The ideas expressed in the Akron Roundtable Signature Series are those of the speakers, not of the Akron Roundtable, its partners or sponsors.

Good afternoon.

I'm Barry Dunaway, I'm the president of the board of the Akron Roundtable.

And we are really thrilled that you're here with us this afternoon.

Akron Roundtable has been hosting its signature events here in beautiful downtown Akron for nearly 50 years.

The Akron Roundtable proudly promotes community dialog and networking and remains committed to our mission to bring the world to Akron.

We invite individuals with diverse backgrounds and life experiences to speak on relevant topics, to inform and educate our community, consider other perspectives, and encourage us to take action.

In 19.

In 2026, Akron Roundtable will celebrate its 50th anniversary and we have a really special year planned.

I'd like to invite Natalie Schulte to the podium Akron Roundtable board member to share some brief comments about our 2026 season.

Natalie.

Hi everyone, I'm Natalie Schulte.

I'm an attorney at Roetzel & Andress.

As one of the youngest members of the Akron Roundtable Board.

I can tell you how incredible it is to be part of an organization that's been shaping conversations in our community for 50 years.

I wasn't even born when roundtable started, but I'm here today because its mission still matters, maybe more than ever.

For decades, Akron Roundtable has brought world class speakers right here to our city people who challenge us, inspire us, and spark ideas we carry back into our work, our classrooms, and our neighborhoods.

And now, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary season, we're not just looking back at that legacy.

We're building the future.

We are very excited to welcome some fabulous speakers next year, including ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst, Olympic medalist Butch Reynolds, artist Leandro Drum and costume designer Paul Tazewell.

You might know him from Wicked.

That being said, I want to encourage you to grab a subscription for this milestone upcoming season.

It's the best way to make sure you don't miss out on a single program, and it's also a way to show you believe in the next generation of leadership and dialog in Akron.

When you subscribe, you're helping us keep this tradition alive and relevant for the next 50 years.

There's information on your tables with a QR code that takes you right to our website, where you can learn more about how to become a subscriber.

You can also go to Akron Roundtable, Dot org slash slash reservations to learn more.

Or you can also just grab one of us board members and we'll help walk you through it.

So let's celebrate together.

Let's honor the past, but also invest in the future.

So secure your subscription today and be part of this amazing, one of a kind season that's coming up.

I promise you'll walk away from every roundtable with new ideas, new connections, and new energy to make a huge difference.

50 years is a huge milestone worth celebrating, but trust me, the best is still yet to come.

Great.

Thanks, Natalie.

All of those speakers that Natalie mentioned have ties to Akron, and they've gone on to National or international acclaim.

So we're we're tapping into all of those Akronites to to celebrate 2026.

Today's guest speaker is Brett Crozier, CEO, LTA Research.

The conversation with Brett will be moderated by Steve Millard, who's the president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber.

And this is the last hour of our four part Celebrate Akron series in recognition of Akron's bicentennial.

Thank you to Huntington Bank and the Billows Funeral Home for sponsoring this series.

I'd like to acknowledge our title sponsor, State and Federal Communications.

And my family is today's program sponsor in honor of our grandfather, Steve Dutra, who worked at Goodyear Aircraft Company during World War II.

For you, Akron history buffs in the room Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, which was part of a joint project with Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, a German company, became Goodyear Aircraft Company in 1939 as a result of strained relationships between the US and Germany prior to World War Two, and LTA currently operates out of the former Goodyear Air Dock here in Akron.

Brett has graciously, graciously agreed to take questions from the audience following his conversation with Steve, Fedearia Nicholson-Sweval, another Akron Roundtable board member, will moderate the Q&A.

To submit a question, you can refer to the brochures that are on your table.

There's a QR code there that you can use your phone to access.

The QR codes will be projected on our screens, or if you don't have a mobile device with you, there are note cards on the table.

You can jot your question down, and one of our staff members will come around and collect that.

Feel free to submit a question at any time during the presentation.

If something that Brett mentioned is kind of, triggers a question that you would like, like to ask during the Q&A, in consideration of our speakers, if I could ask you to turn your mobile devices off so that, we have a nice, quiet, room for for Brett's conversation.

And at this time, I'll ask Steve Millard to come forward and introduce our speaker and begin our program.

Thanks, Steve.

This.

Thanks, Barry.

And, and thanks to everybody who's taking the time to come out today here.

I think it's going to be an amazing story.

From Brett.

You know, the Greater Akron Chamber is proud to be a founder of the Akron Roundtable, helping to connect ideas, innovation, and leadership with the heart of our community.

It's especially exciting to host today's program, a city with a proud legacy of innovation and resilience, and, of course, a special place in aviation history.

Akron built the legendary USS Akron and USS Macon right inside the iconic air dock.

That same spirit of ingenuity that once defined our skyline is being reimagined for a new era era of sustainable flight.

So our speaker today is leading that charge.

Brett Crozier is the CEO of LTA Research, where he and his team are developing the next generation of airships designed to deliver humanitarian aid and reduce the carbon footprint of aviation.

Brett brings with him more than 30 years of leadership experience as a decorated U.S.

Navy veteran.

A graduate of the U.S.

