Our Team
The Senior Leadership team at Hummingbird Aero are experienced professionals with decades of experience in the aerospace and defence industries. Each member brings their own unique skillset and contributes towards the growth and development of the company.
Brian Barker
President & CEO
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Brian leads the Hummingbird Aero organization with more than 35 years of aerospace systems development experience.
Previous to Hummingbird, Brian was employed with Moog Aircraft Group, and focused in the development of advanced fly-by-wire flight controls for military and commercial aircraft. Brian played an instrumental role in the development of early Electrohydrostatic actuation technology and demonstrators leading to their selection and development on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
In 1998, Brian founded the hydraulic pump and motor product line for Moog dedicated to providing specialized hydraulic power components for internal actuation needs. These products have been used on flight control actuation systems for the F-18E/F, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Airbus A400M and A350 aircraft.
Brian started his career as a designer and developer of hydraulic pumps and motors for both Garrett Fluid Systems and Abex Aerospace, and developed hydraulic power transfer units for both the Airbus A320 and Boeing C-17 aircraft. Brian has served as an executive engineering leader for large engineering organizations at Goodrich Engine Controls and Northrop Grumman Inertial Navigation Systems, supporting the development of complex control systems per ARP 4754. He is experienced in the development of safety critical electronics and software per DO-178/254.
From 2011 to 2023, Brian served as Chairman for the SAE A-6B2 International Panel for Electrohydrostatic Actuation. Brian holds three patents for hydraulic systems technology.
David Manzanares
VP of Engineering & COO
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David leads Engineering Services and Operations at Hummingbird Aero, and also serves as Vice President & GM, EM Systems Business Area. David most recently served as Vice President of Engineering for UmbraGroup, based in Foligno, Italy, where he was responsible for the integration and coordination of eight companies in Italy, Germany and United States, focused on EM actuation products.
Prior, David spent over 20 years with Moog in engineering design and management where he led the integrated product teams responsible for the B787 Horizontal Stabilizer Trim Actuator (HSTA) and also the B787 EM Spoiler Actuator, the first application of an EM actuator on a primary flight control surface for a large commercial transport. David currently serves as secretary for the SAE A-6 panel for electromechanical actuation. He holds three patents, speaks Spanish and Italian, and is recognized as a world-leading expert in EM actuation technology.
Brett Hunter
VP of Military Aircraft
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Brett Leads Hummingbird’s Military Aircraft Business Unit following over 37 years in systems architecture design and integration in the Aerospace industry at General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Moog Aircraft Group. Brett’s main focus has been in air vehicle subsystem design and system integration. He has extensive experience in the emergency power, engine start, leading edge flap and flight control actuation areas.
Brett has over 10 years overseas experience as a technical advisor in both Taiwan and South Korea. In Taiwan, Brett represented General Dynamics as the in-country representative to AIDC for the Secondary Power and Hydraulic Systems on the IDF program. He later assumed a larger role as the Vehicle Subsystem lead before returning to Fort Worth, TX to work on the F-16 program. In South Korea, Brett represented Lockheed Martin as the in-country advisor to KAI as the Vehicle Subsystems Sr. Manager on the T-50 program.
After returning to Fort Worth, Brett worked on the F-35 program in the Vehicle Systems department in various capacities including Sr. Manager for both the Systems Engineering and Integration and Mechanical Systems Teams.
Brett left Lockheed to join Moog Aircraft Group in Torrance, CA as the Chief Engineer for Actuation for the Military Sector. Brett later took on roles as the Director of Engineering for the Military Sector which included, Systems Engineering, Electronics, Software as well as Actuation. Brett’s last role prior to joining Hummingbird was Director of Engineering for the Aircraft Group which included the Commercial and Components Sectors in addition to the Military Sector.
It is a pleasure to work with and to learn from the subject matter experts and engineers within Hummingbird Aero. We receive great feedback from our customers about the level of expertise and service that our teams provide. Over the course of several customer projects, we have developed engagement models that enable our Hummingbird teams to expand customer capabilities and
capacity to achieve better results faster than their independent organizations can achieve alone.
David Manzanares
VP of Engineering & COO