Mark McCullins
- Title
- Adjunct Faculty, College of Aviation
- Mark.Mccullins@erau.edu Email
- Department
- Department of Applied Aerospace Science
- College
- College of Aviation
Areas of Expertise
Flight Test and Operations, Flight Instruction and Training.Biography
Mark McCullins brings over 30 years of operational, engineering, and leadership experience to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His 20 year career with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) saw him work internationally on major flight test and engineering projects, and since joining Airbus in 2011 he has worked in both the Defense and Space and Commercial Aircraft divisions.
As a C-130 Air-to-air refueling pilot, he was selected by the RCAF for test pilot training in 2002 and attended the École du Personnel Navigant d'Essais et de Réception (EPNER - the French Test Pilot School), graduating in 2003 as an EASA Category 1 Experimental Test Pilot. During his tenure as a test pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force he led internationally diverse and unique developmental test programs, deployed to the South-West Asia theater of operations three times, where he flew over 50 combat sorties and was awarded a Chief of the Defense Staff Commendation for 'outstanding leadership as the Commanding Officer of Task Force Canuck.'
Mark joined Airbus Military in 2011 and was assigned to the A330 Multi-Role Tanker program in Getafe, Spain. He worked extensively on the certification testing of the Voyager variant for the Royal Air Force, as well as on training and delivery activities for customers worldwide. He was the Chief Pilot and Flight Operations Manager for MRTT Services in the Middle East before transferring to Airbus Americas in September 2015. He was appointed as the Chief Test Pilot of Americas Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Mobile in December 2015 and promoted to the Director of Production Flight Test in 2020. Since January 2024, he has supported multiple projects as a subject matter expert.
Mark has over 6000 flying hours on more than 50 different aircraft types and is an EASA Senior Examiner on Airbus aircraft. A licensed Professional Engineer in Canada and Ireland, he is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, an Associate Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots (London). He holds a B.S. of Engineering Degree from the Royal Military College of Canada, a Graduate Diploma in Management and M.S. in Project Management from Athabasca University's Centre for Innovative Management and a Ph.D. in Aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he now lives in Fairhope, Alabama, with his wife Kathryn and their children.
Education
- Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation: Intradisciplinary, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- M.B.A. - Master of Business Administration in Project Management, Athabasca University
- Graduate Diploma in Management, Athabasca University
- B.Eng. - Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Materials Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada