A strategic innovator with a bold motivating vision:
to help humanity realize a new dimension of personal freedom
Carl C. Dietrich, Ph.D.
Carl is the co-founder and former CEO/CTO of Terrafugia.
Carl earned his SB ‘99, SM ‘03, & Ph.D. ’07 from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His technical background includes aircraft design, fabrication, maintenance, and operation, rocket propulsion, as well as plasma physics & fusion energy. In 2000, Carl was recognized by the MIT Aero/Astro Department as the youngest of sixteen alumni who had shown “extraordinary accomplishment.” He is the author or co-author on three issued patents and multiple pending patents. Carl was recognized with “40 under 40” awards from the Boston Business Journal and Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. In 2006, he won the $30K Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Invention. During Carl’s eleven years at MIT, he won all four out of the four design competitions in which he participated, he unofficially advised seven undergraduate and two master’s theses, and he founded a student group (the MIT Rocket Team) which is still active today. In graduate school, he was honored with the prestigious Unified Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistant position. He also co-authored two award-winning business plans — one of which became Terrafugia Inc.
As an aerospace industry entrepreneur, Carl led Terrafugia as CEO/CTO from inception in 2006 through acquisition. He guided the successful development and flight testing of two airworthy roadable aircraft. He built a $30 million order backlog for the company’s launch product and raised all the capital for the product development through multiple financing rounds with angel and institutional investors. In 2017, he completed the sale of Terrafugia to the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the parent company of Volvo, Lotus, and many other global brands. As part of the acquisition, Carl helped hire a global CEO and re-focused on his role as CTO. He established an ran a world-class, 20-person R&D Center for Terrafugia where he developed a novel eVTOL configuration for the emerging Urban Air Mobility market. He helped position the company to become a global industry leader in both the US and China. Carl was a Terrafugia board member from inception until his departure in April 2019.
In addition to his work at Terrafugia, Carl helped develop the certification standards for light sport aircraft and general aviation aircraft on ASTM committees F37 and F44 respectively. He is the Chairman of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association subcommittee on Simplified Vehicle Operations. He has been a private pilot and small aircraft designer since high school. He has also worked as an assistant aircraft mechanic, an assistant machinist, and a STEM instructor.
Carl’s professional mission is to enhance individual freedom through the more effective utilization of personal aviation.
See more at Carl’s LinkedIn Page
Carl is a leader in personal aviation and the emerging Urban Air Mobility space.
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