James Hileman, PhD, serves as the Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Environment at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He leads the scientific and technical research portfolio of the Office of Environment and Energy (AEE) at the FAA. This includes the FAA Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (ASCENT), the Aviation Sustainability Center. ASCENT research spans aircraft technologies, operations, and fuels to reduce noise and emissions while providing extensive policy analysis to better inform federal, regional, and state efforts. Hileman received his PhD in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State Univ., followed by a post-doc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His work modeled impacts of alternative jet fuels and innovative aircraft concepts on efficiency, air quality, and climate change.