The Hermeus Podcast

Hermeus in LA Oct 08, 2024

Our LA office is growing! It’s home to a lot of our hardcore engineering work as well as smaller, highly complex component and subassembly builds. Listen in as Daniel Budenstein, Neel Dutta, Francis Moscal, and Tatum Hardy discuss what it's like to work at our LA office and how it compares to HQ back in Atlanta. 00:00 - 03:10 - Welcome to the LA Office 03:10 - 08:01 - LA office vs. Atlanta office: key differences 08:01 - 09:28 - A Day in the LA Office 09:28 - 21:40 - Hermeus vs. other aerospace companies: what sets Hermeus apart 21:40 - 34:16 - Segment: This or That? 34:16 - Hermeus frequently asked questions

Special Guest: Art 'Turbo' Tomassetti Apr 09, 2024

Test pilot Art "Turbo" Tomassetti was one of only a handful of pilots to fly the X-35 – which was of course, the precursor to the F-35. Famously, he flew "Mission X" which consisted of a short takeoff, level supersonic flight, and a vertical landing, which had not been accomplished before in a single flight. Turbo shares this story and more with members of the Hermeus Flight Test team. 00:00 – Introductions 02:47 – Difference between test pilots and pilots 08:17 – The allure of X-planes and first flights 14:49 – The F-35 "Hat Trick" and "Mission X" flights 22:36 – Preparation for a flight test mission 30:00 – The X-35 vs the X-32 34:37 – The challenges Hermeus is tackling 39:04 – Autonomous flight and pilots 43:58 – What is an aircraft you wished you has flown? 48:43 – Turbo, what are you up to today?

Airplanes and Hot Takes Dec 28, 2023

The Hermeus Flight Test team hops on the podcast to judge, drool over, and poke fun at famous aircraft. We've got an Air Force test pilot, a Navy test pilot, and a flight test engineer from the Royal Air Force – their knowledge runs deep and their opinions are strong! PODCAST GUESTS AJ Piplica – Founder, CEO Don "Krash" Kaderbek – VP of Test Pat "Vanna" Svatek – Director of Propulsion Test Mick "Ramjet" Mansfield – Director of Flight Test The Flight Test team is hiring! https://www.hermeus.com/careers

Special Guests from 'Real Engineering' Sep 20, 2023

Real Engineering is probably our favorite channel on YouTube. They unpack some of the world's most epic engineering challenges with clarity and depth. It was a pleasure to have the channel's creator Brian McManus and his colleague Graham Haerther on the podcast to chat about the art of science communication and the future of YouTube and digital media. And yes, there just might be a forthcoming Real Engineering video about hypersonic flight...

The Dream Team Assembles! Aug 21, 2023

From Skunk Works, Blue Origin, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency – our board of advisors create a dream team of aerospace wisdom. In this episode we're joined by members of our Board of Advisors to chat about the Hermeus early days and the progress we've made. Rob Meyerson, Rob Weiss, and Keith Masback were some of Hermeus earliest supporters. They bring together a wealth of knowledge from the aerospace world and we are privileged to have them as our advisors.

Defense Tech, Startups, and More with John Coogan Jul 19, 2023

Thrilled to host special guest John Coogan on the podcast. John's working on a video about us and took an hour to hop on the pod to chat about running startups, starting a YouTube Channel, and of course, fast airplanes! 00:04 – President for a day? Bring back the SR-71 01:47 – Technical recruiting in the early days of a startup 02:50 – John's background: Soylent and Lucy 06:40 – Lessons learned from building two companies 10:18 – Defense Tech and Founders Fund 15:15 – Is there a key indicator for startup success? 17:44 – Authenticity, communications, brand, and social media 28:02 – Different types of "risks" in venture-backed startups 36:55 – Skunk Works – what made them so special? 41:54 – John's impressions of Hermeus

Startups 🤝 DoD (Special Guest Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote) – The Hermeus Podcast 19 Jun 20, 2023

Lieutenant General Clint Hinote's 35-year career in the Air Force has taken him from inside the cockpit of an F-117 to inside the Pentagon. He has most recently been focused on how to best leverage innovative technology to fortify national security. Freshly retired, we were honored to have him join us for a chat about how startups and the Department of Defense can better work together. 00:51 – Lt. Gen. Clint “Q” Hinote introduction 09:14 – The Future Force 17:11 – What startups wanting to work with the DoD should know 27:23 – Relationship with Venture Capital, entrepreneurs, and the DoD 29:27 – How can the DoD signal to Venture Capital what they need? 38:25 – aligning timelines between the startup, the VCs, and the customer 41:27 – Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution 44:33 – The Defense Department is not a market, it’s a customer 47:37 – Building relationships and trust while working with the government 50:12 – Learning, iterating, risk-taking 54:55 – NASA getting contracting right with COTS program 01:07:18 – Balancing what we’re asking the military to do now and what we’re asking them to do in the future 01:11:07 – “Purple thinking”: branches of the military working together

