Charles Toups is vice president of Boeing Research & Technology, the advanced central research and development unit of The Boeing Company. Toups leads a team of nearly 4,000 engineers, scientists, technicians and technologists who create and collaborate with R&D partners around the world to provide innovative system solutions and technologies to solve the aerospace industry’s toughest challenges. Named to this position in March 2016, Toups has oversight of operations at five research centers in the U.S. including Alabama, California, Missouri, South Carolina and Washington, as well as six research centers in Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, India and Russia.
Prior to this position, Toups was the vice president of the Development Program Excellence (DPE) initiative — one of three corporate initiatives designed to drive productivity and growth for The Boeing Company. Toups led a team responsible for improving development programs through the creation and implementation of the Boeing Product Development System.
Prior to this assignment Charles Toups was vice president and general manager of Network and Tactical Systems (N&TS), a division of Network and Space Systems within Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security (BDS) business unit. He was named to this position in January 2010.
N&TS is comprised of nearly 3,800 employees in 30 states and international locations who are dedicated to designing and delivering network-centric solutions for a range of global defense, commercial and civil customers. Key N&TS programs include the Brigade Combat Team Modernization program for the U.S. Army, the Joint Tactical Radio System Ground Mobile Radios for the Joint Program Executive Office, JTRS, the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals for the U.S. Air Force, the Avenger short-range air defense system, and the Vigilare and Modernised High Frequency Communication Systems for the Australian Defence Force.
Toups joined The Boeing Company in 1982 and has held a number of senior engineering and management positions throughout his distinguished career. Prior to his current position, Toups was vice president of Engineering and Mission Assurance for BDS. In that role, he was responsible for ensuring world-class technical integrity for all BDS products and services. He led a 30,000-person international engineering organization that included teams across the BDS business. In addition, Toups led a companywide effort to improve quality and productivity, called Lean+ 10X, which is part of Boeing’s approach to continuous improvement.
Previously, Toups served as vice president of Navigation & Communication Systems for Boeing's Space and Intelligence Systems division, which included programs such as the Wideband Global SATCOM system, Transformational SATCOM Space Segment, GPS IIF satellite system, Modular Communications Program, Systems Technology Laboratories and Boeing's work on the Mobile User Objective System.
In other assignments, Toups served as vice president of Engineering and Operations at Boeing Satellite Systems and as its vice president of programs. He headed the procurement, development and production phases of the Modular Communications Program, which was honored with both the Department of Defense David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award and the National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal of Distinguished Performance.
Toups also was general manager of the former subsidiary Electron Dynamic Devices, the industry's leading supplier of high-power amplifiers for space, military and terrestrial applications. In addition, he directed the groundbreaking Spaceway; program and led the critical early development of the space segment of this global broadband satellite network project.
Toups earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from University of California at Irvine in 1980 and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982. He completed a Sloan Fellowship at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and earned a Master of Science in Management degree in 1997.