Aviation Market Research

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Steve Shea, Senior Partner

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After graduating from Fordham University in New York City, Steve completed reserve active duty with the US Army Infantry, afterward transitioning to an Army reserve unit in Fairfield, Connecticut. 

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His first career position was Marketing Manager-Financial Services with American Express Corporation in New York. While there, the Director of Market Research and coincidentally a Naval Reserve pilot, convinced Steve to finish out his reserve commitment at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey; also helping Steve do a “Green to Blue” (Army to Navy) transfer, plus get the necessary training to fly air crew (operating radar, ECM) on ASW aircraft at Lakehurst.  

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Already flying small Cessnas (member West Point Flying Club) on weekends, Steve jumped at the opportunity. 

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Career wise, Steve transitioned to become Marketing Director with American Cyanamid (Fortune 100 industrial process company in NJ). Then after a few years he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to become New Product Director for Advanced Imaging Solutions with Polaroid Corporation.

 

After five years with Polaroid, Steve moved to his last company Duncan Industries, a leading Boston-area metals finishing company as VP Strategic Planning, Marketing and Sales. There he had responsibility for growing the business with major primes such as  General Electric, Raytheon, Textron and others in Aviation, Space, and Defense sectors.  

 

A natural entrepreneur, with unique business strategy and technical experience, Steve decided in 1999 to launch STS Research Group. Step by step he assembled a research team to assist U.S. and global technology clients to achieve new growth in Aviation, Space, and Defense markets.  

 

STS Research Group purposely retains its original unique focus today of emphasizing in-depth input from key customers and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) as a key component in all custom research project assignments.  

 

Steve is an active member of the Air Force Association (AFA), Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA),  Association of the United States Army (AUSA), Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), National Space Society (NSS), and Navy League of the U.S. 

 

Steve is also a long-term member of Hanscom Air Force Base Reps Association in Bedford, Massachusetts. 

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Sam Ximenes, Associate

Sam has over 30 years’ experience in the aerospace industry with NASA, DoD, international space programs, spaceports, and space exploration initiatives.

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He has held executive management positions at Lockheed Martin, L-3, and Futron Corporation with responsibility for business-growth strategies in advanced programs and technology insertion for space systems. He has also been a business consultant for The Aerospace Corporation, and Space Architecture consultant for both Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT). 

 

In 2007, he founded XArc Exploration Architecture Corporation, a Space Architecture consulting services firm, providing multi-disciplinary architectural systems consulting in concept development, visualization, programming and planning of infrastructure and facilities associated with transportation systems ranging from ground transport to air and space modalities. 

 

He led systems’ integration and habitation efforts of international partner laboratory modules for the NASA Space Station program. He also led concept design, analysis and trades for NASA exploration initiatives and program studies for lunar outpost build-up sequencing, habitation systems and site planning for planetary surface systems, including mission planning, operations & utilization, and has developed Lunar Lander reusability assessments for lunar outpost systems. He has also supported NASA Science Mission Directorate with technical, management, and cost evaluation of space-science mission proposals.

 

This includes projects in commercial spaceport design and space systems development to service the commercial spaceflight industry and development of space exploration initiatives for planetary surface systems for habitation and human settlement. 

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He was also a member of the design team for Spaceport America, United Kingdom spaceport site assessments, and led the effort developing the economic and business case for viability of the Houston Spaceport for the City of Houston.

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Jim Henry, Associate

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Jim has extensive engineering, sales and operational experience in the aerospace, gas turbine and turbomachinery fields. 

 

His areas of expertise include:  Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), engine performance and testing, predictive maintenance, reliability engineering, root cause analysis, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, market assessments, conceptual selling and competitive analysis.

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Some of the key positions Jim has held include:  President of Concepts NREC; VP Sales and Aftermarket, VP Engineering and Chief Engineer at Vericor Power Systems;  VP Strategy, VP Services and VP Engineering at StandardAero. 

 

He served as an aerospace engineer in the Royal Canadian Air Force and held the position of Aircraft Engineering Officer for Canada’s CF-18 aircraft fleet.

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Jim holds an MBA from The University of Tennessee as well as Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from The Royal Military College of Canada.  He is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College.

 

In addition, he has attended formal training in: aircraft accident investigation, project management, conceptual selling, engine health monitoring and process redesign.

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Peter T. Mahal, Associate

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Peter has wide ranging experience in various aviation and aerospace market technologies, market strategy, and new market development for both commercial and military applications. This includes extensive work with FAA, R&D initiatives, intellectual property, and related areas.

 

After graduating from Pennsylvania State University, he joined Gulf+Western Advanced Development and Engineering Center as Marketing Specialist, Military Arresting Systems Group. He was then assigned Regional Sales Director for Southeast Asia and Pacific, followed by appointment to Director, Marketing and Sales for Worldwide Military Arresting System. During this time, he earned his MBA from Temple University.

 

In 1994, he was assigned responsibility to develop a commercial aircraft arresting system product. Under his leadership, the product was successfully tested and validated under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the FAA.

 

In 1999, he was appointed President, EMAS Division which was created to commercialize this new product. In 2013 he became President & CEO of Zodiac Aerospace’s Arresting Systems Division, with responsibility for marketing, engineering, and manufacturing facilities in France and the US.

 

He has been named inventor on 12 patents, received multiple awards from the Air Traffic Controllers Association, the FAA Northeast Region, the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Working Group, and the New York Association of Consulting Engineers.

 

Peter was also awarded the Elmer A. Sperry Award in recognition of his seminal work and continuing contributions to aviation, and is a recipient of The Murray P. Koch Award for making significant contributions in the advancement of technology for safety and survival applications.