Biography
Additional Title(s)
Director of Technology & Innovation, Electra.aero
Ben Marchionna is currently the Director of Technology & Innovation at Electra.aero, a startup company focused on hybrid-electric ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft for urban and regional markets.
Most recently, Ben was the Vice President of Global Operations at SkySpecs, a venture-backed startup company developing and fielding at-scale autonomous robotics technologies and AI-based asset management solutions for the clean energy industry. While at SkySpecs, Ben built-from-scratch an international team of 150+ professionals across 12 time zones to execute the global scaling of SkySpecs products – from initial prototype to nearly 100,000 autonomous drone flights at more than 2,000 wind farms in 26 countries.
Prior to SkySpecs, Ben was a graduate of the Engineering Leadership Development Program at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, where he worked on a variety of revolutionary autonomous aircraft projects from conceptual design to flight test.
He earned a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MS in Product Development Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Outside of work, Ben serves as an appointee of Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force for the State of Michigan. He has previously served on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) and as Vice President of the nonprofit Los Angeles County Air Show, Inc.