Michael Atwood is the Vice President for the Advanced Programs Group and is responsible fortechnical and programmatic oversight of new aircraft design and development. In this role, Mr. Atwood oversees the internal company development of sensitive advanced aircraft technologies.

Mr. Atwood’s contribution to the Unmanned Air Vehicle Aerospace field has included payload integration, propulsion system design, low observables and development of the next generation carrier based aircraft. He has received the AIAA award for outstanding achievement in aerospacesystems for his work on swarming unmanned systems.

Mr. Atwood’s initial DoD work began as a Special Projects Lead Engineer for GA-ASI in 2003. This work included major achievements in the development and fielding of the Viper Strike weapon system on unmanned platforms and integration of advanced SIGINT systems. As Engineering Manager for Propulsion, Mr. Atwood led the development for the advanced heavy fuel engine and sustained production activities for MQ-1 and MQ-9 aircraft fleet. Before leading the Advanced Programs Group in 2015, he was the Technical Director for the UCLASS program which focused on low observable aircraft design within the demanding constraints of the carrier environment.

Mr. Atwood received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California PolytechnicState University, San Luis Obispo. He received a diploma from UCSD for the accelerated business management program. He has also completed the General Atomics Engineering LeadershipDevelopment Program.

Mr. Atwood currently lives in San Diego, California with his two sons.