Naval Academy, he went on to command at the highest operational levels from a combat F-18 strike fighter squadron to the USS Blue Ridge and later the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

You know how many aircraft carrier commanders you only hear from right?

Following his distinguished military career, Brett transitioned into the private sector, where he continued to serve a purpose, first supporting veteran homelessness initiatives and now leading innovation at LTA research.

Today, he'll share how modern technology, from advanced materials and fly by wire controls, is transforming a historic mode of flight into a sustainable solution for the 21st century.

Please join me in welcoming Bret Hi.

So when you stand inside the Akron Air Dock for the first time, it takes your breath away.

The space feels almost alive with echoes of the past and dreams of the future.

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin once said in the air as on the earth there is room for all forms of locomotion.

He recognized that true advancement in aerospace comes not from a single solution, but from a range of platforms optimized for different missions.

The pioneer of rigid airships didn't see them as replacing ships or trains, or the emerging airplane.

He saw them as a distinct capability designed to operate where others could not.

That vision of a complete aviation ecosystem, where each technology serves its optimal purpose, is more relevant today than ever.

We have made significant, you know, magnificent jets that cross oceans in hours, helicopters that can pluck someone from a mountain peak, and cargo planes that can keep global supply chains moving.

But we're still missing something.

We're missing the aircraft that can float for days without burning tons of fuel.

That can open windows to the wind and carry what the world needs.

Where runways don't exist.

Here in Akron, and the very hangar where America's great rigid airships were born, we're preparing to fill that gap.

Not by trying to recreate the past, but by applying modern materials science, advanced computing, thrust vectoring, and sustainable propulsion.

So the timeless principle of buoyancy.

We're returning to aviation, what it lost nearly a century ago, and proving that what seem like an ending was actually just an intermission.

So good afternoon, everyone.

I'm deeply grateful to be here in Akron today, speaking to the leaders who shaped the remarkable future of the city.

Thank you to the Akron Roundtable for the invitation.

And to Steve, for your kind remarks.

And thank you all for welcoming LTA research into your community with such open arms and genuine enthusiasm.

And I look forward to the questions after the meeting.

Many of you after the event today.

But standing here in the city that built the magnificent USS Akron and USS Macon, that is housed the Goodyear fleet for generations that earned the title Airship Capital of the world.

It's both humbling and motivating.

This city didn't just manufacture airships.

It pioneered an entire industry, developed the expertise, created the infrastructure and cultivated the skilled workforce that made lighter than air aviation possible.

When I walked through the Akron Air Dock, a magnificent structure that has stood for nearly a century, I'm reminded that Akron has always been a city that thinks big, that takes on challenges others consider impossible.

The same ambition that built the largest building in the world without interior support.

That is the ambition that drew us, LTA to Akron.

But we're not just here to honor that legacy.

We're here to write its next chapter.

We're here to prove that Akron's greatest contribution to aviation isn't in the past.

It's happening right now as we speak, and the work we're doing together to revolutionize flight itself.

LTA research actually began right in the city, in the basement of the archives at the University of Akron in 2014.

Our founders spent weeks in those archives studying everything about airships, technical manuals, flight logs, engineering studies.

What he discovered was that the end of the original airship era was about timing.

The materials weren't ready.

The control systems weren't sophisticated enough.

In 2025.

Everything has changed.

Carbon fiber composites can provide strength.

The weight ratio, as the engineers of the 1930s could only dream of computer modeling, can simulate and solve aerodynamic challenges in hours.

Electric motors and battery technology have finally reached aviation grade reliability.

Our founding vision was simple what if we could revolutionize aviation to be more efficient, sustainable, and adaptable than anything flying today?

The answer led us back to the rigid airship.

Why airships?

Well, because physics don't lie.

Buoyancy is free lift.

While helicopters burn tremendous fuel just to hover.

And while airplanes must maintain forward speed for lift, airships float.

And modern carbon fiber fly by wire controls and electric propulsion.

And suddenly you're not looking backward.

You're looking at the future of aviation.

At LTA we believe there's inherent value in pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Real innovation creates its own demand by showing the world what it's been missing, and we see clear potential applications.

Humanitarian aid in remote areas, climate monitoring from stable platforms, and unique travel experiences that connect people to the world below them.

We didn't come to Akron just for the history.

We came because Akron understands what it takes to something.

Do something like this.

That's ambitious.

This city has a century of manufacturing experience.

A workforce that knows how to build things that fly.

And the institutional memory of what it takes to make the impossible possible.

In the 1930s, Akron was Silicon Valley.

Detroit and Houston rolled into one for lighter than air aviation.

USS Akron and USS Macon, constructed here, were the most sophisticated aircraft of their era, flying aircraft carriers that could launch and recover fighter planes in mid-air.

The Akron Air Dock, at 1175ft and 211ft tall, was built without interior support.

Revolutionary engineering that created a cathedral of innovation.

The building is so large that seven football games can be played simultaneously inside.

And so long that two Washington monuments could be placed end to end inside the hangar.

But we're also tapping into Akron's deep manufacturing heritage.

The city has been at the forefront of American manufacturing for over a century.

The precision required to design a tire is the same precision required to design an airship.

The quality control culture, the understanding that lives depend on getting it right.

