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Will Roper is a physicist and the CEO of Volansi, a drone company. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D in mathematics from the University of Oxford.He is also a Former U.S. Air and Space Forces weapons chief.
As the Air Force’s service acquisition executive, Dr. Roper was responsible for Air Force research, development and acquisition activities. In that position, Dr. Roper served as the principal adviser to the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force for research and development, test, production and modernization efforts within the Air Force. Prior to that, Dr. Roper was the founding director of the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office. He served as the acting chief architect at the Missile Defense Agency where he developed eleven systems, including the European Defense architecture, advanced drones, and classified programs. Before this, he worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and served as a missile defense advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
On July 8, 2021, Roper was announced as the chief executive officer of Volansi, a logistics and drone building company. He joined the company's board of directors in March after leaving his job as assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics in January. His vision for Volansi is to assist the Navy with ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore deliveries, and the Army with tactical logistics, providing units with batteries, ammunition, food and medicine on the battlefield.
