Paul Toivonen

About Paul Toivonen

Paul Toivonen is serving a pivotal role in shaping the future of additive manufacturing (AM) for aerospace applications. Paul is also recognized for his depth in fatigue and fracture mechanics, and achievements in advancing the science of structural integrity and airworthiness assurance. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Design and an M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan Technological University. He joined Spirit in 2014 and was inducted into the Spirit Technical Fellowship in 2018. His work has been widely published in conference proceedings, journal articles, technical roadmaps, whitepapers and proposals, strategic planning documents, and patents. Prior to Spirit, Paul spent 15 years each at McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed, building deep expertise in fatigue & damage tolerance (F & DT) analysis and better testing approaches, in leading research & technology development (R&T) with DARPA and AFRL, and in architecting comprehensive analysis software that integrates digital twin and artificial intelligence technologies. With over four decades of technical leadership spanning commercial, military, and regulatory domains, Paul\'s influence is deeply woven into the fabric of next-generation manufacturing and certification processes. Paul began work at Spirit as a senior technical advisor overseeing the Structures Lab and test planning. Now Paul’s focused on driving progress towards industrializing key Spirit proprietary technologies that extend across the diverse AM and digital landscapes. He is guiding strategic direction, tackling complex technical challenges, and anticipating transformative changes in this evolving sector. His dogged leadership was instrumental in achieving serial production of the first-ever structurally significant metal AM part certified for use in civil aviation—a major milestone in aerospace manufacturing history. Paul’s industry-wide impact is underscored by his service as Co-Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association Working Group on Additive Manufacturing, by his engagement on the FAA/NASA Steering Group on Computational Materials for Qualification & Certification, and through key advisory roles with influential standards organizations, including ASTM, SAE, MMPDS, CMH-17, and the KART, GAMAT and America Makes’ JMAAD Projects. Today Paul is developing novel analysis approaches and orchestrating agentic Al that will transform the workflows of engineering analysis and certification. By using Al as a collaborator rather than a mere tool, he is integrating his perspective and insights into the curation of Al agency.

Experience

1. Associate Technical Fellow

   Boeing

   Dec 2025 — Present

   DaDT, Emerging Technologies: Metal Additive Manufacturing, Computational Materials for Qualification and Certification, Industry / Government / Academia Collaboration

Education

• Michigan Technological University

  Bachelor of Science (BS)

• Michigan Technological University

  Master of Science (MS)

Skills

• Team Leadership
• Coaching
• Persuasive Presentations
• Nastran
• Teaching
• Software Development
• Earned Value Management
• Database Design
• Change Management
• Software Project Management
• Thermal Analysis
• Technological Innovation
• Program Management
• Microsoft Visual Studio C++
• Root Cause Analysis
• Team Building
• Visual C#
• Durability
• Finite Element Analysis
• Data Analysis
• Six Sigma
• Object Oriented Modeling
• Photoelasticity
• Proposal Leadership
• Fatigue Analysis
• Adobe Illustrator
• Facilitators
• Flight Test
• Damage Tolerance
• Professional Mentoring
• Project Management
• Structural Analysis
• Failure Analysis
• Testing
• Technology Transfer
• Predictive Analytics
• Visual Basic
• Integration
• Nde
• Fatigue Testing