This is embedded in Akron's DNA.

When our Pathfinder one rises to the sky, it carries with it not just helium and technology, but the accumulated knowledge, skill, and ambition of this remarkable city.

Every flight is a testament to what Akron was, what it is, and it will continue to be a city that makes the impossible fly.

In 2017, LTAs founder assembled a small group of University of Akron interns to form an R&D arm of the company.

They set up shop in what was known at the time as The Firehouse, a one story brick structure on the southern end of the air dock campus.

The building, I think, has been removed, but you can still find bricks around our office as memorabilia.

But the team refined concepts and built multiple subscale prototypes to validate systems.

Before Pathfinder one construction began.

The team there also began forming connections with local community leaders.

A great many visitors came through the doors of the firehouse, and I imagine most left feeling inspired by the potential of a long neglected aircraft.

These relationships also played other unexpectedly important roles.

In July of 2018, the team needed a private place free of obstructions to flight test.

One of those early prototypes.

After a few phone calls, they found themselves driving the streets of Akron in the middle of the night, towing a small airship down the middle of exchange to the UA football field led by a police escort.

So I'd like to imagine the call that they got there at the police desk when they were asked to do that.

But that experience taught us that innovation doesn't just happen in isolation.

It requires community support, understanding, and sometimes a bit of patience with the unusual.

The Akron police, who provided that escort, weren't just doing their jobs.

They were participating in history, helping us prove that these concepts could work in the real world, not just in computer simulation.

Today, we have talented teams across California, Ohio and Nevada, over a dozen our University of Akron graduates, including three original interns, one of which told me working on Pathfinder one doesn't feel like building something new.

It feels like completing something that was started long before I was born.

So I spent 30 years in the Navy as a naval aviator.

And my shout out to the folks in the back there wearing the uniform.

Thanks for your service.

I flew helicopters and fighters and eventually, commanded a couple of ships, including an aircraft carrier.

And you might wonder what aircraft carriers and airships have in common.

Both are about projecting capability through the air.

Both require orchestrating complex operations where hundreds must work in perfect synchronization, both demand absolute attention to safety.

When I first learned of LTA, I was skeptical at first, but the more I learn, the more I realized that this wasn't about nostalgia.

This was about solving real problems with innovative engineering.

What drew me was the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible.

My philosophy is simple.

Hire brilliant people.

Give them clear objectives and resources.

Then just get out of their way.

Create a culture where safety is paramount.

Questions are encouraged and failure is seen as learning.

Comparing the rigid airships in 1930s to what we're building today is like comparing a model T to a Tesla.

Pathfinder one's mainframe uses aerospace grade carbon fiber over 100 times stronger.

That was available back in the 30s.

Our geodesic framework distributes loads more efficiently than anything previously imagined, and our fly by wire system processes thousands of inputs per second, making micro adjustments no human can manage.

One of our patent breakthroughs came from an unexpected source when university Akron co-op student Kyle Verney joined LTA late in 2020 to help solve the challenge of monitoring helium cells inside the airship.

Early tests explored several sensing methods before Kyle's lidar based approach proved most effective.

Using the same technology that helped self-driving cars generate real time 3D maps of each of our cells volume and the position in the airship it can detect changes less than an inch in size, giving us unprecedented ability to monitor and maintain optimal performance across the envelope.

This breakthrough breakthrough didn't come from Silicon Valley.

It came from a University of Akron student with a curiosity and a fresh perspective, fresh eyes unconstrained by conventional thinking, often see solutions that experience might overlook.

And safety drives everything we do.

In historical photographs depicting the construction of the Akron and the Macon and other historical airships, you'll see the workers perched on these 200ft ladders, multiple stories high, no safety equipment, and just raw courage and steady nerves.

We knew that if we wanted to produce airships safely and efficiently, we needed a better system.

So enter another abilities patented innovations dubbed the roller coaster.

This system involves a cradle that rotates the entire framework of the airship as it's assembled.

So not only does it allow for faster construction, but allows assembly and workers to remain safely on the ground or in large, sturdy platforms.

Modern safety systems, redundancies and manufacturing breakthroughs mean we're meeting modern aviation standards.

And because this is a new technology, in some cases it means we're working closely with the FAA to develop those standards.

Every component has backups.

Every system has multiple ways to fail safely.

And today we're making history with Pathfinder one, the largest flying aircraft in the world, 400ft long, larger than the 747.

It's the first rigid airship to fly in nearly 90 years since our first flight test this last May.

Our flight test team has been methodically expanding the envelope from simple hovers to forward flight to turns to climbs and descents.

And on Tuesday, October 28th, and some of the pictures you see there, we successfully flew Pathfinder one up to San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time.

It was a moment the team had been working toward for years, resulting in some iconic photos, but at the same time, it was one step in a long flight test campaign.

Each flight teaches us something new, and every insight fuels directly back into our design and operations.

And we flew it again on Tuesday just because the weather was good and the airship flies that well.

And though these these flights happen in California, Akron fingerprints are still all over them.

From the engineers who designed the framework to the specialists who helped perfect the systems.

Now soaring overhead, Akron employees make up all the facets of our engineering team as well as the operations and other support functions.

