David A. Whelan

David Whelan is senior vice president and chief scientist. Whelan is responsible for establishing product line technical strategies across Cubic’s two business units to drive our overall growth strategy. He will also collaborate with Cubic’s innovation, strategic, business and technical leaders to produce innovative and cost-effective technical solutions for new and/or improved products to enhance Cubic’s technology portfolio.

Throughout his career, Whelan has successfully led and directed cross-functional portfolios of multi-billion-dollar projects in both the public and private sectors. He has transitioned technologies to enable breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Unmanned Submarines, Space-based Surveillance and Robotic Satellite Servicing. He has also contributed to applied research in Quantum technologies for miniature atom-based clocks, computing, gravimetry and inertial sensing, enabling the resilient navigation/positioning/timing of multiple GPS systems.

Prior to Cubic, Whelan served as the vice president of engineering and chief technologist for Boeing where he created growth strategies, oversaw profit and loss (P&L) and guided research and development budgets for new products. He also served as director of the Tactical Technology Office (TTO) at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) as well as acting director for the Sensor Technology Office (STO).

Whelan is currently a Professor of the Practice, Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Additionally, he serves as the chairman of the board for AOSense, Inc, a quantum sensing company and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

He earned his bachelor's degree in Physics from UC San Diego and holds a master's and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007, a section of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine.