In 2019 Haofeng "Hector" Xu, having a background in aerospace engineering and presently pursuing a PhD in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, started learning to fly helicopters. The experience, fraught with risk, led him to consider how helicopter flight could be made safer. In 2021 Xu founded Rotor Technologies, an autonomous helicopter company focused…
The MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) unveiled the 2024 Design Fellows at an event held at the MIT Museum on May 1, 2024. The Academy has continually supported MIT graduate students since its inception in 2022 by providing them with a fellowship enabling the pursuit of design research and projects, along with community-building. Interns…
In 2019, Hector (Haofeng) Xu, a PhD student from MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, decided to learn to fly helicopters, aiming to improve their safety. Two years later, he founded Rotor Technologies, Inc., an autonomous helicopter company addressing the risks that many pilots face, especially those involving small, private aircraft in the United States.
Rotor…
In 2019, Haofeng (Hector) Xu, a PhD student at MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, began learning to fly helicopters. His experiences with various risks in the cockpit led to his motivation to make helicopter flight safer. Subsequently, in 2021, he established Rotor Technologies, Inc. This autonomous helicopter company aims to retrofit existing helicopters with…
In late 2019, Hector (Haofeng) Xu, whilst pursuing his PhD in MIT’s aeronautics and astronautics department, took to learning to fly helicopters. After some near misses, he was inspired to make helicopter flight safer. This would be the foundation for his autonomous helicopter company, Rotor Technologies, Inc., established in 2021. The aim was to mitigate…
In 2021, Haofeng (Hector) Xu, a student well-versed in aviation and aerospace engineering, established Rotor Technologies Inc., an autonomous helicopter company. This decision rooted from his personal experiences in flying helicopters along with the realization of the life risks pilots undertake daily in the US while operating small aircraft, many of which result in fatalities.…
In 2019, Hector (Haofeng) Xu, a PhD student at MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, decided to learn to fly helicopters. After experiencing the hazards of flying small aircraft firsthand, he was motivated to enhance helicopter flight safety. In 2021, he elevated his strong passion for aeronautical safety and started his own autonomous helicopter company…