Indeed, the latest subscale model, which we use to test software updates before their install on Pathfinder one, conducts those test flights each week inside the Akron Air Dock.

The expertise here, the design support, institutional knowledge.

It's all contributing to our success in ways both obvious and sometimes subtle.

Another example is that of Tyler Haner, a lead mechanic based right here in Akron.

Tyler was responsible for the assembly and testing of the swivel levers to command the positioning of our thrust vectoring motors, as well as the throttle lever inside the airship.

So every image you see a Pathfinder soaring over San Francisco like that one quietly making history.

It is due in part to the employees on the ground here in Akron supporting us in each of these flights.

We're gathering unprecedented data, learning how these vehicles actually behave, but mostly in most cases, it performs much better than even expected.

More stable, more efficient, and more responsive.

But beyond the aircraft, we're building an entirely new generation of aviation professionals.

Our team members aren't just operating Pathfinder one, they're pioneering an entire industry.

So standing here in Akron, we're not just honoring the past.

We're igniting the future.

And Pathfinder, one that you see here is just the beginning for proving that the rigid airship story didn't end in 1937.

It just took a pause that allowed technology to catch up to the vision.

To the leaders here today.

You're not just witnesses, your participants, your support, your skilled workers, your engineers, your manufacturers, your students.

They're all part of the story.

Together, we're reinventing what aviation can be more efficient, more sustainable, more adaptable.

And Akron isn't just remembering his airship legacy.

It's just building the next chapter.

Thank you very much.

But thank you.

Thanks for thanks for, being here today.

Also, thanks for the comments about our community.

The role plays and sort of the way you're thinking about this.

When I first met you, when you guys came to Akron, a few years, I first met the founder of this company.

I didn't get it.

Like, I didn't understand exactly what you're doing.

And you're using this iconic place called the air dock.

And stuff was going on inside.

There weren't sure exactly what's happening there, but talk about why the world needs this product now.

I mean, Goodyear has had the the blimps around for a long time, and they're they're iconic.

What is it that that we need from what you're creating?

It doesn't exist today.

Sure.

Let me and I'll start just kind of to level it so people understand maybe the difference.

You know, we we talk about airships, which is really anything that gets us lift from a gas like, like helium.

That includes the semi-rigid like Goodyear that you see flying quite a bit.

the Zeppelin design is a, is a semi-rigid, whereas what we're flying, what we're what we've designed and built this Pathfinder one, which is a rigid airship, which means that the structure you see is rigid.

It's carbon fiber tubes with a covering.

The helium is inside and different, various helium cells.

So when Goodyear deflates the helium, the Goodyear blimps obviously look deflated on the ground, whereas you won't notice that inside a larger rigid structure.

And what that gives you, then, is the ability to to build them bigger and do more with them.

If you go back to the the Macon and the Akron, those airships were 750ft long.

They would carry 75 people.

They had a hangar inside for the airplanes.

They're massive inside.

So we've decided to go on the path towards rigid airships because it provides so much more functionality for various kind of missions.

We talked about, and let's talk about humanitarian as an example, which is one that comes up quite a bit.

Airships are uniquely designed for that, particularly rigid airships.

We don't need runways.

You know, we don't we we can stay airborne, not just for days, but oftentimes weeks.

It's an incredibly stable platform.

It can operate low over the ground.

And so it creates a unique platform for things like a floating hospital, providing medical support to folks on the ground.

And again, we can go over places like you mentioned where there's a there's been a disaster where some kind of humanitarian disaster, where we want to be present to provide medical care supplies or just comms relay.

And to me, it's an inspiring mission to, to design to and be part of in a way that we know there's a need for that exist even to this day.

So that's that obviously is the first thing that comes to mind is one I think that inspires us all as we're kind of building designing the flight testing, and it's unique to larger rigid airships like Pathfinder one, which is our proof of concept.

And then in addition, there's, you know, there's travel opportunities, find an airship.

You can you can fly at low altitude.

You it's quiet.

You can open the windows.

It's it's an incredibly unique experience where you can see a day where there's also things like potential travel opportunities, over wildlife or national parks.

And then, of course, there's also cargo as a potential where, unlike most cargo transported in aviation right now, you're limited to the dimensions of A777 or a, you know, an airplane, the cargo hold, the cargo capabilities of an airship are much wider, much longer.

And so it allows you to take things are potentially bigger and can be transported in a ways that otherwise you couldn't buy aviation.

So we're excited about all those.

And again, humanitarians, the one that you know, again the platform is adaptable, sustainable and incredibly efficient and burns very little gas in a way that I think will open up airships to the future of aviation.

You know, we're also focused on efficiency.

The idea of traveling in a in an airship on a trip.

It feels maybe a lot like a cruise or a train trip, if you will.

But I could imagine dropping down into the Grand Canyon and it would be pretty cool.

So talk about you talk about cargo.

I mean, give us a sense of the scale and the size of these ships.

You used 400ft as a as a number.

What I mean, can you fill the thing with, with cargo and equipment and things like that, or is it relatively limited because of the, the lift and all those kinds of things?

Sure.

So, you know, to be clear that what you're seeing in the pictures there is Pathfinder one, it's a it's a proof of concept, meaning we're validating the structure.

We're validating the like the lighter technology.

