Amanda Simpson

Amanda Renae Simpson (born March 26, 1961) is an American pilot, businesswoman and politician.

Amanda Simpson is an advisor and consultant on aerospace, energy, and DEI as Founder and CEO of Third Segment LLC.

She is a nationally renowned speaker and has presented at corporations, government agencies, civic organizations, conferences, and colleges around the country on technology and aerospace innovation as well as gender and diversity.

She retired as vice-president for Research and Technology at Airbus Americas and was the head of Sustainability for Airbus in the Americas.

She was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy and previously Simpson was the executive director of the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives leading the Army's efforts to implement large-scale renewable energy projects.

Her first posting in the Army was as the special assistant to the Army Acquisition Executive.

In that role she was a principal advisor to the United States assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology on all matters relating to Army acquisition, procurement, research & development and logistics.

She earned her single engine land private pilot's license in 1981, a commercial pilot's license with instrument privileges in 1983, and became a certified flight instructor – airplane in 1988 and an instrument instructor in 1989.

Simpson received her Bachelor of Science in physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1983, her Master of Science in engineering from California State University, Northridge, in 1988 on a Hughes Aircraft Fellowship, and her MBA from the University of Arizona in 2001 on a Raytheon Fellowship.

Simpson participated in the Bates Aeronautics Program while a student at Harvey Mudd College.

Simpson was hired by Hughes Electron Dynamics Division in Torrance, California, in 1983 as an engineer and program manager.

She was responsible for engineering and manufacturing of the Gridded Traveling Wave Tube and Continuous Wave Illuminator for the AWG-9/APG-71 radar systems.

In 1988 she added a multi-engine class rating to her commercial license to qualify for transfer to Hughes Missile Systems as a project test engineer and pilot.

Simpson was a mission director and project pilot for captive flight test activities beginning in 1988 before taking over as director of flight operations in 1993 for the Integration, Test and Analysis Laboratory at Hughes Missile Systems.

As a systems test pilot she flew the T-39 Sabreliner, Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, and Convair CV-580 test platforms in support of missile seeker technology development for Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon Missile Systems.

In addition, she flew numerous large transport category aircraft, light multi-engine and single engine aircraft modified for missile flight test purposes.

In 1988 she transferred to the Hughes Missile Systems Company in Canoga Park, where she became the lead and director of flight operations for the captive flight test activities.

She moved those operations to Tucson, where she consolidated the Hughes activities with the missile test operations of General Dynamics, and later Raytheon, as part of corporate mergers.

Simpson designed and oversaw construction of an 80,000 sq. ft. dedicated flight test facility at the Tucson International Airport.

In 1989 she co-founded Processional Pilot Training, a fixed based operation at the Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena Airport (KBUR) focused on flight instruction (private through airline transport) taught by professional flight instructors.

Simpson upgraded to an airline transport pilot (ATP) license in 1994 after adding multi-engine to her flight instructor ratings in 1991.

She relinquished her ownership share of that business when she relocated to Tucson, Arizona, in 1994.

In 1997 she added single-engine sea (float planes and flying boats) to her ATP license.

Simpson moved into project management in 1999, overseeing the daily operations of small Raytheon, Texas Instruments Defense Systems & Electronics Group, and Standard Missile Company projects that had been relocated to Tucson as part of the corporate merger.

Simpson served as a commissioner on the City of Tucson Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Commission from 2001 until 2008, representing Councilwoman Carol West.

Simpson occupied several systems engineer, systems architect, and systems integrator roles in between 2002 and 2006 on projects diverse as the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft, the Joint Airborne Weapons System (JAWS; later renamed the Beechcraft AT-6B) and a variety of advanced technology development and demonstration projects at Raytheon.

Simpson also contributed to the development and/or testing of numerous operation missile systems including Maverick, AMRAAM, Standard, Phalanx, TOW, RAM, JAGM, ACM, HARM, JSOW, MALD, ESSM, SilentEyes, Sidewinder, Sparrow, Paveway and Tomahawk.

In 2005 she became one of only a few licensed pilots flying FAA-certified unmanned aircraft in the national airspace system.

As of 2009, she has flown over 60 makes and models of aircraft and has accumulated 3000 flight hours.

While an undergraduate, Simpson spent her summers working as a student engineer in the customer service organization on the DC-8/DC-9/DC-10 electrical systems at the Douglas Aircraft facility in Long Beach, and on the AH-64 Apache Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Systems at Hughes Helicopter Company in Marina Del Rey.

Upon her appointment to the position of senior technical advisor in the Bureau of Industry and Security in 2010, she became the first openly transgender woman political appointee of any presidential administration.

Simpson worked in the United States Department of Defense and was the first transgender person to lead an U.S. Department of Defense organization.

She is Jewish.

Simpson was born in Chicago as the oldest of four siblings.

She departed from Raytheon in 2010, at which point she was a deputy director and senior program manager, leading teams developing advanced technology in the Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems product line.

Completing her public service with the Defense Department, she joined Airbus Americas in 2018 as the vice president for research and technology.

In this role, she is responsible for coordinating technology development, research activities, and innovation for Airbus in the Western Hemisphere.

She also heads Airbus' sustainability and clean fuels initiatives in the United States.

She has served on the board of directors of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Thermal Batteries, Inc., and is the chairperson of the Airbus Institute for Engineering Research at the University of Southern California.

In late 2022, Simpson was appointed by Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to serve on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) along with 20 other new members to provide information, advice and recommendations to the FAA and DOT about technology, business and policy issues regarding oversight of the U.S. commercial space transportation sector.