James Coutre is an aerospace professional with 18 years of industry experience in Aerospace and Hardware engineering start-ups.  He has delivered and developed complex multi-disciplinary systems: from Hyperloop electro-magnetic vehicles, to the stage separation systems of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, to SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule’s Solar arrays.  

As Chief Engineer at Hyperloop he led a team of over 200 engineers in an iterative design approach in order to integrate Mechanical, Propulsion, Levitation, Heat Management, Energy Storage, Power Distribution, and Avionics disciplines into a novel vehicle, as well as developing fleet management principles, track and wayside structures, pumping systems, passenger stations, and route designs to support project deployments.  During this time he also, worked as the technical focal for the system design, aiding key stakeholders in performing due diligence activities including: regulators (FRA, DOT), auditors (The Aerospace Corporation, Roland Berger), Board members (DP WORLD, VIRGIN GROUP), investors, project partners (SNCF, GE, PARSONS, BIG Architects, Foster & Partners), and customers (SA, Dubai, Netherlands, India, UK Airports, US DOT).