Samuel B. Wilson, III

CVO, AVID LLC

In 2003, Samuel B. Wilson, III joined AVID LLC and is a Managing Member. In 2008, he was named Chief Visionary Officer. Mr. Wilson drives AVID to provide aircraft design expertise and software support to U.S. Government agencies and aerospace companies, in military, academic and commercial sectors. He serves as a Principle Investigator for projects, and handles business development in the United States and overseas. Under Mr. Wilson’s direction, AVID has successfully teamed with other companies, universities, and government agencies. These collaborations have resulted in the successful design and production of systems in use today; such as the DARPA MAV deployed in Iraq.

Prior to AVID, Mr. Wilson worked as a DARPA Program Manager, responsible for the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrated (ACTD) program, Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) and numerous small heavy fuel engines for MAV/OAV SBIRs. He has held various industry positions including Member of the Joint Strike Fighter Program for JSF Propulsion System Technology Team. At NASA, Mr. Wilson was Branch Chief , Short Take Off and Vertical Landing Aircraft (STOVL) Technology Office, Assistant Branch Chief, Military Technology Branch managing “Special Technology” activities for NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Program at Ames Research Center.

Mr. Wilson has authored dozens of papers and articles related to conceptual aircraft design and STOVL concepts. He received AIAA’s “F.E. Newbold V/STOL Award” as well as several other awards and honors for his work on V/STOL activities. Mr. Wilson believes in building the next generation aeronautical engineer and thus teaches several Graduate and Senior level courses on V/STOL Aircraft Concepts and Aircraft Design at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Mr. Wilson is a current senior member of the AIAA, American Helicopter Society (AHS), and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Mr. Wilson received his B.S. in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.