Engineering Entrepreneur Jim Neidhoefer to Speak With UA Students

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Jim Neidhoefer, founder and chief executive officer of Aerotonomy Inc., will speak with students at The University of Alabama Wednesday, April 9.

Neidhoefer’s presentation continues the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Leadership Series, which brings prominent business leaders and engineering entrepreneurs to speak with students at UA. Neidhoefer’s lecture begins at 3 p.m. in the Mortar Room of the Ferguson Center. It is open to the public.

Neidhoefer founded Aerotonomy in 2004 as a small business dedicated to the development of state-of-the-art unmanned aircraft systems with highly autonomous capabilities. The company specializes in intelligent mission planning and guidance navigation and control, and it is committed to transforming these technologies into real world applications and products.

Prior to Aerotonomy, Neidhoefer served as the senior research scientist for Accurate Automation Corp., where he developed four major research programs in flight tests of guidance, navigation and control systems.

Neidhoefer received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering from the Capstone in 1991, 1998 and 1999, respectively. He is a member of the board of directors of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and he serves as an industry expert on intelligent systems. In addition, Neidhoefer is a member of UA’s department of aerospace engineering and mechanics’ advisory board.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,300 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.