Speaker Profile: Mike Sinnett was appointed vice president of Commercial Airplanes Product Development in August 2013. The Product Development organization formulates the preliminary design of new and derivative airplanes and systems, improves environmental performance and develops advanced technology.

Prior to leading the Product Development organization, Sinnett served as vice president and chief project engineer for the 787 program. He led the effort for 787-8 and 787-9 airplane delivery including flight test, technical configuration of the airplane, product integrity and safety. Sinnett had served on the 787 program since its inception, previously in the position of chief systems engineer and vice president of Systems. He also served as the senior chief engineer of Airplane Systems for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Sinnett previously held the positions of vice president of Engineering Systems; director of Airplane Systems, supporting all Boeing Commercial Airplane programs and services; chief engineer of the Supply Management and Procurement Division; and chief engineer for 767 Airplane Systems. Prior to that, he was manager of Radio Navigation Systems for all commercial airplanes.

Sinnett joined Boeing in 1991 and held progressively more responsible engineering positions in 747 and 767 flight deck and avionics. He was lead engineer for the 777 and Next-Generation 737 flight deck display systems development.

Sinnett began his aerospace career in a co-op program at the McDonnell Aircraft Company in 1982, working in flight simulation on the AV-8B Harrier II program. This was followed by assignments in AV-8B manufacturing methods, F-15 flight test, Tomahawk operations analysis and F/A-18 flight simulation.

He earned a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri – Rolla and a master's degree in aerospace engineering as a National Science Foundation Creativity in Engineering Fellow at the University of Missouri – Rolla. Sinnett was named a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in March 2011, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in January 2012.