Juan Manuel de Bedout

Vice President – Aerospace Technologies

Raytheon Technologies

BSME '94, MSME '96, PhD '00

For his established success in shaping business strategy and driving development across diverse product lines creating impactful innovations in the energy and aerospace industries through long-term technology roadmaps in strategic and transformational industry segments.

 

Wise choices at pivotal moments are common among those who achieve uncommon success. The choice to set aside industry opportunities in favor of obtaining a Purdue PhD was among such choices for a young Juan Manuel de Bedout.

“(Former) Professor Matt Franchek encouraged me to take a step back and apply for a PhD not because the path was necessarily better, but because it provided a broader set of options from which to choose,” de Bedout recalls. “I’m glad I did. I was awarded a full fellowship for PhD studies and the work I did leading up to that degree established a mindset for analytical thinking that has taken me to where I am today.”

de Bedout’s education and determination combined to launch a career that quickly drew recognition. The Purdue Alumnus, in 2010, named him one of its “40 Under 40” and the Diversity MBA Magazine also recognized him with one of its “Top 100 Under 50” acknowledgements in 2011. He also received the Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award from Purdue in 2011. In 2016, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers honored him with the Hispanic in Technology Award.

Positions of increasing responsibility have earned him a proven track record of leading large, global engineering teams developing technology and new products that drive impactful innovation in the energy and aerospace industries as it relates to shaping technology strategy in renewable energy, distributed energy resources, electric propulsion, systems engineering, software controls and IIOT.

Despite his broad technological expertise, the work he says he values most is people-based: “I’m most proud of the teams I have formed throughout my career. On several occasions I have had the privilege to build new engineering organizations — in one case through the formation of a new business, and in the others through the integration of businesses through mergers or acquisitions.

“While each case was different and the challenges varied, all of these organizations grew to become dependable and effective, and all of them evolved to feature collaboration as a core principle that made it possible to share best practices efficiently and broadly, and to make the best resources anywhere in the business available to overcome urgent problems quickly.”

de Bedout would advise today’s Purdue undergraduates to focus on what energizes them and imagine how they could shape the future of their area of interest. “Even if the career risk seems high,” he says, “have the courage to trust your instincts and find a way to start from there.”

de Bedout is active in several professional societies. He has accepted invitations as plenary speaker at the 2016 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society General Meeting in Boston, the 2014 IEEE Industrial Electronics Society annual conference in Dallas, and the American Controls Conference in Portland, Oregon, also in 2014. He also was a session organizer for the EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium of the National Academy of Engineering in 2011.

Career Highlights

  • 2020-present Vice President, Aerospace Technologies, Raytheon Technologies
  • 2018-2020 Vice President, Advanced Technology – Collins Aerospace, United Technologies
  • 2016-2018 Chief Technology Officer, Grid Solutions, General Electric
  • 2012-2017 Chief Technology Officer, Energy Connections, General Electric
  • 2008-2012 Technology Director, Global Research – Electrical Technologies and Systems, General Electric
  • 2004-2008 Manager, Global Research – Electric Power and Propulsion Systems Lab, General Electric
  • 2000-2004 Control Systems Engineer, Global Research, General Electric

Education

  • 2000 PhD Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
  • 1996 MS Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
  • 1994 BS Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University