FutureFlight
Appointment of Agility Prime Founder Roper Boosts Beta's Leadership Team
Former U.S. Air Force Assistant Secretary Will Roper, who launched the Agility Prime program to advance joint military and civil applications for eVTOL aircraft, is joining the board of Beta Technologies.
Beta Alia
Beta Technologies' Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft will seat six people, including a pilot, or three standard cargo pallets. (Image: Beta Technologies)

Will Roper, the former U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, is joining the board of eVTOL aircraft developer Beta Technologies. In a July 13 announcement, the company also named Edward Eppler, the former head of aerospace and defense investment banking with Goldman Sachs, as its chief financial officer.

During his time with the U.S. Defense Department, from 2018 through January 2021, Roper was a strong advocate for military applications for eVTOL aircraft and their supporting technologies. He was behind the launch of the Agility Prime run by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Afwerx unit, which is supporting partnerships with industry to stimulate research and development work to advance civil-military use cases.