David D. McBride

Principal and Founder, The Emersion Group LLC

David D. McBride is Principal and Founder of The Emersion Group LLC. He brings more than forty years of experience advising boards, executives, and leadership teams across government and commercial aerospace organizations operating in complex, high-consequence technical environments.

His expertise spans aerospace governance, airworthiness, flight systems, and advanced program oversight, informed by a career leading experimental flight research, certification-critical programs, and large multidisciplinary organizations. Mr. McBride is recognized for providing independent technical judgment, risk-informed decision support, and organizational guidance at the board and executive level.

Mr. McBride previously served as Director of the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, where he led the agency’s premier flight research organization and oversaw nationally significant programs including advanced supersonic, electric aircraft, and aviation safety systems. He has also held senior executive roles in the private sector, including Chief Technology Officer of Supernal LLC, a Hyundai affiliated corporation, supporting advanced air mobility and next-generation aerospace systems.

Through The Emersion Group, Mr. McBride serves in advisory and board-level capacities, providing strategic guidance on technology readiness, airworthiness strategy, organizational alignment, and program governance—helping organizations translate innovation into safe, certifiable, and operational outcomes.