SAE Tomorrow Today

How does a quick service restaurant transform itself into a lifestyle brand? For Chipotle Mexican Grill, its all about being real and staying ahead of digital trends to create the ultimate customer experience. Nicole West, Vice President of Digital Strategy and Product for Chipotle, joins host Grayson Brulte this week to discuss the digital experience that Chipotle has pioneered within the industry.

Nicole shares her experience building Chipotle’s digital commerce business and how consumer adoption of digital ordering and experiences has led to digital making up 61% of company sales in Q2 2020. She discusses what trends the company saw when it developed the industry’s first ordering app and how they continue to experiment with new ways to engage with customers and drive sales.

As the conversation continues, Nicole explains the ways that Chipotle has innovated and disrupted the industry when appropriate, including its ordering app, Chipotlanes, Digital Kitchen, packaging, walk-up contactless pickups, and voice ordering with “Pepper,” all of which uniquely positioned the company to handle consumer shifts to digital when COVID-19 hit.

The conversation concludes with some forward-looking observations, how delivery drivers are essential to their business, and a pie in the sky look at delivery methods using autonomous vehicles and drones.

Learn more about Chipotle Mexican Grill at www.chipotle.com.

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This week, Rhonda Walthall, Fellow, Prognostics & Health Management at Collins Aerospace, joins host Grayson Brulte for a conversation that looks at the role of predictive analytics and aircraft health management systems in creating safer and more efficient air travel.

Rhonda brings us back to her early memories of idolizing fellow Ohioan Neil Armstrong and how he influenced her childhood dreams of being an astronaut and ultimately attending Purdue University to become an aeronautical engineer. She shares stories of her role in the development of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, including becoming the first civilian woman to fly on the aircraft, and what that aircraft’s legacy is to history.

The conversation covers how aircraft health management systems are helping reduce tarmac delays to eliminate delays and create smoother travel experiences; what efforts Collins Aerospace is undertaking as a leader in this space; and how detailed monitoring can reduce heavy maintenance checks that mean less work and less costs for airlines.

Rhonda digs into her other passion of supporting young women entering STEM fields and some of the programs that she and Collins are involved with to get more kids interested in science and engineering. The conversation closes out with some insight into when commercial travel will rebound and what role urban air mobility technology will play in the future of aviation.

Learn more about Collins Aerospace at https://www.collinsaerospace.com/.

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The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joins host Grayson Brulte to share her steadfast belief that American innovation and ingenuity will help us win the future.

Throughout this powerful and empowered conversation, Rep. McMorris Rodgers discusses the key priorities for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including bills to spur AI and autonomous vehicles, among other technologies on the forefront of innovation as a way to incentivize free market American ingenuity and empower entrepreneurs.

She looks back on her humble beginnings working on her family’s farm in Kettle Falls, Washington, and explains how it shaped her work ethic and built her approach to governing.

Rep. McMorris Rodgers and Grayson look at where future innovation will come from, starting in K-12 through universities as more programs, especially those that combine public and private investment, focus on enriching women and young girls in STEM fields.

The conversation closes out with the advice that Rep. McMorris Rodgers’s father gave her when entering politics, which she now shares with others: Be a person to get involved and makes decisions.

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From building software companies to investing in new technologies, Jason Illian, Managing Director at Koch Disruptive Technologies, has seen both sides of the innovation spectrum.

He joins host Grayson Brulte to share a venture capitalist’s perspective on investing in disruptive technologies and sectors, how creating a level market playing field that enables the best technologies and companies to succeed benefits society as a whole, and the ways parents can create teachable moments to inspire kids for lifelong learnings.

The conversation looks at the trends that are being accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from the education landscape to medical technologies to warehousing and logistics. Jason closes out the discussion by sharing the vision and focus for the future of Koch Disruptive Technologies and offering advice to burgeoning entrepreneurs who want to raise capital for the first time.

Learn more about Koch Disruptive Technologies at https://www.kochind.com/companies/koch-disruptive-technologies.

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The State of Florida is open for business and building a name for itself as a hub for the space industry, supersonic jets and autonomous vehicles. Jimmy Patronis, the state’s Chief Financial Officer, is the man who manages all the budgets, keeps the trains running and even serves as the fire marshal. He sits down with host Grayson Brulte to talk about the revitalization of the “Space Coast” and how emerging technology companies can succeed in Florida.

Before the conversation kicks off though, Grayson gets Jimmy to explain his ongoing Twitter pursuit of Elon Musk to bring SolarCity to Florida. The two segue into how the “Space Coast” has revitalized itself into the “Comeback Coast” as private sectors have come to Florida to start businesses and add jobs. Jimmy explains the role that government plays in this process to help industries grow and prosper.

