Interviewee
Diana Siegel, CFO at Electra Aero, a new aerospace company developing and manufacturing hybrid-electric aircrafts, joined us today for an interview. She holds an MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia.
Transcript
Diana Siegel: So as mentioned, I'm Diana Siegel, the CFO for Electra era and we are a sustainable aircraft company. So we build aircraft to ultimately help decarbonize air transportation. And the first product we're developing is a nine seat hybrid electric, ultra short takeoff and landing aircraft and ultra short basically meaning that you can take off and land in a really short distance. So we're talking 90 by 30 meters so comparable to the size of the soccer field. And the idea is really that you could provide high speed air mobility services without relying on traditional airport infrastructure.
So you can imagine going from a bar, a river to a converted parking lot directly from city center to city center. So you could cut down a trip from New York to Washington DC that right now takes four hours regardless of whether you drive or fly, right? You could cut that down to a little more than an hour. So we're really after addressing that regional mobility space where it just takes too long to drive, it's not worth getting to and through an airport to fly on a commercial aircraft yet. And we just viewed this as a huge opportunity where there's not a good ground transportation alternate transportation solution yet.
And the way I personally got involved with this is, as you mentioned, I'm an engineer by training, did electrical and aerospace engineering, actually then worked as an aerospace engineer for a few years, but then got out of the industry cuz it felt like a pretty slow industry at the time. There wasn't a lot of innovation happening. It felt like we built the same Cuban wing aircraft over and over again. So switched into business for about four years, working as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. Super fun, great experience. Can, can only recommend those wonderful, wonderful mentors but really had the thing about aerospace engineering that was just my passion and I loved it.
And in 2015 got back in the industry when just a lot of excitement was happening around electric propulsion, flight automation, more and more autonomous aircraft, lots of folks sort of like pro pursuing startups around commercial drones. Bunch of r and d groups were really seriously pursuing designs for much more fuel efficient transport aircraft. So, needless to say, got all excited about that and ended up joining the team at Aurora Flight Sciences. And Aurora is a company that's been building robotic and electric prototype type aircraft for a good three decades. And at Aurora I ended up leading the commercial air mobility programs team and among other things we were building a two seek all electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
And here the idea was really to lift off vertically from a rooftop in a city sort of like fly all over traffic and sort of like land at an urban distance, right? A little further down down the line also vertically. And what we found when we built that prototype was that while this concept was technically doable, we found that just a performance ended up too low to make that worthwhile as an actual sort of like commercial product.
And while we were working on this project, a group at MIT that we've been knowing that we've been working with for a while knew, well they brought up this idea of an ultrashort takeoff and landing aircraft. So we built a project around that, actually tested the concept, got really excited about the performance of that and here we are, our founder and CEO ended up spinning out the company Electra sort of like out of Aurora. And I joined the company about six months later and have been there sort of like ever, ever since. Been a good two year journey now and very much enjoying it.
Elisa Muñoz: What would you say has been the biggest change in the industry, in the aerospace industry in order to, I don't know, get Electra where it is now?
Diana Siegel: One, from a market perspective where folks are really demanding that aviation is doing something about its carbon footprint, right? All other sorts of industries are pushing in that direction, are doing what they can to reduce their emissions. And with air transportation a lot of times we just throw our hands up in the air and say it's, it's a hard to decarbonize industry and it is right? But that doesn't mean we should do nothing, right? That there are great tools at our disposal right now to actually build aircraft that are much more sustainable. And one of those certainly is around electric propulsion.
And electric propulsion doesn't mean all electric, right? It can also mean hybrid electric so that you use electric power, right? To help build an aircraft that's much more energy efficient but you still sort of like to use a liquid fuel source, right? To get the range and payload that the industry needs. So, that's certainly a thing that has changed that electric propulsion now got powerful enough and capable enough that we could consider it for use in, in aviation and also flight automation and autonomy, right? Like those two elements that came over from frankly the, the electronics industry, sort of like from robotics from the automotive industry that now lets us build aircraft that first sort of like are a lot safer, put a less, less burden on the pilots or at least they should sometimes that that doesn't work out fully, right? So that is the, that is the intent and let us start thinking about sort of like how do we get to more dense operations and also more safe operations that also let us consider flying aircraft in, in cities and not just sort of like a very large sort of like spacing out to airports that we've sort of moved away right from where people live and actually shoved them out to like into the outskirts of the city where it, it's just a long trip to get to and through.
Elisa Muñoz: I know that you recently partnered up with NASA and you worked together for a campaign. So what was that experience like? I'm pretty sure that you guys were all excited at the beginning, right?
Diana Siegel: Oh absolutely and partnerships are really key to our strategy cuz going back to what we just talked about, right? It's really difficult for a startup to try and do everything right. You wanna focus on the small piece that you do best to start right? And you can build from there and basically work with partners to bring in the elements that they do best. And for example, the key sort of partnerships on our end are obviously sort of like we work with fantastic suppliers and providers of hardware systems be that engines be that avionics be that batteries, right?
