Daniel Pleffken

Title
Assistant Professor
Email
Department
School of Graduate Studies (SGS)
College
College of Aviation
Daniel Pleffken

Dr. Daniel Rondon Pleffken is an assistant professor and researcher in the School of Graduate Studies. His work centers on aviation safety and simulation, systems safety and certification and model-based engineering methods that align regulatory compliance with emerging technologies.

A former career officer and military pilot in the Brazilian Air Force, Dr. Pleffken logged more than 1,500 flight hours on the Airbus CASA C-295, Cessna 208, T-25, T-27 and Embraer 110 (E-110). He has served in aircraft accident investigation and airworthiness certification, applying FAA, EASA and national regulatory frameworks to complex aerospace systems. At DCTA/IFI, he specialized in Type Certification and Continued Airworthiness.

From 2016 to 2020, he served as Chief Coordinator of Military Certification Processes in Brazil and as Deputy Industrial Manager for the KC-390 program, leading a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 engineers and interfacing with Boeing, Embraer, SAAB and other organizations. He completed the KC-390 Ground School. He later managed the IFFM4BR project at IAE (through 2021) and directed the ITA Space Center (2022–2023), overseeing research initiatives and student development in aerospace technologies.

Dr. Pleffken earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), with research conducted in partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF). His work examined verification, validation and certification (VV&C) of advanced aerospace technologies, connecting regulatory requirements with innovations such as eVTOL and artificial intelligence. Throughout his career, he has emphasized technical excellence, integrity and ethical responsibility.

His areas of expertise include flight instruction and safety management; aircraft certification and regulatory compliance; aviation operations management; quality systems, configuration management, and internal auditing; and student mentorship and training development. He is committed to applied learning and industry engagement to prepare students for the challenges of modern aviation.

Research Interests: aviation safety and simulation; systems safety and certification; model-based systems engineering (MBSE/SysML); verification, validation, and certification (VV&C); eVTOL and advanced air mobility; AI/LLM-assisted safety analyses; digital engineering and continued airworthiness.

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Space Operations, Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica (ITA)