James Coutre is an aerospace professional with 18 years of industry experience in Aerospace and Hardtech.  He has delivered and developed complex multi-disciplinary systems, from Hyperloop electro-magnetically levitating vehicles to the stage separation systems of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, to the Cargo 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 touch point for presenting the system design and performing due diligence activities with key stakeholders 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).