Blake Scholl founded Boom Supersonic in 2014 with the goal of making high-speed travel mainstream and enabling a new world of human connection. Blake is passionate about tackling big problems which the world has overlooked. After seeing Concorde in a museum, he became captivated by the question: why had supersonic travel disappeared—and how could it return? Driven by curiosity and conviction, Blake dove into aerospace engineering from first principles, ultimately assembling a team that would bring the vision for Boom to life. As Boom’s founder and CEO, Blake focuses on uniting top talent across disciplines to solve one of the most complex engineering challenges of our time. He is passionate about tackling overlooked problems with global impact—and building the teams capable of solving them.

Prior to founding Boom, Blake held leadership roles at Amazon and Groupon. He started his career at Amazon as a software engineer, where he developed software for personalized and automated merchandising, and by age 24, was responsible for initiatives that generated $300 million in revenue. Blake pioneered the automation of digital ad buying, enabling advertisers to build their own “long tail” by promoting niche products to relevant customers. Later, Blake was the first employee and director of product development at Kleiner-backed mobile startup Pelago. In 2010, he co-founded mobile technology startup Kima Labs, which was acquired by Groupon in 2012. Blake held l multiple leadership positions under Groupon’s ownership before leaving to start Boom.

Blake’s love of aviation started early—he grew up in suburban Cincinnati, where his parents took him to the airport to watch Cessnas take off and land. He began flying in college and holds a private pilot’s license with an instrument rating.

Blake earned a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Denver and continues to enjoy flying in his free time with his four children. 

With nearly two decades of experience in complex aerospace system design, build, and testing, Nick Sheryka brings a wealth of technical expertise to Boom. A member of the original team that developed and constructed the XB-1 demonstrator, Nick recently led flight test engineering for Boom and now serves as the head of Boom’s engine programs.

Prior to joining Boom, Nick contributed to a range of pioneering projects, including hybrid-electric flying cars and next-generation fighter aircraft technology demonstrators. He also led subsystem development on the world’s largest aircraft and holds qualifications to operate three different types of naval nuclear reactors.

When he’s not at work pushing the boundaries of aeronautical innovation, Nick can be found in his garage building experimental home-built aircraft. He is also a licensed Commercial Pilot.

Erin Young is a seasoned aerospace engineer and one of Boom Supersonic’s longest-tenured team members, bringing nearly a decade of technical leadership across aircraft systems, flight controls, mechanical systems, and experimental flight test support. As Director of Superpower, Erin leads high-impact cross-functional initiatives critical to Boom’s next generation of supersonic development.

Previously, Erin served as Aircraft Systems Lead for the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator, overseeing all major aircraft systems—including flight controls, landing gear, hydraulics, propulsion, electrical systems, and environmental control systems. As the 10th employee at Boom, she has played a foundational role in building the company’s engineering capabilities from early concept through major test milestones.

Before stepping into the aircraft systems leadership role, Erin served as Lead of Mechanical Systems, directing the teams responsible for XB-1’s flight control systems and landing gear. She originally joined Boom in 2016 as a Flight Control Systems Engineer, where she designed and developed XB-1’s complete flight control architecture.

Prior to Boom, Erin was a Flight Controls Engineer at Textron AirLand, where she contributed to the clean-sheet Scorpion Jet program—a rapid aircraft development effort that advanced from concept to first flight in only 22 months. Her early career also includes mission operations work at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA’s New Horizons mission, as well as research in wind turbine aerodynamics at the University of Notre Dame.

Erin is deeply committed to STEM outreach and advancing women in engineering. She has held multiple leadership positions within the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Rocky Mountain Section, leads STEM events both through SWE and Boom, and actively mentors students exploring aerospace careers. She also serves on the industry advisory board for the University of Notre Dame’s Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Department.

Erin holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and is a certified private pilot. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, sharing her love of aviation with the next generation.

Abhir Adhate is an accomplished engineering leader with deep expertise in advanced propulsion, turbomachinery aerodynamics, and technology development. With more than a decade of experience spanning engine performance, compressor and fan aerodynamics, system analysis, and emerging propulsion technologies, he has contributed to industry-defining programs across both commercial aerospace and next-generation aviation.

Abhir currently serves as Engine Systems Analysis and Cold Section Lead at Boom Supersonic, where he guides multidisciplinary teams responsible for developing the fan and compression systems and overall performance and operability for the Symphony engine. In this role, he oversees performance characterization, operability and structural capability assessments at both the compression system and engine level, and the development of internal tools and processes that enable world-class turbomachinery design and analysis. Prior to this role, he was a propulsion engineer at Boom focused on engine performance and its integration with Overture.

Before joining Boom, Abhir held engineering and leadership positions across several notable aerospace and technology organizations. At Universal Hydrogen, he served as Principal Engineer for Advanced Projects, advancing novel hydrogen powered propulsion and power concepts. At Sentient Science, he was Product Director for Modeling & Simulation, leading digital engineering product strategy for mechanical and bearing digital twins. During nearly nine years at Pratt & Whitney, he progressed through roles in compression systems aerodynamics and advanced methods, ultimately serving as Senior Manager of Advanced Methods within Hot Section Engineering. He also contributed to strategic technology road-mapping across United Technologies as part of its Strategic Technologies group.

