Wright receives US Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy Battery Award

By 2040, Wright will eliminate carbon emissions from all regional flights.

Wright's goal is to make all regional single-aisle flights  zero-emissions.

Landscape of aviation emissions chartLandscape of aviation emissions chart

45% of all aviation emissions are from single-aisle flights.

Single-aisle planes are the most common airplanes used by airlines, designed for short to medium-distance flights. If you have flown on Delta, Southwest, or easyJet, you've likely flown on a single-aisle plane. Currently, there are no zero-emissions single-aisle planes.

The Wright Spirit is the first zero-emissions 100-passenger plane, designed initially for one-hour flights.

Total carbon emissions from aviation globally

1.04 billion tonnes of CO2
45%

Wide-body and cargo flights

<5%

Light aircraft and personal flights

Wright 1 airplane

We're the long-term solution to carbon-neutral aviation.

Our novel propulsion system and upcoming airplanes reduce emissions without a need for offsets. We're bringing zero-emissions flight down to the same cost as running a fossil-fueled fleet and being part of the next generation of aviation with the electrification of the aerospace industry.

Testing through 2023

We're integrating our propulsion system for diverse applications, collaborating with NASA, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Defense.

Wright Spirit by 2027

The Wright Spirit will serve one-hour flights for the busiest city pairs in the world, including Seoul-Jeju, London-Paris, Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo, and San Francisco-Los Angeles.

Wright 1 by 2032

With our propulsion system and enhanced plane design, Wright is developing the first zero-emissions airplane for everyday use, at a price comparable to fossil-fueled alternatives.

World-class engineering meets a vision for sustainable flight

Wright was founded in 2016 by Jeff Engler, is a serial entrepreneur who had long been concerned about reducing his own carbon footprint. He realized that air travel is a huge contributor to emissions, comprising up to three-quarters of a frequent traveler’s carbon footprint, and decided to do something about it. Jeff hired top engineers from companies like Boeing, GE and Bombardier to build Wright’s electric propulsion system.

Zero emissions up to 800 miles

The Wright 1 will make all short flights under 800 miles free of carbon emissions, in the U.S. and globally.
San Francisco
→ Seattle: 679 miles
→ Las Vegas: 414 miles
Houston
→ Atlanta: 696 miles
New York
→ Washington D.C.: 213 miles
→ Chicago: 740 miles
Chicago
→ Minneapolis: 334 miles
→ Washington D.C.: 612 miles
→ Atlanta.: 606 miles

Our Leadership

We've brought together the brightest minds in aerospace and electrical engineering to make zero-emissions flight a reality.

Jeff Engler

Founder, CEO

Colin Tschida

Head of Powertrain

Earl Fairall

Director of Electric Machines

Our Team

We've brought together the brightest minds in aerospace and electrical engineering to make zero-emissions flight a reality.

Jeff Engler

Founder & CEO
Jeff Engler is CEO of Wright Electric, an aviation company developing 100+ passenger electric airplanes. He started the company when he learned flying tripled his carbon footprint. He incubated Wright through a Harvard University fellowship and led Wright through the selective Y Combinator accelerator program. He previously co-founded Podimetrics, a medical device company that has raised $70M+ in venture funding. Jeff has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia and Harvard.

Colin Tschida

Chief Technology Officer
Colin has extensive experience with thermal and mechanical analysis, fluid dynamics, and prototype manufacturing, accrued during his university career, in addition to his direct industry experience as a senior scientist at ABB U.S. Corporate Research. During this six-year period, Colin led development and analysis of novel electric motor designs, developed new concepts for motor and power electronics cooling and packaging, and led prototyping for diverse projects. He has experience in supply chain and team management, and has taught courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. He has a BA in physics from Grinnell College and MS/PhD in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Earl Fairall

Director of Electric Machines
Earl has a strong background in both hybrid and electric vehicle systems and in successful startups. He has been designing, building, and testing electric motors for 15 years. Prior to joining Wright, he was the sixth member of Silicon Valley green-tech startup Turntide Technologies, which sells ultra-high efficiency electric machines to commercial HVAC applications.In June 2022, Turntide became a unicorn, achieving a $1B pre-IPO valuation. Earl enjoys the dynamic energy of startups, and is known to mold into critical roles as required. Earl has a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Aaron Rowe

Staff Engineering Manager, Batteries
Aaron has twelve years of experience working in a wide range of startup companies, almost always at the interface of chemistry and computers. As a graduate student, he led the development of an open source electrochemistry instrument. He has been granted patents on a waterless washing machine, a baby food, and several different medical diagnostic devices. In the course of developing those products, he became an expert in computer vision and sourcing hard-to-find materials. He has a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California Santa Barbara.

JP Lien

Senior Embedded Systems/Control Engineer
JP designs and implements embedded hardware and software systems as part of the Power Electronics Team at Wright. He previously spent 10 years developing sonar systems for SeaLandAire Technologies, working at every stage of R&D, from system-level conceptual modeling to implementation, testing, and on to data processing, analysis, and reporting. JP was a Research Scientist at Teledyne Scientific, where he developed target tracking algorithms, and a Staff Engineer at Analytical Mechanics Associates, where he oversaw aircraft and spacecraft modeling and control. He holds a BS degree in Computer Engineering and Mathematics from Virginia Tech, an MSEE from the University of Illinois, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Electromechanical Systems) from North Carolina State University.