The conversation explores the commercialization of space flights and how space tourism can bolster Florida’s economy; what’s next for supersonic jets now that Aerion has planted its flag in Florida, fulfilling Jimmy’s obsession with Concordes and supersonic flight; and how the state’s policies are attracting self-driving vehicle companies to relocate to Florida, which will ultimately lower insurance policies for residents.

Jimmy digs into how government, and specifically the CFO, can support these burgeoning industries, from ensuring that R&D in space exploration stays in-state to the liability protection bill in the Florida Legislature that will help businesses and the investor community to attracting manufacturing companies to the state.

Grayson and Jimmy close out the conversation by discussing what Florida’s economy looks like now and in the future, and how a well-funded pension, a stable economy, and a government that’s open for business can provide new opportunities.

Connect with Jimmy Patronis on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JimmyPatronis.

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As the innovation center for Airbus, Acubed is bringing the Silicon Valley approach to advancement to the aerospace industry. Mark Cousin, CEO of Acubed, joins host Grayson Brulte for an in-depth conversation on the aviation innovations that Acubed is working on to improve efficiency and safety.

Mark shares with us the important developments that Acubed and Airbus have made over the past 10-15 years to help the organization achieve year-over-year efficiencies; how Acubed has evolved over the past five years to become a more targeted innovation center; and some of the specific innovations, including Fly by Wire, Project Wayfinder and ATOL, that demonstrate the importance of machine learning and AI to enable autonomy that will improve safety of commercial aviation, reduce costs and address the pilot shortage. He also gives a sneak peek at some of the current and future projects in the works at Acubed that will advance Airbus’ vision for innovation, including unmanned traffic management, advanced digital manufacturing, and aerial imaging.

Grayson and Mark look at why Airbus has made such a significant investment in Silicon Valley as the area’s strong concentration of talent allows the organization to be agile to changes. They look at the differences in approach and philosophy in Silicon Valley versus other aerospace hubs, like France, and how the Valley’s culture of risk taking can be applied elsewhere.

The conversation shifts to the importance of modernizing the air traffic management system to meet the demands of the new forms of mobility occupying airspace and what Acubed is doing to address this problem.

Grayson closes out the conversation by asking Mark to share his insight into the future of aviation over the next decade-plus. How will improvements in autonomy be one of the biggest contributions to the future of flight? What importance will the commercial aviation industry place on being more environmentally conscious? How quickly will demand grow for urban air mobility, especially coming out of the pandemic, to allow the services to become economically viable? What role will machine learning and AI play in making this future a reality? And how to build public trust in autonomy?

Learn more about Acubed at https://acubed.airbus.com/.

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Aerion plans to bring back the Golden Age of Flying, only this time, it will be done by an environmentally conscious, technology-innovative company. Tom Vice, Chairman, President and CEO of Aerion, lends his expertise in supersonic aviation to the podcast for a conversation with host Grayson Brulte on all things Aerion, plus insights into why the aviation industry stopped innovating and what the future holds.

Tom walks us through his journey into aviation, from watching every Apollo launch on a small, black and white TV to working on the B2 Bomber to the “most incredible thing” he worked on at Northrop Grumman: the James Webb Space Telescope, which Tom believes could be the tool that finds life beyond Earth. Tom recalls the lessons he’s learned along the way and how they have shaped his vision for innovation and sustainability.

Tom shares the vision for Aerion Connect, which builds out the entire travel ecosystem and experience—FBOs, travelling to-from airports, airplanes—to allow travelers to experience the joy of travelling once again. All of this aligns with Aerion’s vison to connect any two points in the world within three hours in a more compassionate and empathetic way, without spending so much time in an airplane. Essentially, get to your destination, enjoy your destination, and learn and love from it.

Next, we step into Aerion’s highly anticipated AS2 jet and hear plans for when it will start soaring through the sky. We learn about the fully customizable, highly digitized, “Whisper Quiet” cabin; how “Boomless Cruise” is a game changing supersonic technology that’s closer to commercial reality than most people think; and how the AS2 can reinvent business by cutting significant travel times.

The conversation digs deeper into the second revolutionary aspect that Aerion is perfecting: new fuels and power sources. Tom shares how customers, investors and the general public appreciate Aerion’s commitment using biofuels that are kind to our planet and are excited to see the AS2’s aerodynamically clean and efficient engine. Grayson and Tom touch upon Aerion’s partnership with Canadian-based Carbon Engineering and how they are setting Aerion’s advancements apart from the industry.

Throughout the conversation, Tom touches on Aerion 2050, the company’s strategic plan to go to hypersonic, branch into supersonics for commercial aviation, what future fuel and power sources will make this a reality, the AS3, and take us inside of Aerion Park in Melbourne, Fla., where the AS2 will be designed, built and tested.

