Bomber Unveiling
Led the creative direction in unveiling the world's first sixth-generation aircraft
Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2022
Palmdale, California — In partnership with the U.S. Air Force and broader Department of Defense community, Northrop Grumman unveiled the world's first sixth-generation aircraft on December 2, 2022. For over two years, I worked with colleagues behind closed doors to plan what this event would look and feel like and resolve how we would execute the logistics and mitigate the risks involved in revealing this aircraft to the world.
Working with internal, external, USAF and DoD partners, I led the experience design for the broadcast audience and the nearly 3,000 in-person attendees at the event. This involved sketching early concepts, conducting lighting tests, camera tests and "drape" tests ensuring nothing would unintentionally be revealed nor damage the aircraft. At the tail end of this endeavor my team captured the first publicly-released images of this aircraft, supported Time Magazine in its exclusive piece, "The Making of the U.S. Military’s New Stealth Bomber," and helped set design and successfully execute a media round table in front of what was still a highly sensitive aircraft and hangar.
Successfully executing this event was the most challenging and rewarding milestone of my career. I cannot overstate how complicated an endeavor this event was to execute for all stakeholders involved. On November 4, 2023, we were awarded the Aeronautics Systems President's Award for Excellence, and on January 4, 2024 — the 2023 Award for Excellence, both in the category of Customer Excellence. These are Northrop Grumman's highest honors recognizing team members who set the standards for excellence, live Northrop Grumman values and embody the ethos of Defining Possible. Additionally, on April 18, 2024, we received the Ragan Employee Communication Award in the category of Employee Engagement for our successful execution of this historic event.