We talked about, hybrid electric, which means we have batteries for the motors and the thrust vectoring.

So we're not, you know, I won't speak to the future design, I think because that's really what we're focused on right now is the flight testing of our proof of concept.

But every time we fly, we're I was learning lessons about what the larger airships might look like in terms of size.

Got it.

So, one of the things that you talked about was, the your history as a Navy pilot and your history in the military commanding different kinds of, of, groups.

When you think about, flying this airship, I mean, as a pilot, somebody who's still on different kinds of things.

What's the experience like when you're when you're in the airship, in the air?

Amazing let me start by saying my last flight in the Navy was in a Super Hornet F-18 fighter.

I flew over the Golden Gate Bridge, over Alcatraz, and then with my wingman, and we left and went back to the base.

Fast.

Low.

Wearing a bunch of gear helmet, mostly terrified I was gonna get in trouble or I was going to hit something.

And so I was glad when we were out and appreciate it.

Now we've flown the airship.

And what's unique in that?

Most with aviation, you think about, it's about getting from point A to point B and how quickly you can do it, how efficiently airships open up this experience between point and point B, whereas now, unlike being at 350 knots and a fighter over the bay area, you can be in an airship moving slower, much, much quieter at a lower altitude.

And so, you know, a few times I've flown as a as a crew member and Pathfinder one, it's just absolutely remarkable.

It's smooth.

It's stable.

You can open the windows.

You can you can smell the salt spray from the ocean below you.

You can walk around and take selfies and, you know, it's it's an incredible experience.

I think that you will all be excited to experience someday.

And I feel lucky.

And I just think about the compared and, you know, my last flight in the Navy was only a couple of years ago to now this and really understand what a unique opportunity is and what a unique experience that I've been lucky.

I think it's what inspires me about what we're doing.

It sounds pretty, pretty interesting as you think about, you talk about innovation as part of the important piece of what you're trying to do, and you selected Akron to be a place where you want to have operations and you want to have certain kinds of activities here.

Talk about what this region brings for you.

That is unique and different than maybe what you're getting in California or other places.

Give us a sense of that.

Sure.

It you know, I had obviously spent much time in Akron up until the last year, but, and continue to be amazed at the connections we have in the community and particularly on the technical side.

You know, there's obviously a long history with, with polymers and the engineering science goes behind that.

But the relations we had with the university and the students have been part of it.

And just this technical, understanding at the much higher level in aviation, is really something we've benefited from.

And again, you think about aviation enterprises, in many cases, those are done in places like Edwards Air Force Base or traditionally around Los Angeles.

But the aviation background here and the history and the polymer kind of science is very translatable to what we're doing, provides an incredible opportunity for us as a company as we look to down the road to manufacturing.

So that's something certainly stood out right away.

And I look at the number of employees, over almost two dozen that come from this area with engineering backgrounds, which has been amazing.

And then it's also a nice sized town.

I mean, you know, you can get around pretty easily here.

The traffic isn't too bad.

I will tell you, the first time I came here in December, it was snowing.

It was as a California kid.

It was a little bit of a. Shock.

But it's it's a really nice place to be at.

We feel very welcomed by the community, the university as well.

And I feel like, you know, you think about wanted to grow the company and expand the company.

I can't think of a better place than here for all those reasons.

We like hearing that breadth of the good stuff.

So, if you look at the air ducts in the outside, again, this massive space, if I were able to walk through it with you today, what would I see?

What's happening in the air right now?

You have all kinds of secret things you're building in there and things like that as well.

And so, like, it looks like a secret, right?

No.

Great question.

And in fact, I'm spending time tomorrow I come out to Akron a couple days every month.

So I think some of the pictures, you see what we call the baby airship, which is at 60ft.

So it's a big baby.

But but smaller certainly than the 400ft airship.

And it's helium filled.

It's, got a lot of the same technology that you see on Pathfinder one.

The motors, electric motors are positioned in similar fashion.

So we do all our software in flight control system testing on that baby airship.

There's no better place to do that than in the hangar.

It's just like perfect environment with relatively no wind.

Although it's it's a big enough structure.

You sometimes get your own weather in there with or not.

Yeah, but it's so, so like tomorrow.

Now we have this thousand foot long, you know, a couple hundred foot wide area that we can operate and fly this baby airship in.

So we are using it a couple days every week to test out our software, flight controls, different modes.

And then once we feel comfortable, we upgrade Pathfinder one to validate.

But it's a perfect environment for that.

So every time you make an upgrade or a change, the team here is doing all the validation.

Yeah.

So we've got that going on and there's a first do it obviously on simulation.

Then you take it to the baby airship.

So it's a great great area for that.

And we've done some understanding of what it will look like in the future as we do future manufacturing.

But the focus is usually we uses it right now for the testing, and we do a lot of R&D as well in the area.

And that whole campus and our R&D arm is here with dozens and dozens of 3D printers and new technology.

We're exploring for the future.

But that's done right here in Akron.

So you mentioned in your talk as well that you are creating stuff that hasn't been created before.

You're building new things.

How do you how do you motivate the team that you have to continue to push forward when there's probably a lot of this high, a lot of iteration and probably some failure going on in the process?

