Challenges in Practicing Airborne Electronic Hardware Certification
Presenter: Brian Petre, Consultant DER and SME
About the presenter: Brian Petre has over 44 years of aerospace experience and is a Subject Matter Expert and FAA Consultant DER specializing in Airborne Electronic Hardware RTCA/DO-254 certification with over 26 years of practicing experience. He has led certification efforts for major commercial and military aircraft programs and supported joint industry and FAA research for over 15 years related to RTCA-DO-254 and microprocessors/microcontrollers.
Presentation description: Challenges in Practicing Airborne Electronic Hardware Certification — Oversight and Compliance challenges. Modern aerospace programs that deliver safety-critical software and hardware components are rarely the product of a single organization. Instead, they emerge from complex interconnected systems within the OEM and supplier ecosystems that span multiple tiers, countries, development cultures, process maturity levels, disciplines, and regulatory domains. These distributed environments challenge key systems engineering principles – including requirement traceability, verification and validation (V&V), configuration control, supplier oversight, and risk management – especially under rigorous standards such as DO-254 and MIL-HDBK-516C. This presentation explores experiences and challenges navigating a broad and diversified aerospace ecosystem, framing the fundamental differences in practicing airborne electronic hardware certification as compared to the DO-178(x) standard. DO-254 compliance for airborne electronic hardware is about documentation and repeatable processes, yet across most programs, key verification, quality, and configuration metrics are underutilized — trapped in disconnected tools or examined only during formal reviews. By handling lifecycle data as a strategic asset, organizations can shift from reactive compliance to proactive assurance.
Agenda — Wednesday, November 11th, 2026:
- 5:45 – 6:00 PM — In-person meet & greet, order food, etc.
- 6:00 – 6:10 PM — Log-in, Networking-Introductions
- 6:10 – 6:25 PM — INCOSE Seattle Metro President’s Message
- 6:25 – 7:30 PM — Guest Speaker Presentation and Q&A
Location: Hybrid. In person: Cascadia Pizza Co., 1820 130th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005.
Virtual: join the Zoom Meeting (Meeting ID: 882 7933 6278, Passcode: 072549).
Cost: Attendance is free; Seattle Metro provides food (pizza, etc.); guests buy their drinks. RSVP: Contact Paul van Tulder ([email protected]) or Muhammad Alshihabi ([email protected]).