Don Ruhmann on design process
From Boeing Fireside Chat (Forum 360) · · AIAA
“Innovation loves constraints. Instead of thinking of safety as something you do after you've designed the product, we've a long time ago moved towards you have to bring the safety equation up front into the very beginning of the design process to build it in, not add it on.”
On , Don Ruhmann, Chief Aerospace Safety Officer, Senior Vice President, Global Aerospace Safety at Boeing, spoke about design process during Boeing Fireside Chat (Forum 360) on AIAA.
About Don Ruhmann
Don Ruhmann, Boeing's chief aerospace safety officer and senior vice president of global aerospace safety, participated in a fireside chat on January 6, 2026, alongside chief technology officer Todd Citron. Ruhmann discussed Boeing's approach to embedding human-focused engineering design in commercial aircraft, stating that safety analysis requires practical application beyond academic theory. He said the company is partnering with a university to combine academic safety analysis with real-world examples from certified products. Ruhmann also addressed Boeing's recent safety challenges, stating that the company must "earn the trust back of the regulator" following events in recent years that Boeing has "had to take ownership of." On autonomous air taxis, he said "the safest autonomous air taxi is the one that never flies" and emphasized the need to work with regulators and the public to make the technology successful. He described safety as "life" and noted that during space launch system reviews, a picture of the four astronauts is always included because "the mission is all about getting those astronauts home."