US advanced technology company Technovation chairman and CEO Dr Paul Kaminski has joined the board of directors of eSTOL developer Electra.aero.

"We are delighted and honoured to welcome Paul to the Electra team," says founder and CEO John Langford. "Paul's experience in leading the development of groundbreaking technology is unrivalled. The guidance he'll bring to our work will be invaluable."

"I am thrilled to join Electra at this exciting time in the aviation industry, as it develops a new generation of high-performance sustainable aircraft," adds Kaminski. "John Langford has formed an incredible team with 'bruised knuckles experience' in designing, developing, testing, certifying and marketing aircraft with groundbreaking technology, and they plan to do it again with hybrid-electric power carefully integrated to enable a blown wing for ultra-short and quiet takeoff and landing."

Kaminski is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and both a fellow and honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A retired US Air Force colonel, he served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology from 1994 to 1997, responsible for all DOD research, development and acquisition programmes as well as logistics, environmental security, international programmes, the defence industrial base and military construction with a total annual budget exceeding $100 billion.

President Bush presented him with The National Medal of Technology in 2006 for his role in overseeing the development of stealth aircraft. He was appointed twice as chairman of the Defense Science Board, where he currently serves as a member.

He has served on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, the FBI Director's Advisory Board, the Director of National Intelligence's Senior Advisory Group, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Technical Advisory Board, and the National Academies Air Force Studies Board. Previously chair of the Rand Corporation and a director of General Dynamics, he currently chairs the boards of HRL, Seagate Government Solutions and the Systems Engineering Research Council. He is also a director of MITRE, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, and the USAF Academy Foundation and an advisor to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Dr Kaminski's awards include election to the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the DOD Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the French Republic Legion d'Honneur, the SPIE Lifetime Achievement award and the Air Force Systems Command Scientific Achievement Award. He has been recognised as a Pioneer of National Reconnaissance and a Pioneer of Stealth.

Dr Kaminski received a BSc from the Air Force Academy, MSc degrees in both Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University.