Podcast Episode

Electrifying Aviation with Cory Combs

Live Like a Leader with John Bates··18 July 2026·50 min

About this episode

Cory Combs has a research and development background in advanced aircraft design, electric vehicles and clean energy programs—a unique set of career experiences that inspired him to co-found Ampaire and make electric aircraft practical, efficient and a central part of our transportation system. Prior to Ampaire, as an R&D engineer with a cleantech startup, he managed research programs with international partners studying technologies for pollution reduction and energy efficiency.At Northrop Grumman’s advanced aircraft programs unit, Cory was an R&D engineer on multiple X-planes intended to test novel concepts. In one case, he was part of a small team that took a revolutionary full-scale aircraft from concept study to flight testing in two years. He also served as principal investigator on a multi-year research project leading a team of engineers and subcontractors.Cory graduated from Stanford University with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering, both accomplished within a four-year period (and with little sleep, Cory notes). He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.In 2019, Cory was named a Dial Fellow by philanthropic organization Emerson Collective, joining an elite group of entrepreneurs, environmentalists, educators and social activists. Dial fellows receive support, networking and other opportunities to spark broader awareness for their work. The Dial Fellows program cited Cory for his pioneering efforts to jump-start the electric aviation market with innovative hybrid electric concepts.Connect with Cory on Twitter and LinkedIn.  Ready to make your communication a match for how good you really are? John K. Bates provides private executive communication coaching and leadership development for accomplished leaders and teams. His programs have earned 92+ Net Promoter Scores with organizations including NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Intuit, and Boston Scientific. Explore private coaching and leadership programs: https://executivespeakingsuccess.com/ Build your communication practice with John’s free weekly mini-trainings: https://johnbates.com/mini-trainings/