR Program (1996) and the Barry M. Goldwater Educator Award from the AIAA (2000). He holds the grade of Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Fellow status in the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was chosen as one of Virginia's Outstanding Industrialists for 2004 by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was named Virginia’s Small Business Person of the Year for 2004 by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Dan Brady, Vice President of Aerostructures  Mr. Brady joined Aurora in June 2007 from Vought Aircraft Industries where he was Director of Global Supply Chain Management and previously Director of Boeing and Bell Military Programs. At Aurora he is responsible for the profit and loss of the Aerostructures business sector . His daily responsibilities include overall program development and program execution which includes the oversight of component production for prime contractors such as Northrop Grumman for the Global Hawk, and Sikorsky Aircraft for the sonobuoy launcher for MH-60R and the main rotor pylon for Sikorsky’s CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter. The Aerostructures team was also awarded a USAF contract to develop a concept demonstrator for the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft. Mr. Brady has over 30 years of experience managing military and commercial aircraft programs incorporating a broad range of activities including development and implementation of business unit strategy, global supply chain management, business management, international experience in supplier management, contract negotiations, and teaming. In 1996, he was appointed Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Aircraft Division Leader for the Program Management Center of Excellence Initiative. Mr. Brady holds a Bachelor of Sciences in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Business Administration from the C.W. Post Center, Long Island University.

Tom Clancy, Chief Technical Officer and Vice President of Engineering  Mr. Clancy joined Aurora as one of its original staff in 1989 after completing Electrical Engineering coursework at MIT. He has a broad background across all aspects of UAV engineering and technology. Early in his career, he was group leader for avionics, heading the team responsible for the design and original sizing of an electrical propulsion system for the Perseus high-altitude UAV, later becoming group leader for propulsion, managing the development of the Arion I closed-cycle engine, and overseeing the maturation of the Arion IIB multi-stage turbocharged engine. As the Perseus aircraft design progressed into integration, he served as project manager and chief engineer for the entire Perseus development program. He has also served as chief engineer and flight director on multiple UAV programs and operations at Aurora.

Javier de Luis, Chief Scientist  Dr. de Luis joined Aurora in 2007 and is presently Aurora’s Chief Scientist. Dr. de Luis earned his BS in1983,his MS in 1985, and his PhD in 1989 in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. His professional interests are in the fields of spaceflight research and operations, engineering design and analysis, and technology management. Dr. de Luis joined Payload Systems Inc. in 1989 as a staff scientist, and later held the position of Chief Scientist and CEO of the company. PSI was acquired by Aurora in 2007. Dr. de Luis has served as the co-investigator and project manager for several spaceflight payloads. He also served as a payload representative at Mission Control during mission operations. He has published papers on such diverse topics as piezoelectric actuators and intelligent structures, structural control, design and development of spaceflight systems. Dr. de Luis is a recipient of the MIT James Means Memorial Prize for excellence in space systems engineering; a NASA Commendation for Technology Excellence, a NASA Group Achievement Award, and a NASA Manned Flight Awareness Award. He was three times a finalist in the NASA Astronaut Selection Program. He holds a US patent for electrically insulated embedded piezoelectrics in composite structures. Dr. de Luis has appeared on several local and national news programs as commentator on space shuttle missions.

Joe Granata, General Manager of Aurora’s Virginia Operations  Mr. Granata has been affiliated with Aurora since 2005. Initially as the Director of Organizational Development and more recently, in his current position as General Manager of Virginia Operations. In his current position Mr. Granata has overall responsibility for all activities within Aurora’s Virginia facilities. Prior to coming to Aurora Mr. Granata co-founded a Government Consulting Services firm that was focused on providing Information Technology and Organizational Development services to both federal and commercial clients in the Washington DC area. Under his leadership the company grew significantly and established dozens of new clients to include U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, AOL, MCI, and BDM. Earlier in his career Mr. Granata held management positions at Source Services Corporation and Honeywell Federal Systems where he was a Project Manager and Sr. Software Engineer. Mr. Granata holds a B.S. Computer Science.

