Michael Bartron is the FAA’s Chief Scientist and Technical Advisor (CSTA) for Safety and Risk Analysis. In his discipline, Bartron helps guide the expansion of Safety Management Systems (SMS) in industry, expanding system safety during design into a lifecycle of safety management and compliance.

Bartron first joined the FAA in 2020, co-managed the FAA Safety Program Management Branch (AIR-360), and advanced to his current role. Since joining FAA, he participates on the ICAO Safety Management Panel and the Safety Management International Collaboration Group, assisting in the update to ICAO Annex 19 – Safety Management. Further, he assisted the Part 21 sub-team for the SMS Rulemaking project in developing policy positions, coordinating with the managing of the SMS Core Team, and providing updates to AIR leadership and the SMS Executive Steering Group and Principals.

Prior to joining the FAA, Bartron gained nearly three decades of aerospace engineering and safety management experience through various roles at Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace manufacturer, and across the various businesses of United Technologies Corp. He has hands-on experience in turbine engine design, testing, accident investigation, safety management, and products liability. He developed his focus on aviation safety with a one-year detail to the National Transportation Safety Board, as an industry advisor to NTSB Board Member John Goglia. For over 20 years, he contributed to industry committees and helped author multiple standards. Bartron concluded his industry career as a Technical Fellow and Product Safety Manager. In this role, he integrated quality systems, enterprise risk management, and product development into a corporate-wide safety management program.

Since 2002, Bartron has also instructed more than 800 students as an adjunct Professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. He has developed and instructed several courses: Aviation Safety, Accident Investigations, Introduction to Aeronautics, and Auditing and Risk Management.

Bartron earned his Mechanical Engineering bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University in 1992, and master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1995