That provides those elements into the aircraft and then also works with fantastic partners on the aircraft operations side that basically have a really deep understanding of the transportation problems in their specific sort of like region of the world. For example, we're working with Bristol helicopters that right now sort of is, they're one of the largest helicopter operators in the world right now. Very much focused on the oil and gas industry but really looking to diversify into new markets from their cargo logistics, regional air mobility. And it's fantastic to work with such forward looking and just really experts sort of like in their fields to get the aircraft fielded. And working with NASA obviously is fantastic.
They've built the entire sort of like national campaign that the program's called around really showcasing how advanced am mobility aircraft could operate in the future, right? Like what also the rest of the ecosystem would need to look like be that infrastructure, communications, navigation equipment, right? All of that will need to come together at the end to really fulfill that promise right of hopping from city center to city center or from rooftop to rooftop like our colleagues that are building vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are pursuing. So it's an exciting, exciting time to be in space.
It's really difficult for a startup to try and do everything right. You wanna focus on the small piece that you do best to start. And you can build from there and basically work with partners to bring in the elements that they already manage.
Elisa Muñoz: You mentioned that Electra, it's not necessarily like looking forward to operating the aircraft but designing it. So did you initially start Electra with that focus of designing, certifying and building aircraft instead of operating? Or do you think that, in the next couple of months that's going to be a focus as well?
Diana Siegel: Great question cuz we've been tossing that back and forth as well, right? Considering sort of like which business model to go for and very practically sort of like settled on, you know, designing, building and certifying an aircraft is probably enough sort of like to chew down in, go ahead for any company. So let's start there, right? And work sort of like with partners that are really experienced in operating aircraft safely and then b, we really can't claim that we are the experts sort of like of transportation problems worldwide, right? Like there's folks sort of like that really know what does better sort of, that are sort of like very local in their region and bring in that experience.
And then we work with the partners to the extent that they like and need, right? To set up the overall sort of project, right? That would really then see aircraft flying, I don't know, between sort of like Washington DC and New York, right? Or I don't know, over here in Switzerland I'm continuously frustrated about the trip from Lu Ghana to Geneva that really should only take you about an hour but it's six hours going around the mountain. So, so realizing those, those projects that we work with local operators and that may see us take on more or less sort of a role really depending on how that partnership and that setup plays out.
Elisa Muñoz: What would you say it has been the biggest challenge?
Diana Siegel: On the business side, I would probably say as part of working for bcg, I worked actually for their digital ventures arm for a while and we built software apps there for you know, sort of exploring very quickly sort of like startup ideas and new products and it was just amazing like within three months, right? You could field a software and an app sort of like a prototype, right? See it out there in the wild, see how people react to it, right? You just put it out to a small number of users for a limited time but you immediately sort of like to get feedback and can kind of use that right?
To refine your product and improve it with a hardware startup and then particularly with an aviation startup, right? Where we got these long product development cycles, lots of capital required and you really can't field a product that's not certified, right? We cannot carry passengers unless it's proven to be safe and certified. We don't get that quick feedback loop from actually fielding a product, right? So therefore you need to work your way sort of like through that process with early prototypes show and tell sort of like digital mockups, right? And, and show people sort of like virtually, right?
What could be down the lines of this like without them, without you actually being able to pull up a demo, right? And say why don't you click in and try sort of like if you, if you like this. So I miss that about software but at the same time, right? It's just so impactful what we're, what we're able to do with an aviation sort of like hardware startup and the nine seat is, is at the start, right? Like what, what also gets us excited is where could this go down the line, right? Because the technologies that we're building here, hybrid electric propulsion, how you really integrate aerodynamic and propulsive effects much more so that you can get higher energy efficiency out of the aircraft.
Elisa Muñoz: Diana, do you have any last advice for future entrepreneurs?
Diana Siegel: Maybe let me start with short startup advice, right? Like we, because we keep reminding ourselves of that as well, right? But we all want it, it's really important to have this big vision, right? Of what it is sort of like that we could ultimately do, right? And that's what all gets us excited. But then sort of like narrowing it down right to the smallest thing, right? That we could start building now, right? And really prioritizing our efforts around things. I can focus the entire team on it. That's sort of like what we found really important because it's so easy to get distracted.
And you just never have enough sort of time and money to do all the things sort of like that you really wanna do. So as a startup, if you do one thing right, big vision but then narrow it down quickly, right? To focus on this first small thing that you can build, get traction with customers and show investors that you're able to, to deliver right on, on what it is you're doing. And honestly sort of like for girls, sort of like women in general sort of like in I think engineering sort of like has just been this, it seems counterintuitive but I always found sort of like it is just a fantastic career to where it just matters sort of like less, right? Like that whether you male sort of like, or or female, if you're just applying yourself, you're excited about.
Cuz at the end of the day it's an industry sort of like where data sort of like how you present that sort of like how you build the facts around it. So it's like matter probably probably a lot more sort of like then having sort of like a typical sort of alpha male type demeanor sort of like to you right? Which, to a female sort of like, just feels foreign to exert that much, right? So therefore we feel much more comfortable if we can basically just back it up with analysis data and facts and, and engineering sort of like is an industry that rewards that, right? And will not put sort of like any blocks blocking items sort of like in your way as you, as you sort of like progress through your career.
Elisa Muñoz: So inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, and joining the podcast today Diana.
Diana Siegel: Thanks so much Elisa. It's been super fun.
