Why These Leaders Matter at SAMPE 2026
- SAMPE North America
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The future of advanced materials and manufacturing is being shaped at the intersection of innovation, scale, and certification.
At SAMPE 2026 in Seattle, two keynote speakers - Dr. William (Bill) Carter of Boeing and Delphine Turpin of Joby Aviation - bring rare, practitioner-driven perspectives on what it takes to move breakthrough materials and processes from research into real-world production. Their leadership reflects the challenges and opportunities facing today’s engineers, manufacturers, and technologists, and why SAMPE remains the place where those conversations matter most.
Why he matters to SAMPE:
Few leaders operate at the intersection of materials innovation, digital manufacturing, and production at scale the way Bill Carter does.
As Vice President of Advanced Production and Automation at Boeing Technology Innovation, Dr. Carter leads global efforts shaping the future of industrial autonomy, digital production systems, advanced inspection and quality technologies, and next-generation manufacturing architectures. His work focuses on accelerating breakthrough materials and processes from laboratory development into robust, scalable production—one of the central challenges facing advanced materials engineers today.
Previously, as Vice President of Boeing Research & Technology for Materials and Manufacturing, Bill oversaw worldwide teams advancing composites, metals, nondestructive evaluation, chemical technologies, and integrated manufacturing solutions. Before Boeing, he served as a Program Manager at DARPA, where he launched and transitioned high-impact programs in hypersonics, space manufacturing, propulsion, and functional nanomaterials—moving disruptive technologies into real-world aerospace applications at unprecedented speed.
With more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 issued patents, Bill is widely recognized for bridging fundamental materials science with production-ready manufacturing systems. His perspective speaks directly to SAMPE’s mission: turning advanced materials innovation into industrial reality.
Why she matters to SAMPE:
Delphine Turpin brings a rare blend of deep composite expertise, manufacturing pragmatism, and certification leadership, exactly where advanced materials challenges become real-world constraints.
As Lead of Materials and Process Engineering at Joby Aviation, Delphine provides technical leadership across material systems, industrialization strategies, and the transition to certified, high-rate composite manufacturing for next-generation aircraft. Her work sits at the critical intersection of innovation, producibility, and regulatory rigor, an area of growing importance for aerospace and advanced mobility markets.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning companies such as Archer Aviation, General Atomics, UTC Aerospace Systems, and Hexcel, Delphine has consistently translated advanced composite technologies from R&D environments into production-ready, certifiable solutions. She is known for bridging the gap between materials performance, manufacturing realities, and airworthiness requirements.
Her keynote perspective reflects the challenges facing today’s engineers: how to scale advanced composites responsibly, efficiently, and compliantly, without slowing innovation.
Register for SAMPE 2026 and join the conversations shaping the future of advanced materials and manufacturing.
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