Gaurav Nilakantan

About Gaurav Nilakantan

Dr. Gaurav Nilakantan is currently an Associate Director for Business Development at RTX Corporate focused on defense/weapons technologies and platforms relevant to RTX business units Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, and Collins Aerospace. He is responsible for Department of War (DoW) CRAD funding capture and direct DoW customer engagement (e.g. OSD, Air Force, Navy, JHTO, MDA) across a wide technology spectrum including Advanced Materials & Manufacturing; Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI/ML); Microelectronics & Power Electronics; Energy Storage & Management; Electrification Architectures; Collaborative Autonomy & Human-Machine Interaction; Aircraft, Rocket & Space Propulsion; Hypersonics; Quantum; Energetics & Munitions; Directed Energy (DE) & Electromagnetics; Missiles & Effectors; UAS & c-UAS; UUVs, USVs, Maritime; Imaging & Sensing; Space Infrastructure & Exploration. He previously worked at Boeing Research & Technology (BR & T) leading various Hypersonics, Space, and Satellite efforts. He served as a member of the CESMII Governance Board (Manufacturing USA Institute). Dr. Nilakantan holds PhD, MS, and BE degrees in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering. He has completed various certificate courses in Leadership, Finance, Six Sigma, and Aerospace Project Management. Prior to moving into Business Development, he has worked both in Scientist and Engineer type roles as part of his career spanning Industry and Academia. He has made both seminal and major research contributions in the field of composites. His body of technical work has spanned the manufacturing, experimental characterization, and finite element modeling of textiles, polymer matrix composites, and ceramic matrix composites for armor, aerospace, space, and hypersonics applications, with >20 first-author journal papers. He has served as the PI/PM on government-funded CRAD programs and industry-funded IRAD programs, and closely collaborated with several government agencies. He is extensively networked with government (DoW/NASA), industry, and academia. He has served as a symposium organizer and session chair at various technical conferences, and served as a reviewer for various technical journals. He has won various awards over the course of his career including a best university doctoral dissertation award. Dr. Nilakantan is a US citizen with active DoD security clearance. He lives in Southern California enjoying its weather, beaches, nature, food, and entertainment. Additional information can be found on his personal website:

Experience

1. Associate Director of Business Development - Defense Programs

   RTX

   Feb 2023 — Present · East Hartford, CT, US

   Key contributor within the Strategic Technologies & Partnerships (ST & P) organization to develop DoD funded CRAD capture strategies, identify and directly engage potential USG / DoD customers, and create marketing opportunities for RTX Technology Research Center (RTRC) technology concepts and capabilities that serves the customer need. Directly facilitate partnerships between DoD agencies and RTRC including RTX business units (Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace) and guide proposal teams on campaign deliverables. Manage multi-million $ Incubation and Bid & Proposal (B&P) budgets for staff to develop seedling concepts and proposal deliverables. Shape Congressional Adds working in collaboration with DoD partners and RTX Global Gov’t Relations (GGR) to support urgent research priorities for the RTX business units. Establish CRADAs with DoD research labs. Closely collaborate with the RTX business units (Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace) on CRAD campaigns, customer engagement strategies, and technology roadmaps. Identify and establish relationships with new suppliers including startups, small businesses, and NTDCs (non-traditional defense contractors) for the RTX supply chain and partnership on SBIR and CRAD programs (e.g. OTAs). Organize technical interchange meetings (TIMs) with DoD customers and lead DoD customer engagements and briefings. Represent RTRC at conferences, trade shows, and industry days across all DoD related technology domains. Manage a highly diverse DoD-wide CRAD capture portfolio including Advanced Materials, Manufacturing; Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (AI/ML); Microelectronics, Power Electronics; Energy Storage, Management; Electrification, Sustainability; Collaborative Autonomy; Aircraft, Rocket, Space Propulsion; Hypersonics; Quantum; Energetics, Effectors; Directed Energy (DE), Electromagnetics; Missiles, Munitions; UAS, c-UAS; UUVs, USVs, Imaging, Sensing; Space Infrastructure, Exploration.

Education

• University of Delaware

  PhD

• University of Cincinnati

  MS

Skills

• Design of Experiments
• Physics
• Stress Analysis
• Catia
• Experimentation
• Fortran
• Patents
• Aerospace
• R&D
• Numerical Analysis
• Matlab
• Mathematical Modeling
• Manufacturing
• Structural Analysis
• Simulations
• Finite Element Analysis
• Materials
• High Performance Computing
• Numerical Simulation
• Mechanical Testing
• Solid Modeling
• Simulation
• Solid Mechanics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Pro Engineer
• Mechanics
• Minitab
• Failure Analysis
• Composites
• Modeling
• Pro/Engineer
• Materials Science
• Characterization
• Mechanics of Materials
• Research
• Dynamics
• Computational Mechanics
• Engineering
• Cae
• Polymers