But but what are you doing to to sort of drive the culture in your organization and that excitement about just kind of pushing through, even if you've got lots of failures and setbacks?

Sure.

Yeah.

I think, you know, most technology companies talk about iterations and how you you go through that.

I think what's unique about us and airships in general is it's such a visible accomplishment when you build it and you know, when you see it, when you fly it and you go further and farther and higher.

So we have these milestones, and we've seen a lot of them this year that we've been able accomplish that.

They're inspired, even if it's taken us, you know, takes years to design and build to see it.

Now, I think it's hard.

The first time I saw Pathfinder one, which is what's up there right now, I'd seen pictures online.

I talk to people about it, but it absolutely takes your breath away when you step inside the hangar and you see it there, the size and the magnitude.

So now to see it flying, now to see it over the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz, up in the Bay area.

I know that, you know, we did our first cat.

We call it our capstone event.

But in October when we went to the Golden Gate Bridge, we probably 100 plus employees that were scattered along the coastline up to the Golden Gate Bridge and beyond, just to be able to see it and visibly understand what was going on.

So I think I'm not saying it's easy because it's, you know, we do work hard.

And when there's a lot of, you know, there's things we have to learn along the way.

But I think it's unique to see something that's so visible with these inspiring missions.

To be part of that.

I find it that keeps most people pretty motivated, and they're eager to do something that's ambitious, and that's the kind of people we want to hire.

And as you have other leadership experiences in the military versus the military experience you have, what's different about leading in this environment?

Yeah.

So, you know, background it's always been in aviation.

I think what's different is the innovation of what we're doing.

Everything I've done in past, we're on platforms and airplanes and ships that have been designed, built and tested.

So to me it's it's what's different is you're you're working with people.

They're inspired to do something new, do something different, not afraid to push the boundaries, not afraid to push the boundaries, and then learn that maybe that's not the right way to go, in terms of like small technology, but to see it all come together, visibly and do something that is world changing in terms of aviation.

That's that's a hard mission to be.

It's a hard thing to, to not be excited about, to be in, you know, the you just want to be part of.

What I understand is people are getting opportunities.

Maybe they would have imagined they were getting, maybe you're building new jobs and capabilities that don't exist right now.

The sort of drive the mission.

Any examples there that you can talk?

Yeah.

And we you know, it's a small company relatively.

So, you know, we might hire somebody who's an engineer and they're working on one particular project, but there's a lot of cross-functional work that goes on.

So I think that's exciting based on our size.

But, you know, a good example would be we've got, a lady workforce named Schuyler who's, who's from the Akron area.

I went to school here.

She started in ground operations.

So working on the equipment that it takes to move the airship around, move the airship in and out of the hangar, but just developed a passion for aviation along the way and continued.

So through our stipend program, she was able to take flight lessons, and she got her pilot's license.

He now has a commercial license, and now we're training her to be one of the first LTA produced pilots in an airship.

And so to see her come from the area growing up around, you know, in the area, seeing Goodyear fly all the time said, you know, just just put her foot in the door like, hey, I want to be part of this company who's doing great things.

So now the other day when I was, you know, flying around the airship, there she was in the airship flying.

And she's a crew member right now as a test engineer.

But soon enough, she's going to be sitting in the front seat as a pilot.

So that's what a small company can do for you, especially an innovative company.

And that's the kind of people we bring in to, and they're inspired by what they do and find ways to continue to grow.

So, as you think about longer term, you're working through Pathfinder one right now.

Plans are to sort of build the larger airship.

How does Akron play into that plan?

Yeah, we you know, we like we kind of talk about Akron is has got the history.

It's got the infrastructure.

It's got this incredible amount of talent that we can leverage.

So Akron is kind of always been the place that we've envisioned the next step, when we want to manufacture whatever comes after Pathfinder one which we would expect to be bigger and more capable, you know, our focus right now is clearly on flight testing the slow, deliberate and safe process by which we expand the envelope flying and like we've been doing recently, but we're excited about the day when it comes.

And we, you know, we've always said that this is this is what we're going to grow.

This is where we're going to utilize that hangar in the area and all these relationships that we have and all the talent here to do exactly that.

So you've had a chance to interact with the employees here.

You've been in the community over the last, you know, a couple of years.

As you come in and out, what would you say to somebody that you were maybe recruiting, to Akron for a position?

How would you describe Akron to them?

And the region, you know, just give me a sense of how you talk about it.

Yeah.

We always start with a mission, right?

Like come to LTA because we're trying to change the world.

Come to Akron because it's a it's a community that will welcome you, that's got a technical background that will support you.

And it's where we see our future.

And I think, you know, having growth in California and all the challenges of living in a big state with the infrastructure and traffic and stuff like that, you know, for many, they're trying to get their start up.

They can be involved in aviation, be an engineer or in any capacity trying to change the world.

And also do that here in Akron, where it's, you know, just a pleasant place to live.

And the place is so welcome and and less traffic.

It's not a hard pitch.

I guess at the end of the day, I think people are eager to be part of it.

We're going to take some questions from the audience before we do that.

Maybe just a final question for you.

So, what are the milestones over the next 18 months?

What we'll be hearing from you or seeing in the news about LTA Pathfinder, how does it play out.