Hypersonic Fever! With Chris Combs and Alex Hollings May 25, 2023

Oh do we have a treat for you! We're joined by a couple hypersonic "influencers", Dr. Chris Combs of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Alex Hollings, the Editor in Chief of Sandboxx News, for a thrilling, engaging, and occasionally controversial conversation about the state of hypersonics in the world today. 00:00 - Intros 03:06 - What is hypersonics? What is hype and what is reality? 08:58 - Hypersonic planes vs hypersonic weapons 13:07 - What are the most interesting problems in hypersonics? 18:50 - Airplanes are objectively cool 22:00 - Airplane development timelines 24:57 - Testing and developing complex air and spacecraft 37:43 - NASA vs SpaceX development approach 55:27 - Assessing risk and how failure breeds success 58:02 - Perceptions vs reality 01:00:15 - Scramjet, boost-glide, and ramjet hypersonic flight 01:01:42 - Highly coupled systems 01:03:43 - The hardest thing about hypersonics: people 01:10:02 - Alex Hollings on Hermeus and Defense reporting 01:14:41 - Wrap up and where to find Chris and Alex

Hermeus in the Cloud (the AWS cloud that is) May 12, 2023

In this episode of the podcast we bring on a couple all-stars from our Amazon Web Services team to discuss how we approach software development, high performance compute, data storage, and security. Naturally, the conversation gets into some AI and ML speculation and sci-fi movie talk.

PODCAST GUESTS:

Nandu Shah: VP of Information, Hermeus

Jay Naves: Sr. Solutions Architect, AWS

Scott Dieckhaus: Aerospace World Wide Solutions Leader, AWS

Scott McCutchen: Senior DevOps Engineer, Hermeus

SXSW Special – Atoms vs Bits: Complex Hardware Makes a Comeback Mar 12, 2023

Hypersonics, space, nuclear, carbon capture... Complex hardware is making a comeback and creating an exciting future! Hermeus Founder and COO Skyler Shuford is joined by Darby Dunn of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Casey Handmer of Terraform Industries, and space industry expert Lauren Lyons to discuss how hardware companies will change the world by 2050.

What is "Hard Tech"? Mar 07, 2023

We call ourselves a "hard tech" company. Not only because we're so hardware focused but also because of the magnitude of the challenge we're facing in building hypersonic aircraft. In this episode we talk about what makes a company a hard tech company and why we're all drawn to jobs making hardware. In this podcast:

Marty Berman: Director of Content & Marketing

Skyler Shuford: Founder and COO

Nandu Shah: VP of Information

Glenn Case: Founder and CTO

If you're at SXSW this year, see Skyler on stage for the Atoms vs Bits panel! He'll be chatting with Darby Dunn, Lauren Lyons, and Casey Handmer about all things "hard tech". More information here: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/events/PP128759

All Things Additive (3D Printing) Feb 08, 2023

If it isn't obvious how excited we are about additive manufacturing – just listen to 10 minutes of this episode. 3D printing allows us to iterate quickly, minimize waste, and have more control over our supply chain. In this episode we talk about all these things and speculate about the promising future of additive.

PODCAST GUESTS

Glenn Case – Founder, CTO

Sam Kelly – Additive Manufacturing Engineer

Matt Karesh – Technical Business Development Manager, Velo3D

Jordan Fisher – Senior Propulsion Engineer

Quarterhorse to Flight Jan 24, 2023

This year at Hermeus is all about building Quarterhorse and getting to first flight! In this episode we chat about what it's going to take to build and test such a unique airplane.

Founders AMA (LIVE from The Factory) Dec 09, 2022

Our first Live AMA brings founders Skyler, Mike, and Glenn together to answer burning questions from our online followers. Tune in to hear them reflect on the year, give a sneak peek on what's to come, and field questions from our Live YouTube audience.

Manufacturing Oct 14, 2022

This episode is for the builders. Those who manipulate metal, contort composites, and revel in riveting. Hear from the manufacturing team at Hermeus about how we get stuff built.

Startups and National Security Sep 12, 2022

Venture-backed startups have never been more important to our national security. In this defense-focused episode we dive into what it’s like working with the Department of Defense (DoD) and how to accelerate public-private partnerships in such a complicated field.

