New Hire Announcement – Dan Edwards, Chief Technology Officer for Platform Aerospace

PRESS RELEASE               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release October 2019
For More Information Contact:
Greg Pappianou
Chief Growth Officer
greg.pappianou@platformaero.com
301-863-9253

Hollywood, MD – Platform Aerospace (www.platformaero.com) is excited to welcome Dan Edwards to the Platform Team as its Chief Technology Officer.  Dr. Dan Edwards brings executive-level leadership to this critical position at Platform Aerospace where he is focused on managing the various scientific and technological issues that arise.  Dan earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University with an emphasis on flight controls and has over 45 publications and several patents pending.  He is excited to bring this technology background to advance both current and future product lines at Platform Aerospace. 

“Having Dan join our team has been a phenomenal next step in the evolution of our technical operation! In just the few weeks he has been here with the Platform Aero team you can tell he has a brilliant mind for aerospace problem-solving and he has already brought several innovations to key projects we are currently working on.” Says Kurt Parsons, Platform Aerospace CEO. 

Dan spent 15 years at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in the Tactical Electronic Warfare Division developing many advanced unmanned aircraft designs and technologies.  His achievements include multiple unmanned aviation world’s firsts and unofficial world records using developmental alternate power systems, such as using liquid hydrogen feeding a fuel cell to demonstrate 48 hours of endurance with a Group-2 UAV named Ion Tiger.  Building on his graduate work and an internship at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Dan invented custom autonomous soaring algorithms to ride on invisible air currents, which demonstrated 5 hours of endurance and 115 km goal-and-return on a Group-1 UAV sailplane with no motor at all.  Some of his more exotic design projects included a CD-sized UAV named CICADA that deploys in very large swarms, a rocket-launched helicopter demonstrator, and three variants of flying submarines. 

If you’re interested in hearing more or would like to tour our plant please contact Greg Pappianou (greg.pappianou@platformaero.com) and take a look at what we are doing for major customers here at our plant in Hollywood MD.

43960 Airport View Drive
Hollywood, MD 20636

301.863.9253

info@platformaero.com

www.platformaero.com

Misconceptions in Aerospace CNC Machining

With CNC Machines that are highly precise and power, and with 3D modeling more accurate than ever before there is a lot of misconceptions about how “easy” CNC machining is to do right.

Misconception 1 – “Load and Go”

A common misconception with CNC machines is that it’s a “Load and Go” type of environment. You go into a meeting for scheduling and you hear, “You just load the dxf and hit go, right?” Just about every machinist has heard that statement. This is one of the biggest misconceptions with CNC Machining as there are extensive programming and setups involved with CNC machining. At Platform Aerospace, we work closely with our management and engineers so that everyone understand the processes involved in programming and setting up a CNC Machine. This allows us to fully understand the scheduling and requirements for the machining department to ensure we meet all customer due dates.

Misconception 2 – “If its modeled, the machine can make it”

Another common misconception with CNC machines is that if the 3D model can do it, the machines can do it. An example of this would be a feature such as a sharp radius that may be difficult or impossible to reach in a CNC machine and can increase your machine time by 3x in order to accomplish. On several occasions when we have come up against a difficult part to make, we have come up with an alternative way to manufacture it which made the part even stronger and was much faster to produce. Yes, sometimes this is a requirement for hardware however with a healthy collaboration between engineers and machinist, often a more robust alternative can be explored that allows the machine to function. At Platform Aerospace, we try to help engineers and designers learn about the machines to ensure they know the capabilities of our machines and standard practices with machining. Often, we will have a design review so that we can proof a model before sending it out to the shop to be machined.

Misconception 3 – “We don’t need to buy that tool, we already have some”

Staying up to date with technology and thinking outside the box is something that should be instilled in a machine shop.  The mindset “Sure I can use this same tool I’ve been using for years, it has to be run slow but it runs good” can be a killer in the shop.  One example would be when we had a large part to machine that needed 4 setups to complete when using the tools we already had in our shop.  Because of the long setups, it took almost two weeks to produce one complete part. Completing a part in the most efficient amount of time is our goal at Platform Aerospace.  Our resolution to this issue was to purchase a specialty 90 degree milling tool that would take us from 4 setups down to 2.  Cutting our setup time in half.  This allowed us to produce a finish product in 3 days earlier

Here at Platform Aerospace our shop houses some of the most cutting edge fabrication equipment including, (3) 3/5-Axis CNC Machining Centers with capacities as large as 84” x 40”, Live Tool CNC Lathe, Tilting Axis CNC Waterjet, Precision Cut Saws, Large Cross Draft Paint Booth, electrical cable harness building equipment, carbon fiber part kits, and an extensive assortment of precision tools to get the job done right. Learn more at https://platformaerospace.com/parts-manufacturing.

Need help with Aircraft Part Production or Rapid Aircraft Modification? Tell us more about your project and perhaps we can help!

3D Color Printing UAV Parts for CICADA on HP Jet Fusion 580 Color 3D Printer

Platform Aerospace is 3D Color Printing UAV Parts for CICADA using the HP Jet Fusion 580 Color 3D Printer. Check out the video below to see it in action!

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) refers to CICADA as a low-cost, GPS-guided, micro disposable air vehicle that can be deployed in large numbers to “seed” and area with miniature electronic payloads. These air vehicles can be placed in hostile territory without directly flying over those hostile regions without having to expose human agents on the ground. The CICADA glide to the destination and because there are no motors, it makes them nearly undetectable in flight. Once they land, they can be used for various applications, such as meteorological, chemical, or biological measurements and signals intelligence (SIGINT) monitoring.

To learn more about our machine services, click here.

Need help with Aircraft Part Production or Rapid Aircraft Modification?  Tell us more about your project and perhaps we can help!