Ralph Koch, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer  Mr. Koch joined the Company in October 2003. His daily responsibilities include managing all contracts, accounting, financial and treasury functions, as well as, budgeting and long-range forecasting. In addition, Mr. Koch is responsible for M&A evaluation, due diligence and financial integration. Before entering private industry in 1991, Mr. Koch was an audit partner with KPMG’s Washington, DC practice. Previously, he was a co-founder and CFO for RegalWorks, Inc., a holding company for media and business services companies where he was responsible for M&A. Prior to 2000, he was the CFO for CardSystems, Inc., an electronic payment processing company and Information Management Consultants, a government contractor providing information technology services. He has experience with multiple private and public equity and debt financings. Mr. Koch is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and has a BS in Business Administration from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

Jean-Charles (JC) Ledé, Vice President of Advanced Concepts  Mr. Ledé joined Aurora Flight Sciences in February 1993 working on the Theseus unmanned aircraft project. Diligently making his way through the Aurora ranks, Mr. Ledé has worked on over a dozen advanced UAVs at Aurora, and has served as project manager for Aurora’s successful 2002 deployment drop test of the MarsFlyer UAV, and as Director of the UAV development group, overseeing the work performed by the system engineers, aerodynamicists, load engineers, and other specialty engineering related to the preliminary design of all Aurora aircraft. Most recently Mr. Ledé held the position of Chief Engineer of the Orion UAV project. Mr. Ledé holds a bachelors degree in mathematics and a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (Sup’ Aéro) in Toulouse, France.

Kristine T. Miller, Vice President of Business Operations  Ms. Miller is responsible for strategic infrastructure planning and execution for Aurora’s four locations. The General Managers in VA, WV, MS and MA directly report to her for business operations. Site responsibilities include facilities, security, MIS/IT, corporate communications and public outreach, human resources and corporate flight operations. Since joining the organization in 1994, Ms. Miller has been responsible for human and capital resources planning to support the company’s growth both organically and through acquisition. In 1999 she led activities to establish an international joint venture and subsequently a successful acquisition in 2000 that doubled the company size. Ms. Miller led the green field activities to start an operation in Columbus, Mississippi in 2005 and an R&D center in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006. Ms. Miller joined Aurora in 1994 as Director of Administration after ten years’ industry experience working with government contractors BDM International and Comprehensive Technologies International, Inc. She holds a BS in Business Administration from George Mason University and an MBA from George Washington University.

Joe C. Parrish, Vice President of Research & Development Mr. Parrish joined Aurora Flight Sciences in October 2007. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Parrish was the President of Payload Systems Inc. in Cambridge, MA, where he led that organization and managed several successful technology development programs for government, industry, and academic customers. From 1990 to 2002, Mr. Parrish was employed by NASA in Washington, DC. During his tenure at NASA, Mr. Parrish held positions of responsibility for space station assembly and maintenance planning, space telerobotic system development, and planetary exploration mission development. His final assignment at NASA was in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, where he was the Program Executive for the Mars Science Laboratory, Mars Scouts, and Mars Sample Return missions, as well as several key technologies for planetary exploration. Prior to joining NASA, Mr. Parrish was employed as a senior engineer at Booz-Allen & Hamilton and at Oceaneering Space Systems, providing technical consulting and system engineering for space and underwater applications. Mr. Parrish has received several career awards, including the DeFlorez Prize, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Group Achievement Award, and the NASA Exceptional Performance Award. Mr. Parrish holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, with academic and research emphasis on space systems, automation and robotics, and on-orbit assembly and maintenance.

Tim Dawson-Townsend, General Manager of the Cambridge R&D Center  Mr. Tim Dawson-Townsend oversees all day-to-day operations and activities within Aurora’s Cambridge MA Research and Development Center. He holds a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT, an M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University, and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Dayton. Mr. Dawson-Townsend served nearly ten years on Air Force active duty, primarily in engineering, including three years at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB and two years as an exchange engineer with the German Center for Air- and Spaceflight in Braunschweig, Germany. He continues to serve part-time in the AF Reserve, assigned to the Electronic System Center at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts. Mr. Dawson-Townsend has extensive experience in systems engineering and human factors design for aircraft avionics. He worked for five years at Avidyne Corporation, where he helped create and achieve FAA certification on the first all-digital Primary Flight Display for general aviation aircraft. He was involved in the human interface design and FAA certification of cockpit displays for aircraft from manufacturers Cirrus, Columbia, Symphony, Adam Aircraft, and New Piper. His human factors expertise was also used directly for the cockpit display design for the prototype Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet (VLJ). Mr. Dawson-Townsend is an instrument-rated private pilot.