Peter Kurowski

Propulsion Lead
Peter is a highly experienced propulsion engineer, who for over a decade, held multiple design and analysis-related engineering positions at Roll Royce, GE Aviation, and Safran, as well as at smaller companies and startups. He has been a key team member on multiple turbofan/turboshaft engines, turbochargers, micro gas turbines and power generators for Airbus & Sikorsky, and on electric propulsion motors for Boeing and for Bell. He holds a BSC in Control Engineering & Robotics and an MSc in Production Engineering from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland.

Ethan Grey

Electrical Engineer
Ethan discovered an interest in embedded engineering in his college career, as he found the interaction between software and hardware fascinating. Before joining the team at Wright, Ethan worked as a test technician on the low-voltage side for SEPSA Medha, where he tested and repaired electronics for trains. Ethan holds a B.S in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Harry Steenbakkers

Mechanical Engineer
Harry has always had a strong interest in building things, leading him to gaining his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Before joining Wright, Harry was an automotive test engineer at Multimatic known for their subcontracts on high performance models for Ford, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes, and more. He also worked at Core Tech Industrial Corporation as a Product Line Leader working alongside GE for gas and steam turbines. Along with his career in mechanical engineering, much of Harry's non-work time is spent modifying his cars and boats for racing.

Deborah Wilson

Lab Technician
Deb joined the team in early 2023 and quickly transformed the Wright lab. Prior to joining Wright, she spent over a decade at Global Foundries as a maintenance technician and held positions at Cambridge Valley Machine, Plasan North America, and Granite. Deb's passion for fixing things goes beyond the Wright lab as in her spare time you can find her renovating properties or in her garage repairing cars.

Andrew Wright

Mechanical Engineer
Andrew developed a passion for electric powertrains during college, where he found the synergy between electrical and mechanical systems intriguing. With experience in the design and integration of powertrain components, he brings valuable expertise in areas such as FEA analysis, power electronics integration, and systems engineering and testing. Before joining Wright Electric, he spent more than 4 years as a Sr. Systems Engineer at General Dynamics Mission Systems. Andrew earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Anup Deka

Power Electronics Engineer
Anup has experience working on site for electrifying rural households in the beautiful hills of North-East India. He has seen families living in adverse conditions without electricity. This sparked his interest in renewable and clean energy and how the new green technology can be made easily accessible to every person. He has worked on Power Energy Conversion Lab assisting research scholars on projects on smart grids. As a Power Electronics Engineer at Wright Electric his prime focus would be to work on various power converter topologies for high efficiency. Anup recently graduated with a Master of Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Houston and had been an Electrical Hardware Test Engineer at L&T Technology Services.

Phil Domic

Electrical Engineer
Driven by a relentless curiosity and a desire to push the boundaries of what's possible in the realm of electrical engineering, Philip continues to explore new avenues for growth and innovation here at Wright. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, where he focused his studies in power systems, power electronics, and controls. Prior to his career at Wright, Philip played a pivotal role in the development and optimization of electric propulsion technology as a Systems Engineer at General Dynamics.

Zeyad Menesy

Electrical Engineer
From an early age, Zed had a strong curiosity about electricity, vividly remembered for his mother’s yells against putting forks in the power outlet. Before joining Wright as an Electrical Engineer, focusing on power electronics, Zed was an automation engineer at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario (so he is well acquainted with winter weather). Before that he was studying Electrical engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario and co-oping at GaN systems as an applications engineer.

Elizabeth Wallace

Director of Operations
Elizabeth joined the Wright Electric operations team with a focus on building on successes and ensuring a great experience for all employees. Prior to joining, Elizabeth spent over two decades in the Washington, D.C. area, working with national nonprofit organizations, technology startups, and in commercial real estate. Wright Electric’s mission to reduce carbon emissions is close to her heart after spending nearly a decade at the National Wildlife Federation, which fought to bring awareness of the impacts of climate change to animals (and therefore humans).

Ken Wolowitz

Director
Ken joins the team, as Director, bringing his experience with business development, primarily working within the DoD & Electrical Power Sectors. Previously he was at NAG Marine, prior to that he worked at Bender Inc, and ASCO Power Technologies. Ken has a BS in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Stephanie Goulet

Program Management Consultant
Stephanie has been with Wright since 2020, serving first as Assistant Chief of Staff and then as Chief of Staff. Currently, she leads the program management for several of Wright's contracts with government agencies such as NASA, ARPA-E, and the U.S. Air Force. Prior to Wright, she served in various roles related to sustainability and nonprofit development. She holds a B.A. degree in Sustainable Enterprise and Psychology from New England College.

Jill Gottlieb

Business Development Manager
Jill joined the team in late 2023 as Business Development Manager. She was recently in the fashion world of NYC, supporting multiple sales managers, and prior to that, she was a risk assessor in an environmental consulting firm working with NYC public housing. Her passion for environmental activism originated from her early involvement in volunteering for Hudson River cleanup efforts. She received her BS in Business Economics with a focus in Environmental Management from SUNY Cortland to pursue a career in environmental advocacy.

Our Partners

We have strategic partnerships with the U.S. government, airlines, and aviation suppliers.

Our Investors

We work with the world's leading investors.

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