To close out, Grayson and Tom discuss why aerospace innovation, specifically with supersonic jets, stopped in the mid-20th Century. From the difficult challenges to overcome environmental and noise concerns to the increased focus on revenue and dollars in commercial aviation, Tom discusses why aerospace, once of the birthplace of innovation, became stagnant; but offers optimism for what the future holds for the industry.

Learn more about Aerion at www.aerionsupersonic.com.

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The mobility ecosystem covers a lot of ground, so who better to provide insight than someone reporting on every facet on a daily basis? It’s a new perspective this week as Alan Ohnsman, Senior Editor of Future Mobility at Forbes, joins host Grayson Brulte to offer insight on the future of transportation. This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from electric vehicles and autonomous trucking to the re-emergence of passenger trains and how we’ll traverse Los Angeles over the next decade, plus a look at some of the major players emerging in mobility.

Alan kicks off the conversation at the beginning of his career in Japan, where his appreciation for trains, efficient mass transit and smart cities was born. Grayson and Alan quickly jump into a conversation about all things Tesla: what were Alan’s initial impressions of the company back in 2006 and how has that perception changed, what would happen if Elon Musk stopped tweeting, and what happens to Tesla, A.E. (After Elon)?

The electric talk continues with Rivian and the massive capital being generated for EV startups in the space. Alan shares his perspective on the advantages that these startups have over OEMs for developing electric/hybrid battery technologies and when we might see a true electric SUV from a traditional OEM.

Grayson and Alan take a look at the role that the 3 A's (Alphabet, Amazon and Apple) are playing in driving autonomy by combining services with mobility, and how that may be the deciding factor for success against more manufacturing-focused competitors, like Cruise.

The conversation takes on additional levels as Grayson and Alan explore how TuSimple is driving ahead of the automated commercial trucking pack, what role will Walmart play in mobility, and how does mobility change in Los Angeles over the next 10-20 years?

Before the conversation wraps, Alan circles back to trains. The two discuss how rail and companies like Brightline trains are going to be a really interesting part of the mobility ecosystem by connecting the middle distances to create quicker trips and safer roadways.

Follow Alan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/alanohnsman and read his articles at www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman.

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The Rideshare Guy, Harry Campbell, hails a ride on this week’s episode to share his first hand expertise on ridesharing and food delivery with host Grayson Brulte.

How does one go from being a structural engineer to a finance blogger to one of the leading voices in ridesharing? Harry shares the winding road that led to his blogging venture and the on-the-ground lessons he has learned to help others working in the industry maximize their opportunities.

Harry and Grayson step into the political realm as they explore the impacts of California’s AB5 on the rideshare economy. How do drivers feel about this bill? What are the benefits and drawbacks to drivers? How will AB5 impact the ridesharing businesses themselves? And how might a Democratic Vice President candidate elevate this California issue to the national stage?

The conversation shifts to the future of food delivery services as Harry and Grayson discuss whether or not consolidations and acquisitions are inevitable, if the industry’s pandemic-driven growth is sustainable, and why food packaging might be the key brand differentiator.

The episode wraps up with talk about Amazon’s recent acquisition of Zoox, and Grayson shares some insider perspective on the Amazon-Zoox vehicle and future vision for the partnership. They debate whether the acquisition is a move into autonomous ridesharing, delivery, or both; Is Amazon lagging behind ridesharing leaders like Uber and Lyft in solving complex infrastructure issues; and if a partnership between Amazon and Lyft might completely change the game.

Learn more about The Rideshare Guy at https://therideshareguy.com/.

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It’s a unique take on mobility this week as Dr. Peter Weiss, Co-Founder of the Rodeo Drive Women's Health Center in Beverly Hills, California sits down with host Grayson Brulte to discuss the intersection between autonomous vehicles and medical technology advancements.

With this episode being recording during a global pandemic, Dr. Weiss briefly touches on how pandemics are identified and the measures we can take to stay healthy and safe as we travel. The conversation shifts to the current COVID-19 pandemic and how the crisis has actually advanced medical and AV artificial intelligence (AI) a generation ahead with people ready for the next generation of services.

Dr. Weiss and Grayson dig deep into medical AI advancements and the role they will play in the burgeoning AV market. From what happens if you have an emergency medical condition in an SAE Level 5 AV to what type of standardized cleanliness criteria is needed for shared AVs?

The conversation closes out with additional insight on how our reliance and comfort with personal technology is advancing medical AI to levels never before possible. Dr. Weiss shares his perspective on the opportunities Apple has in the healthcare community and the company’s role as a conduit to medical AI. He signs off with insight on how technology is the great equalizer to provide healthcare equality and what the future looks like for medical AI.

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