The team is comprised of dedicated aviation safety professionals with experience and expertise in rotorcraft, vertical lift, and eVTOL/urban air mobility.
Meet the team
Charles “Cliff” Johnson
Supervisory General Engineer,
FAA
Lacey Thompson
Operations Research Analyst,
FAA
Jean-Christophe “Geff” Geffard
Principal Engineer,
ATAC
Geff has been providing Aeronautics and Electronics Systems engineering expertise for 35+ years. He is currently a principal engineer with ATAC corp. supporting FAA safety and data management programs for multiple groups including VFAST, CASSIE, RDOE, EIM, HPC and Separation Standards.
Grant Morfitt
General Engineer,
FAA
Grant is with the Aviation Research Division, Software and Systems Branch, System Safety Section. He graduated from Rowan University with his MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2021. He has been with the agency for five years following a co-op internship while pursuing his degree, during which time he supported the school’s Virtual Reality Lab and associated FAA research. Grant currently supports multiple areas within the FAA which are primarily focused in the areas of Terminal Area Safety (TAS) and Rotorcraft Safety initiatives. He is currently leading a project within TAS focused on the impact of immersive technologies on pilot training, and he supports the rotorcraft safety group with human in the loop experiment design, data analysis, documentation, and system integration.
Stephanie Stead
Computer Scientist,
FAA
Julian Babel
Computer Engineer,
FAA
Tong Vu, PhD
Electronics Engineer,
FAA
John M. Kayes
Aviation Systems Analyst,
FAA
A 22-year active duty Coast Guard veteran qualified on the HH65 Dolphin helicopter and flew as a flight mechanic performing Search and Rescue, Homeland Security, and Drug Enforcement missions.
John is an FAA-licensed Part 107 drone pilot and an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. He has been an FAA employee since 2008.
Eleni Sotiropoulos-Georgipoulos
PhD Candidate,
Georgia Tech
Eleni graduated with her M.Sc in Aerospace from ISAE-Supaero (France) and from Georgia Tech in 2022. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, ASDL, focusing on the use of flight simulators for Vortex Ring State accident prevention. As part of her thesis research, she works at the FAA Technical Center for the Vertical Flight Aviation Simulation Team, VFAST, experimenting with their six helicopter and eVTOL flight simulators.
Maggie Mayfield
General Aviation Research Pilot and Program Analyst,
EIT
Maggie is a commercial pilot with instrument rating and experience as an F-16 Avionics Technician. She has a B.S. in Physics from Rowan University and is currently pursuing a master’s in Industrial Engineering at Iowa University, focusing on human factors and flight test engineering. Dedicated AvSTEM ambassador and aviation enthusiast.
Tim Kuhn
General Engineer,
FAA
Tim graduated with a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2019. He is with the Software and Systems Branch of the Aviation Research Division. He started with the FAA in their Gateways Internship Program and converted to full-time work with the team just last year. Currently, his focus is on developing cyber capabilities for the VFAST simulators and supporting their operation across a variety of research studies.
Andres Geffard
Biomedical Engineer,
ATAC
Andres is a rotorcraft safety research engineer with ATAC. He graduated from Rowan University with a B.S in biomedical engineering and is now a part-time biomedical engineering graduate student at Johns Hopkins University. At VFAST, he maintains and enhances flight simulators, conducts data analysis, develops the website, and designs custom parts and materials using CAD and additive manufacturing technology.
Tyler Travis
Senior Analyst,
Rowan University
Phil Greco
Senior Aerospace Consultant,
EIT
Supporting FAA CSF facility, FDM research pilot, special aviation projects: AOA, ASTi, Rotorcraft and fixed wing studies.
John Geyser
Senior Aerospace Consultant,
EIT
Performing duties as a Flight/Aircraft Operations team member flying, evaluating, and improving the FAA’s Sikorsky S76D Simulator at the FAA Cockpit Simulation Facility (CSF) at the William J. Hughes Technical Center.
Partners & Collaborators
FAA Cockpit Simulation Facility
The CSF Team operates a set of high-fidelity aircraft simulators for human-in-the-loop research studies. Their simulators combine in-house developed software and hardware along with actual aircraft avionics, which provides very high fidelity in the simulation and at the same allows us to customize our simulators based on a customer’s unique requirements. This gives the ability to assist clients in their simulation goals, scenario development, and data collection. The CSF has supported various projects such as workload assessments, new integrated avionics, and weather technology in the cockpit.
