Dr. F. Tad Calkins is a leading Boeing and industry expert on the application of smart materials, actuation, and smart structures technology to complex aerospace problems. He is currently the Principle Investigator (PI) for Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Remote Control Actuation of wind tunnel models, including Boeing's high speed cryogenic testing of the technology with European Transonic Tunnel and NASA Langley Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel.

He was previously the PI for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funded flight test of a new wing control surface, the SMA based Adaptive Trailing Edge, in 2012. He is leading Boeing's SMA actuation strategy development which includes building an actuation supply base to support the needs of Boeing as well as other industries. He has authored over 80 technical papers in a variety of fields and has 26 US and international patents.

He is a board member of ASM International, professional society, Shape Memory and Superelastic Technology. He is a certified TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) practitioner and Chairman of the Boeing Enterprise TRIZ Problem Solving Community of Practice. He is a retired US Army Colonel having spent 30 years on active duty and in the National Guard. He continues to serve on Chief, National Guard Bureau GEN Hokanson National Guard Innovation Team providing industry best practices to DoD.