Yeah.

So our our focus is right, like we said right now is focused squarely on flight testing as Pathfinder one.

You know, a proof of concept.

So I think you're going to see more of that as we continue to fly around the Bay area in the expanded region there, as we go further and higher and faster and try to understand the limitations and what we're capable of.

And that's kind of where we're focused.

I think that's what you'll see.

It's it's nice to see the success we've had, and we know more is coming.

And that should be exciting to everybody here.

Like we said, you know, we have 75 employees here in Akron and they're all they're all part of what we're doing in flight testing there.

So they're integrally involved in that.

So we're excited about their continued support, to our success.

And I think you'll see more of us as much.

I'm a I'm a pilot by trade.

So the more flying we do, the better.

And I think you'll see a lot of that in the next 18 months.

Be in the air, right.

So, you know, our friends at Goodyear, oftentimes one of the premier things that you can get your hands on is a couple of tickets to for the fly in the blimp.

So where do I get the list to either on?

Heather's got the list.

Go on.

The list going out this.

Year after.

All.

Right.

We'll talk to you about that.

So, Brett, thank you for for this conversation.

Some of the ideas are shared for the air.

I think you're here to do some questions right.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm Fedearia Nicholson from the University of Akron.

And Brett, we have several questions from the audience.

So I will try to ask as many as we have time for, the first question, how many years are we away?

Are you away from using the airship for humanitarian purposes?

It's a great question because that's like we talked about that's what we see is the future for airships is our primary mission.

Aviation and development is a slow, safe and deliberate process.

What you're seeing on the screen here is as our proof of concept.

So it's not even really a prototype.

It just means we're we're validating all that new technology when it comes to hybrid electric motors and helium monitoring systems and carbon fiber tube structure, and we're learning from that.

And by design, you want to do that safely and slowly and deliberately, so you can capture all the lessons learned and then incorporate those in the future.

Design at some point.

And I can't speak to when that happens, but we're we'll look to what the next design needs to be to be more functional, to me, you know, it'll be bigger, that we want to commercialize.

And that's a slow process, meaning that it takes it's not weeks, not months, it's years in some cases.

But again, that's kind of what we really just focus back to.

The flight testing is the more successful we are with flight testing, the more we build the case for designing and develop.

And that'll be another slow process.

But that's how you want it to be.

You want it to be safe that your is your primary function, but also capable.

But so.

So patience will be required for sure.

But but it'll be exciting because we'll continue to do testing on Pathfinder one.

Along the way.

Thank you.

And also as a part of this question, are are you seeing interest from other governments who are interested in buying for the purpose of humanitarian efforts?

I think there's a general interest around the world and more aviation support.

We don't have specific conversations at this point because we don't really have that final commercial product to offer.

We we pay attention to the need for humanitarian aid, what that looks like, as well as travel and the cargo piece we talked about as well.

So we certainly are mindful of what that demand looks like, but we haven't had any specific conversations at this point.

We're really like you said, we're kind of focused on the flight testing and make sure that that is what we're learning, the lessons we want to learn from that before we kind of move on.

Thank you.

In this next question, has our students in the audience in mind.

So what skills or educational background could Akron provide for its students who may want to have a future with LTA someday?

Yeah, it's a great question.

I think we I'd love to at some point, we'll look at all the degrees of the University of Akron employees that we have now.

Obviously, aerospace is helpful.

But a lot of the other engineering disciplines are also equally as important.

You know, we we talk about the polymer focus here in Akron, but a lot of those apply in terms of how we deal with material science as it relates to carbon fiber tubes, the soft cell engineering and creating the helium cells as well as the outer structure, electrical engineering as it relates to this, this new electric system where it's, you know, providing power to the batteries that, you know, the power, our electric motors.

So it's a pretty diverse group of engineering disciplines.

That is what it takes.

So I think all of those are applicable in some way to what we're doing.

And I think would benefit us for sure.

Great.

Thank you.

Do you have any insight into the future workforce needs for this new sector of the aviation industry?

And what are the greatest needs that you foresee?

Well, I think it kind of goes back to that last question.

I think certainly anything STEM focused is what we would benefit anything in aviation.

Aerospace would benefit from those with STEM backgrounds.

So not limited to ones I just mentioned.

But I think the more that we see that continued, I mean, you know, University of Akron is a top notch engineering school.

So more continuation of that and more students eager to be part of aerospace and and and want to, you know, stay here and help us when we start growing in Akron.

I think, continue that path.

Be great.

Thank you.

And what role is A.I.

playing in the development of the airship there?

It wrote my speech.

No.

Kidding.

And the questions.

And the questions, you know, it.

It's, Yeah, AI is remarkable.

I think.

I think we, being a society at large, is trying to best understand how to best utilize AI.

It can be incredibly powerful.

You actually have to know what you're doing to get the most out of it.

You can't.

It's not a it doesn't supplement just good thinking and engineering skills, but I think it is a good complement.

A lot of what we've seen and some of the efficiency we've gained, I think of the non engineering work when it comes to process and documentation, and some of them maybe would appear to be the more mundane admin tasks.

AI can do that pretty quickly.

And and so Luke's here.

He's from the area as well.

And he kind of leads our AI efforts.

