EADS Global Website - Meet our Chief Technical Officer

Strategy and Vision

As a global leader in aerospace and defence, EADS develops technologies to help define the future of our industry. Technology is the tool for achieving the EADS Vision 2020, and technology leadership through innovation is therefore a permanent driver for EADS and it is key for ensuring that the company’s future business will be a success.

In our industry, the pace of competition is permanently intensifying — the main players are moving to the market faster, and new players are emerging, especially in Asia. The time-to-market for breakthrough technologies is decreasing, while the integration of technologies becomes as important as the individual breakthrough technologies themselves.

As the Chief Technical Officer, my mission is to be the focal point for EADS Research & Technology and for innovation across EADS. I also steer the EADS-wide harmonisation of transversal technical processes, methods and tools, and skills development programmes and I carry out specific technical assessments on behalf of the CEO and the EADS Executive Committee.

Both the Chief Quality Officer and the Chief Information Officer are part of my organisation, since innovation is not only about Research & Technology but also about increased quality and optimised information and production processes.

Fundamentally, our Research & Technology strategy is to drive the emergence and development of new aerospace and defence technologies to maturity, so as to help EADS and its Divisions meet the evolving needs of customers in our home markets and emerging markets. Our Research & Technology strategy creates the company’s technology portfolio and aligns it with the business strategy. It has a clear focus on growing markets and the key technologies for a successful on-time, on-quality, on-price introduction of new products and services.

We keep our innovation pipeline constantly full to replace ageing technologies and processes. Our researchers are developing technologies which are directly related to the requirements of today’s society: enhanced mobility, security and environmental best practice. We always bear in mind the needs of our customers as well as the maintainability and the lifecycle costs of our products.

The skilled EADS workforce is our real treasure. We recognise that the technical expertise of our employees is of vital importance for a successful future. Together with our Human Resources department, it is a key job for me as the Chief Technical Officer to keep this expertise at the appropriate level and to strengthen our competencies by developing and managing our Research & Technology employees.

Yours sincerely,

Jean Botti

Dr. Jean J. Botti

Dr. Jean J. Botti, born on 14 April 1957, is Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of EADS and a member of the EADS Executive Committee. He has corporate responsibility for Technology, Quality and Information Technology.

Prior to assuming this position in May 2006, Dr. Botti served as the business line executive for Powertrain and Executive Director Fuel Cells with Delphi Corporation.

Dr. Botti began his career in 1978 at Renault and became Senior Project Engineer. He joigned Genaral Motors in the United States in 1989. In 1990, he became Staff Project Engineer at the Saginaw Steering Systems Division of General Motors. From 1992 until 1997, Botti returned to France as its Director of European Engineering and was then named Director Customer Solution Center, a position he continued to hold with the Delphi Corporation until 2002. From that year on until 2004, he managed the newly created corporate Dynamics, Propulsion and Thermal Innovation Center as the Chief Technologist.

Dr. Botti holds 12 patents and four defensive publications for his work at GM and Delphi and was elected as a Delphi Hall of Fame fellow. He also holds 11 patents outside of Delphi.

Dr. Botti graduated from I.N.S.A. Toulouse in 1986 with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He also earned an MBA from Central Michigan University in 1991, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris in 1995.

Dr. Botti was awarded the General Motors President Council Award in 1998 and is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He is a member of various engineering and technology societies and the Centre National Recherche Technologique (CNRT) in Belfort, France. In 1991, he completed a Management of Research and Development course at the Massachussets Institutes of Technology (MIT). Dr. Botti has been elected to the European Research Board as the representative for Aeronautics and Space and he is Board member of ONERA (the French research institute for Aeronautics and Space). He is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (UK). He also was awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree from University of Bath in the UK.