“The timing of the opportunity was exciting with the emergence of eVTOL technology and the generational modernization of the Department of Defense,” said Jason. “The environment is rich for our dedicated group of engineers who have such great expertise to focus on leap ahead technology.”

Now, he’s the Innovation team’s new leader, uniting the military advanced conceptual design and autonomy development team with the current Innovation engineers. Through cross-collaboration, Bell has reduced some duplication of work and brought its talent closer together. During this seamless transition, both teams are already working on preliminary design and early requirements for programs. Jason brought over some of the team to focus purely on research activities that will feed into future aircraft capabilities.

“Right now, there are more new products in the pipeline than we’ve ever seen before at Bell,” said Jason. “Whether it’s clean-sheet designs or new technology for existing platforms, our team is already diving into new opportunities.”