Abhir holds a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Rutgers University. He is also the inventor on patents related to gas turbine airfoil and endwall aerodynamic design.

Ami Patel is a seasoned software engineer and aerospace technologist with more than a decade of experience building advanced computational tools that enable faster, smarter, and more collaborative engineering. Her career has centered on developing software solutions that streamline complex workflows, enhance cross-functional communication, and unlock new capabilities in the design and analysis of propulsion systems and aerospace technologies.

Ami currently serves as a Senior Software Engineer – Propulsion at Boom Supersonic, where she develops mission-critical tools that support the design, integration, and evaluation of advanced propulsion architectures. Her work enables engineering teams to accelerate iteration cycles, improve model fidelity, and drive efficient decision-making across the Symphony engine program.

Before joining Boom, Ami spent four years at SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc., progressing from Senior Software Developer to Software Technical Director. In these roles, she led teams responsible for architecting and delivering high-impact software products for aerospace mission design, modeling, and simulation. Her leadership at SpaceWorks strengthened product development processes, improved engineering toolchains, and supported customer-facing innovation programs.

Ami began her career at Pratt & Whitney, where she spent nearly eight years advancing through roles in aerothermal engineering and aero-thermal methods. Her work spanned CFD development and validation, thermal-fluids analysis, aerodynamic methods, and tool creation to support both research and product-level propulsion programs.

Her technical foundation includes research at the University of Virginia’s Rotating Machinery (ROMAC) Lab, where she developed a two-dimensional through-flow analysis method for axial compressors as part of her master’s thesis. She also gained early experience through internships with NASA Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace.

Ami’s core skillset includes Python, CFD methodologies, tool development, workflow automation, and propulsion system analysis. She is deeply passionate about building software that drives innovation, reduces engineering friction, and empowers technical teams to achieve breakthrough results.

Ami holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Dustin Truesdell is an experienced performance engineer with more than 14 years in gas turbine performance, modeling, testing, and system-level analysis. With a strong background in both industrial gas turbines and aviation propulsion, he brings a deep understanding of thermodynamics, engine cycle modeling, operability, and data-driven diagnostics to the Symphony program.

Dustin currently serves as a Propulsion Engineer at Boom Supersonic, where he supports systems performance and operability for the Symphony engine architecture. His work focuses on developing high-fidelity performance models, evaluating engine behavior across mission envelopes, and ensuring robust operability characteristics for advanced supersonic propulsion.

Prior to joining Boom, Dustin spent over 14 years at Solar Turbines in progressively senior performance engineering roles. Most recently, he served as Lead Performance Engineer for the Titan 350, where he led a team supporting development testing and productionization of Solar’s latest clean-sheet industrial gas turbine. His responsibilities included test planning and execution, NPSS model creation, statistical risk analysis, cross-disciplinary design collaboration, and optimization of turbine performance.

Earlier in his career at Solar Turbines, Dustin contributed to performance engineering for the Titan 250, Centaur 50, and Taurus 60 engines, supporting design uprate and enhancement programs, troubleshooting fleet issues through large-scale data analysis, and creating advanced tools for performance trending and uncertainty propagation. He began at Solar through a two-year rotational program, gaining hands-on experience across combustion design, turbine aerodynamics, mechanical design, and development engine testing.

Dustin’s early work includes research roles at Purdue University—where he developed automated ignition delay measurement systems for nanoparticle-enhanced fuels—and at Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, where he created algorithms to model volcanic ash cloud dispersion for FAA forecasting.

Dustin holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, with a focus on jet propulsion. He is also a certified private pilot, reflecting his longtime passion for aviation.

Nate Hepler is a seasoned engineering and technical leadership professional who now leads Talent Acquisition at Boom Supersonic. With a foundation in aerospace manufacturing, test engineering, and mechanisms development, Nate brings a rare blend of hands-on engineering expertise and organizational leadership to the critical work of building Boom’s world-class team.

Nate currently serves as Head of Talent Acquisition, where he oversees hiring strategy, workforce planning, technical recruiting, and talent programs across the company. His deep engineering background enables him to partner effectively with technical leaders, ensuring Boom attracts, evaluates, and hires exceptional individuals who will drive the next era of supersonic innovation.

Before moving into talent leadership, Nate held multiple technical roles at Boom. As Manager of Test Engineering, he led teams responsible for component and system-level testing, supporting major milestones across Boom’s propulsion and airframe development programs. He previously served as Lead Manufacturing Engineer and as a Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineer, contributing to the design, fabrication, and integration of complex aerospace hardware.

Prior to Boom, Nate spent four years at SpaceX, where he worked as a Manufacturing Engineer across several high-impact programs. His work included manufacturing engineering for Falcon and Starship mechanisms, supporting both new product introduction and production initiatives. He began at SpaceX as a manufacturing intern supporting Falcon 9 subassemblies.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering from Boston University. Nate’s background in engineering, test, and manufacturing—paired with his passion for growing high-performing teams—uniquely equips him to lead talent acquisition in a rapidly scaling aerospace environment.