In this episode we speak with David Liu, Director of Engineering at AeroVironment, about his journey from Northrop Grumman to Facebook and Meta, before moving into defence robotics at AV.
David shares how his experience across aerospace, big tech, connectivity, smart glasses, and advanced aircraft systems shaped his approach to engineering leadership. He explains how lessons from Silicon Valley, including fast iteration, early integration, openness, ownership, and managing technical debt, are now helping shape modern defence technology.
The conversation explores the future of robotic systems, from one operator managing multiple platforms to heterogeneous autonomous systems working together on shared missions. David also discusses the importance of AI efficiency, battery technology, material science, manufacturing, and why strong engineering culture is key to building reliable systems at scale.
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