Draper Appoints Navy Veteran Chris McDowell as Senior Program Manager of National Security

CAMBRIDGE, MA—Chris McDowell, who served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy before retiring as a Captain, has joined Draper to serve as Senior Program Manager in the company’s National Security program office.

At Draper, McDowell will serve as a member of the company’s business and engineering leadership to identify National Security’s needs, conceive technical solutions, lead proposal development efforts and capture opportunities to serve the U.S. Navy with engineering solutions. He will also be responsible for the execution of these programs.

McDowell most recently served in two program offices at the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), including Air Combat Electronics (PMA-209) and, prior to that, Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PMA-262). Earlier in his Navy career, McDowell commanded and flew in several operational flight squadrons.

Bill Borgia, Draper’s Director of Mission Systems, said, “Chris’s experience, combined with Draper’s expertise in guidance, navigation and control (GN&C), secure processing and mission computer systems, will lead to new opportunities as he works closely with our engineering staff in serving our customers in the U.S. Navy.”

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, McDowell earned a master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida.