Mission Possible: Veteran Leads Delivery Drones in Flight

Late at night, far out in middle of the Pacific Ocean, a container ship heaves and yaws in 30- to 40-foot seas. A crew member falls and is so seriously injured that he needs a hospital, fast. This is a job for the US Coast Guard—and just one of many performed over the years by Eugene McGuinness SM ’19.

McGuinness began his Coast Guard career flying helicopters, and he learned a lot about aviation, leadership, and operations as he took on roles of increasing responsibility during his 24 years of service. He also gained a foundation in systems thinking at MIT’s System Design and Management (SDM) program. Now, he is putting all those lessons to work as the head of flight test at Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery service.

Zipline started in 2016 transporting blood and other medical products around Rwanda using autonomous, battery-powered, fixed-wing aircraft designed to drop packets by parachute. It has since expanded to seven countries, including the United States, where the company plans to roll out a more precise commercial delivery system later this year.

“I am excited to be a part of the mission to revolutionize logistics by enabling instant deliveries for everyone,” McGuinness says, noting that Zipline has safely completed more than 1.2 million drone deliveries to date and has been approved to fly long range by the Federal Aviation Authority.

Helicopter Pilot Takes Off

An Eagle Scout in his youth, McGuinness grew up wanting to be either a firefighter or a civil engineer. When he discovered he could be both an engineer and a first responder in the Coast Guard, he set his sights on the US Coast Guard Academy. “I absolutely loved it,” says McGuinness, who earned his BA in civil engineering in 1999.

Trained as an aviator and aircraft maintenance manager, McGuinness initially flew search and rescue operations, chased drug runners, and performed other dangerous helicopter missions. “I was very fortunate to be part of a lot of unique rescues,” McGuinness says—including saving the seriously injured container ship crewman. “It took a phenomenal team effort.”

As McGuinness moved up the ranks, the Coast Guard paid for additional education. He earned a master’s in quality systems management from the National Graduate School in 2010 and a master’s in engineering and technology management from the Colorado School of Mines in 2011.

When the Coast Guard sent him to MIT SDM in 2018, he had recently served as the chief engineer and primary operational risk manager for a 180-member aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul group. “I wanted to go to MIT to go learn the secret sauce on how you think about systems design,” McGuinness says. “It was a home run. SDM fundamentally changed the way I think about systems.”

A New Career Flight Path

After MIT, McGuinness was assigned to lead a multi-year, $4 billion acquisition program for Coast Guard vessels. “I couldn’t have found a better role coming out of MIT,” he says.

As he approached the next rung on the military ladder, however, he began contemplating a career pivot. He saw a program offered by the Alumni Association, the MIT Alumni Career Design Fellowship, and decided to enroll. “It was fantastic because it was a forcing function to really critically think about what does Gene really like to do and not do,” he says. In 2023, he retired from the Coast Guard as a captain and pursued the next phase in his career.

Realizing he was passionate about emerging technology in the aerospace industry, McGuinness joined Zipline that same year. “They were already in Africa saving lives while making other incredible impacts,” he says.

Now, McGuinness is responsible for operational improvement of the current drone system, development of the company’s new platform, and the safe execution of all the flight testing the company conducts on its drones—including software and hardware testing and regulatory certification. He has been tapped to become director of flight operations early next year.

McGuinness says part of the appeal of Zipline has been its overarching goal: to give everyone equal access to the global supply chain while providing a sustainable emission-free alternative to fossil fuel–burning delivery trucks. “That’s a mission I can get behind,” he says.

Eugene McGuinness SM ’19 volunteers as an educational counselor interviewing candidates for admission to MIT. Learn more about this role.

Interested in learning more about the MIT Alumni Career Design Fellowship? Email alumnicareers@mit.edu.