Ronald C. Richman, General Manager of Aurora West Virginia  Mr. Richman has led Aurora’s West Virginia manufacturing organization since 2004. His career has been spent in nearly every aspect of the aerospace manufacturing business – from the shop floor to the executive suite. With 15 years of senior management experience and profit and loss responsibility, he has demonstrated an ability to increase sales and enhance operating margins, through consistent process improvements, improved product quality and on-time delivery. In Mr. Richman’s prior position as President of the NORDAM Manufacturing Divisions, he was responsible for multiple acquisitions, and the integration of those products into the organization.

Rob Penrod, General Manager of Aurora’s Mississippi Manufacturing Operations  Mr. Penrod joined Aurora in 2008 from Adam Aircraft where he was Vice president of manufacturing operations. Prior to that he was a business unit director at Bell Helicopter on the V-22 program and held several positions of increasing responsibilities at the Aerostrucutres Corporation (now Vought Nashville). Mr. Penrod has the responsibility for the day to day operations of Aurora’s Mississippi facilities, focused on being the primary manufacturing and delivery center for Aurora’s development programs as well as establishing a capability for the manufacturing of aerospace components and assemblies. He has more than 25 years of experience in both development and rate production of aircraft and major aerospace components. His roles have spanned manufacturing, tooling, quality assurance, program management, marketing, inventory management, and lean methodologies. Mr. Penrod is also a Textron certified Six Sigma Black Belt specializing in Design for Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, and work optimization.

Jeff A. Tillery, Vice President of Quality  Mr. Tillery joined the Aurora team in August 2005, initially serving as our Corporate Director of Quality which grew in January 2007 to include the role of the Director of Engineering in Manassas. In his current role, Mr. Tillery provides corporate oversight of all of Aurora facilities’ quality management systems involving design, manufacturing, and supply chain management processes. Prior to joining Aurora, Mr. Tillery served as the Global Director of Quality with Measurement Specialties, Inc., a global designer and manufacturer of sensors and pressure transmitters. Additionally, he served MSI in program management roles for military/aerospace pressure sensors. Prior to MSI, Mr. Tillery held a variety of mechanical design engineering and management roles in both engineering and quality with world-class organizations including GE Fanuc (industrial controls), Sundstrand (aerospace power controls) and Hughes Aircraft (airborne radar systems). Mr. Tillery received his BS degree from Purdue University in 1983, and is GE-certified as a Six Sigma Blackbelt with specialized emphasis on Design for Six Sigma and Design for Reliability for product development.

John Tylko, Vice President of Business Development  Mr. Tylko was a founding member of Aurora’s Board of Directors and has been continuously involved with the company since its inception in 1989. Mr. Tylko was an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer at General Electric’s Aircraft Engine Group from 1979 to 1981 where he was responsible for development of composite material structures on the F-404 and T-700 military aircraft engines. Mr. Tylko co-founded General Computer Company (“GCC”) in 1981 and served as its Chief Operating Officer from 1987 to 2003. GCC developed a variety of innovative products in the consumer electronics and personal computer markets, ranging from video games to laser printers. Mr. Tylko was responsible for all aspects of operational management necessary to grow the company from startup to over $50 million in revenue. He also co-founded VideoGuide in 1993 and was instrumental in its sale to Gemstar TV Guide International. VideoGuide develops interactive electronic program guides for television. Mr. Tylko served as a Vice President of Aurora since May, 2003. He led Aurora’s Aerostructures business sector through May, 2006 and played a major role in managing Aurora’s Global Hawk manufacturing program. He led the transition of Aurora’s West Virginia manufacturing plant to a state-of-the-art composite structures manufacturing center. In May, 2006 he assumed overall responsibility for Aurora’s business development and strategic planning. Mr. Tylko holds a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a lecturer in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a recipient of MIT’s Founders Award which recognizes entrepreneurship.