{"id":2742,"date":"2026-05-08T16:31:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:31:59","slug":"supernal-taps-new-tech-chief-to-revitalize-irvine-based-flying-vehicle-startup-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2742","title":{"rendered":"Supernal taps new tech chief to revitalize Irvine-based flying vehicle startup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hyundai\u2019s Supernal flying electric vehicle startup has hired a new chief technology officer to revitalize the company\u2019s aircraft development after hundreds of layoffs and a leadership shake-up in the past year.<\/p>\n

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Farhan Gandhi, a 30-year veteran of overseeing rotorcraft research and designs, joined Irvine-based Supernal on May 4 where he will \u201cevaluate partnership opportunities\u201d with the technology developed so far, a company spokesman said.<\/p>\n

Gandhi also will have certain challenges ahead of him.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, Supernal has laid off nearly 400 workers while it paused aircraft programs in order to evaluate next steps. The startup has been slow to demonstrate its autonomous flying technology at a test facility at the Mojave Air & Space Port while rivals surged ahead with development of their \u201celectric vertical take-off and landing\u201d aircrafts, or eVTOL.<\/p>\n

In late February, the company laid off 296 employees at Supernal\u2019s Orange County operations along Laguna Canyon Road and Waterworks Way and at facilities in Fremont and its Mojave test side.<\/p>\n

Last September, Hyundai Motor Group shook up leadership at its $1.7 billion startup. The South Korean automaker said Jaiwon Shin resigned\u00a0Aug. 31 as Supernal\u2019s chief executive officer of Hyundai\u2019s Advanced Air Mobility Division and instead was moved into an adviser role to help transition new leadership.<\/p>\n

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High-profile hire David McBride, the former CTO before Gandhi, left last summer. McBride, who\u00a0joined Supernal from NASA in March 2024, previously worked on several space missions with the space agency\u2019s Flight Research Program. He was tasked with developing a prototype, four-passenger eVTOL model, which made tethered flight tests in March in Mojave. The test program has since been placed on hold.<\/p>\n

In a May 4 statement, Supernal wrote that its new leadership structure is \u201cdesigned to stabilize the company\u2019s operations\u201d and focus resources on the development of a commercially viable eVTOL. \u201cSupernal is currently in a period of focused internal validation,\u201d the company added.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ghandi was not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n

He most recently held an aerospace engineering post with North Carolina State University, and previously was director of the Center for Mobility with Vertical Lift at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, according to his LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n

He is also has held positions in the aerospace field with Pennsylvania State University, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Vertical Flight Society (formerly the American Helicopter Society).<\/p>\n

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In a year, Supernal laid off nearly 400 workers while it paused aircraft programs in order to evaluate next steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSupernal taps new tech chief to revitalize Irvine-based flying vehicle startup - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=2742\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supernal taps new tech chief to revitalize Irvine-based flying vehicle startup - 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