Jim Williams

Jim has over 30 years of experience in the Aerospace sector and recently served as Manager of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office at the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). During his 15 years as an executive at the FAA, Jim held several important positions including Director of Systems Engineering, leader of the Integrated Product Team for ATC Communications, and finally, executive lead for all FAA UAS integration activities. During his tenure, the FAA approved the first commercial drone operations in the USA and published the regulatory structure that enabled routine commercial drone operations in the USA. Prior to joining the FAA, Jim was a flight test engineer and a production liaison engineer for the Lockheed Georgia Company’s C5, C-141 and C-130 programs. He also worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Mission Control during the initial flights of the US Space Shuttle.