Team & Advisors
The people who built the field.
Electromagnetic launch is a problem the United States has invested in for decades. EML's bench includes the leaders who directed that national effort — across DARPA, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the Army's Institute for Advanced Technology, Los Alamos, AFRL, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
Science & Engineering Advisors
Directed America's electromagnetic-launch programs.
Dr. Harry Fair
DARPA · SDIO · U.S. Army IAT
Founding Director of the Army's Institute for Advanced Technology — its first University Affiliated Research Center — and a leader of the National Program on Electromagnetic Propulsion. Career across the U.S. Army, DARPA, and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. Senior editor of the IEEE Proceedings that form the science base for electromagnetic launch.
Dr. Jerald Parker
Los Alamos · AFRL
Four decades in high-current, high-energy electromagnetic technology. Led magnetic flux-compression generator development at Los Alamos; built the IAT electric launcher facility; supported AFRL at Kirtland. Awarded the Peter Mark Medal for contributions to electromagnetic launch.
Dr. Graham Candler
National Academy of Engineering
Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota. A leading authority in hypersonics and computational fluid dynamics; elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2020). Advises on hypersonic aerothermodynamics and stability.
Dr. Mehmet Erengil
Hypersonics & EML weapon systems
26+ years developing advanced weapon and launch systems, from subsonic mortars to hypersonic weapons and earth-to-space electromagnetic launch. Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, UT Austin.
Dr. Nick Long
Robinson Research Institute
Director of the Robinson Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington. A founder of New Zealand's HTS Roebel-cable program; decades of work advancing high-temperature superconducting wire performance and space applications.
Dr. Jeff Whalen
MagCorp · NHMFL
Founder & CEO of MagCorp; Ph.D. in condensed-matter chemistry. Former research faculty at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, leading DoE- and DoD-funded superconductivity and electromagnet research.
Leadership
Founder & CEO
David G. Dillon
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Serial technology entrepreneur and inventor of EML's foundational 2016 electromagnetic-launch patent. Founder of Verify Brand (acquired by Optel, 2017) and co-founder of PlanetPrint (acquired by Standard Register, 2002). Founded Electromagnetic Launch in 2020 after a multi-year study of the physics and engineering of low-cost launch.
Board & Counsel
Michael Gorman
Investor & Advisor
Founding Managing Director of Split Rock Partners; previously Managing General Partner of St. Paul Venture Capital. MBA and JD, Harvard; B.A. Economics, Duke.
Steven E. Helland
Counsel · Fredrikson & Byron
Shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron, focused on IP, licensing, and technology transactions for emerging companies.
In Memoriam
Dr. Huub Weijers
Electromagnetic launch is a problem the United States has invested in for decades. EML's bench includes the leaders who directed that national effort — across DARPA, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the Army's Institute for Advanced Technology, Los Alamos, AFRL, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
In his honor, EML has named its first superconducting quench-drive demonstrator the Weijers Pathfinder. See the program roadmap →