PODCAST GUESTS

Dan Kliman – Director for National Security Strategy

Sarah Mineiro – Principal, The Potomac Advocates

AJ Piplica – Founder, CEO

Zach Shore – VP, Growth

Women Engineering the Future Sep 01, 2022

In this episode we’re thrilled to host Ana Kraft, CEO of Xena Workwear! Ana joins three leaders at Hermeus to discuss career advice, role models, entrepreneurship, and navigating a career in a male-dominated field.

Big Swing Investing Aug 15, 2022

It takes a hunger and a framework for risk to bet big on the revolution of air travel. In this episode of The Hermeus Podcast, we talk with Hermeus investors about growth, strategy, and resilience in the world of venture capital.

PODCAST GUESTS

AJ Piplica – Founder, CEO

Sven Strohband – Managing Director, Khosla Ventures

Skyler Shuford - Founder, COO

Richard Boyle – General Partner, Canaan

Flying the SR-71 “Blackbird” Jul 27, 2022

The SR-71 “Blackbird” is a legendary aircraft. It remains the world’s fastest airplane – a title it has held since the 60s. In this special episode of The Hermeus Podcast we chat with two former pilots of the SR-71 and get into some rather thrilling stories.

PODCAST GUESTS

Skyler Shuford – Founder, COO

Tom Veltri – Retired USAF Lt. Col.

Robert Behler – Retired USAF Maj. Gen.

Michelle Tyrlik – Sr. Flight Test Engineer

The Science of Flight Jun 17, 2022

The Flight Sciences Team knows the aircraft inside and out. Aerodynamics, mass properties, performance, stability and control, loads – flight sciences analyzes it all and works with each team to make sure our aircraft performs.

PODCAST GUESTS

Skyler Shuford – Founder, COO

James Shields – Aerodynamics Engineer

Tatum Hardy – Aerospace Engineer

Wes Vinson – Head of Darkhorse Engineering

Intern Takeover May 05, 2022

The interns have taken over the podcast! Listen in and hear directly from them about what an internship at Hermeus is like.

Atlanta Food & Fun Apr 15, 2022

Atlanta is the place to be! In this special episode of the podcast we bring on the former Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantan Lauren Finney Harden and celebrated Atlanta chef Zeb Stevenson to talk about why the "City in the Forest" is so awesome.

PODCAST GUESTS

Natalie Brown – People Operations Lead, Hermeus

Lauren Finney Harden – Content Creator, former Editor-in-Chief, The Atlantan

Zeb Stevenson – Chef/Partner, Redbird

Imani Beckles – Growth Manager, Hermeus

Hooked on Avionics Mar 23, 2022

Fun fact: "avionics" is a combination of the words "aviation" and "electronics". Which sums up exactly what avionics is. In this episode listen to members of the avionics team nerd out about this fact and much more.

PODCAST GUESTS

Antony Samuel – Lead Avionics Engineer

Matt Bigelow – Principal GNC Engineer

Natalie Rakoski – Flight Software Engineer

Deandre Capati – Flight Software Engineer

$100 Million Mar 10, 2022

We raised a $100 million Series B! In this episode we discuss the fundraising process, what we'll do with this money, and review the initial logo ideas for Halcyon.

All About That Engine Feb 24, 2022

Time for some engine talk. Lots of aerospace jargon in this one, so either sorry, or you’re welcome!

PODCAST GUESTS

Glenn Case – Founder, CTO

Alex Miller – Sr. Propulsion Engineer

Noah Brunk – Lead Propulsion Engineer

Erik Dambach – Lead Propulsion Engineer

Who We Are Feb 01, 2022

In this episode we dive into Hermeus culture, joining a startup at the ground floor, and why airplanes are better than rockets.
PODCAST GUESTS
Natalie Brown – People Operations Lead
Antony Samuel – Lead Avionics Engineer
Danielle Mitrak – Lead Structures Engineer
Wes Vinson – Lead Flight Sciences Engineer

Meet the Founders Jan 20, 2022

It's the first episode of The Hermeus Podcast! Get to know the founders of the company and hear stories from the "early days".
PODCAST GUESTS
Skyler Shuford – Founder, COO
AJ Piplica – Founder, CEO
Glenn Case – Founder, CTO
Mike Smayda – Founder, CPO
TOPICS
00:48 – Company growth
04:16 – Hypersonic travel
12:08 – Hermeus origin story
24:51 – Mental health day
29:01 – Seed funding, investors, pattern matching, Skyler’s launch company, DoD
37:18 – “That’s the way it’s always been done”
40:37 – The pathway to commercial hypersonic travel
42:46 – Queen’s Gambit, Game of Thrones, Men in Black, drive-thru strip club
45:34 – Engine and aircraft design
51:04 – What’s next for the podcast

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