2023 Company of the Year

PNAA’s Aerospace Company of the Year Award is presented to the aerospace company located in the Pacific Northwest that has exhibited exceptional organizational and managerial characteristics while continually maintaining a strong competitive posture, thus raising the industry standard for the Pacific Northwest.

AeroTEC was founded by Lee Human in 2003 to provide flight test services to STC companies like Aviation Partners Boeing, a joint venture with The Boeing Company. It wasn’t long after the company’s founding that the company quickly grew and expanded its capabilities to include certification and engineering services. In 2011, AeroTEC was awarded a contract with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation of America to test and certify the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (SpaceJet). This contract aided in the company’s rapid growth and facilities expansion.

Today, under Lee’s leadership, AeroTEC has grown to 250 employees in four locations with engineering offices, manufacturing facilities and an MRO/aircraft modification center – all designed to support customer test programs. Headquartered in Seattle, AeroTEC’s three additional campuses include its Flight Test Center in Moses Lake, Manufacturing Center in Arlington, and Engineering Center in Wichita, Kansas. AeroTEC’s Flight Test Center in Moses Lake now boasts 200,000 square feet of hangar space.

Lee’s forward thinking has led AeroTEC to focus on the product development and certification of emerging aerospace technologies, supporting customers who are developing electric, supersonic and eVTOL aircraft, all in line with AeroTEC’s mission of accelerating the evolution of aerospace. AeroTEC has supported well over 100 aircraft modification programs ranging from radar and Wi-Fi STC’s to widebody cargo conversions, winglets, and three clean sheet aircraft TC projects. AeroTEC is currently deploying its expertise in designing, manufacturing, flight test and certification to its third, fourth and fifth electric aircraft programs – the Universal Hydrogen fuel cell electric Dash-8, the NASA/magniX Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator (EPFD) Hybrid Dash-8, and the Surf Air hybrid electric Caravan, an all-electric Cessna 208B, in partnership with magniX.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Engineering, Lee has earned credentials as an FAA DER, as well as his private multi-engine instrument pilot’s license. Prior to starting AeroTEC in 2003, Lee was instrumental in the success and growth of other aerospace companies. He was a lead engineer at Aircraft Engineering Specialists (AES), and subsequently held the position of flight test manager at Aviation Partners Boeing.

Lee’s extensive experience in the aircraft development and certification industry brings direction and a competitive edge to AeroTEC. He has been personally involved in the testing, engineering, and certification of over 50 major aerospace projects, including Aviation Partners’ Blended Winglets on numerous Boeing aircraft, as well as the Gulfstream GII, Hawker 800, Falcon 50/900/2000, Lockheed Martin Cooperative Avionics Test Bed (CATB) 737-300 with F35 (JSF) systems, the Hawker Beechcraft King Air 250, and the Mitsubishi MRJ type certificate.

Nikki Malcom, PNAA’s Executive Director and CEO, praises AeroTEC’s innovation stating “The people at AeroTEC are always looking for ways to push the industry forward. They've been involved in many sustainable aviation projects throughout the PNW, helping move this growing field of innovation into new frontiers with their testing, engineering, and certification expertise.”