And we're we what we I would say we started with people tiptoeing into it.

And now I think people are running to find ways to better utilize it.

And that's from engineering to long term strategy stuff to just to writing speeches or comments and stuff like that.

I think it's it's pretty, it's pretty powerful.

And I think we're but I think we society you're still trying to figure it out.

And what I always tell people use it.

It's a tool, but you still own the results.

And I think that's something that, you know, when you think about safety as it comes, engineering of our own space that we have to maintain.

So I think it's for those that don't use it, I would say get on board and start using it, cause I think it's you want to understand what it provides.

Have there been any collaborations with Goodyear and their blimp team or other organizations in the area?

Yeah, there's there is certainly a lot of crossover between the two organizations.

And, you know, from the pilot standpoint, there are not a lot of airship pilots in the world.

The numbers are remarkably low, which is why we're excited to bring folks like Skyla on board that want to be a future airship pilot.

So, so it's a small community.

You know, I've toured the facility at Wingfoot recently, and there's a lot of folks that have backgrounds with Goodyear that we're that we're leveraging now when it comes to how you operate.

And I think that is a long term relationship that I look forward to continuing to grow, particularly as we get in the area and we bring in some aerospace manufacturing capabilities that might also help them.

But but they've been doing this for years.

So anytime we have questions about things as it relates to operations, we often turn towards them and or folks that have worked with them in the past.

And then they've been a great resource for us.

Probably cant see them, Brett.

But the Goodyear team is over there supporting you.

Yeah.

They get there right?

Yeah.

All right.

We have time for a few more.

If the primary source of lift for airships is helium, and with the supply of helium on the planet being finite, what is Lta's solution to this unique problem?

No, it's a great question.

Some of us pay attention to the aerospace community at large, and obviously a lot of a lot of where humans use nowadays is in the medical and other other areas like that to include some computing cooling properties.

But we're we recognize that it's a, it's a finite resource that's extremely valuable to what we do.

So we we endeavor to make sure that we treat it as such.

And we spend a lot of our times and manufacturing and designing the helium cells that contain the helium to make sure that there's, you know, that the helium doesn't leak out at the rates would be unacceptable.

It makes sense from a business perspective as well.

Helium is expensive, and we want to make sure we maintain it.

So, you know, we have folks here today with the company that spend a lot of time thinking about how do we how do we design the cells that make sure that the helium we put in the airship just doesn't leak out over time?

And it's something I think I'm sure you know, Goodyear does the same thing.

We we understand it as a finite resource, and we'll and we'll we need to treat it as such.

Thank you.

How is global warming impacting the future of rigid airship flying?

Do you see global warming having an impact?

Yeah.

I mean, I think you could apply if you look at global warming, what it might do to maybe cause some of the disaster areas we're talking about in need of support.

But I also think about, you know, airships are incredibly fuel efficient.

You know, some by some estimates, 70% less fuel used, maybe 80% less fuel use.

And a similar sized airplane.

So that's I think that's something that we're very considerate of as we fly around.

And we when we you do you sip gas.

And I'm going to come from a background of flying fighters where I'm not worried about fuel burn, except when I run out of fuel.

So in this case it sips gas.

And, you know, we flew again.

I say, say this because it's a I'm proud of it.

But we flew again to the Golden Gate Bridge on Tuesday.

And we stayed airborne for 7.5 hours, which was our longest flight to date.

And we we could have stayed airborne for another couple of hours because we just we sipped fuel.

So I think that's and one ways we think we can help mitigate, potential climate effects in the future.

But also we go back to the humanitarian kind of disaster relief as more of the things come up and we'll be in a position to support that.

Thank you.

What support are you receiving, if any, from the state of Ohio for this excellent initiative?

So we certainly are.

Pay attention to all the initiatives.

Because our focus is predominantly right now California base for the flight testing that we haven't formalized a lot of those conversations.

And and I think we we started by being focused here in Akron because I think this is we'll start with our family here in Akron and then expand to the larger state.

And I but obviously at some point they'll be brought in the conversation as we look to get their continued support.

And we'll probably look to Akron to help us make those help with this conversation.

All right.

My final question.

Can you discuss how other countries are collaborating or competing for this space or in this space?

Well, there's certainly a lot of companies trying to do similar things, particularly maybe overseas and other places.

And, and I don't know that I look at it like necessarily competition right now.

I think we're we certainly have our own proprietary stuff and engineering design, but for the most part, we recognize that our success or their successes is helpful to the entire community and and leads to a better understanding of what airships are capable of.

So so we root them on, you know, we want them to be successful because, you know, rising tide floats all boats, as we say, in the Navy.

And I think they are benefiting right now from our incredible success we've had with Pathfinder one on our flight testing.

Thank you.

That concludes all of our questions.

I actually got through all of them.

So I will now turn it over to our president, Barry Dunaway.

Brett, thank you so much for being with us at Akron Roundtable today.

Thanks for investing in Akron.

And, Akron certainly looks forward to being part of the future.

The next chapter in the rigid airship, if I if I could ask Michael to the front of the stage to present our signature contemplative sun to our guest.

This work of art was created exclusively for Akron Roundtable by Akron artist Don Drumm.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mike.

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