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Aerospace entrepreneur and SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan was described by Newsweek as “the man responsible for more innovations in modern aviation than any living engineer.” A bold visionary with a passion for the advancement of technology, he was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Inc. magazine and one of “the world’s 100 most influential people” in 2006 by TIME.   Rutan designed the legendary Voyager, the first aircraft to circle the world nonstop without refueling. SpaceShipOne, the world’s first privately funded spacecraft, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize, created to spur the development of affordable space tourism. In a joint venture with Virgin’s Richard Branson, Rutan, as CEO of Scaled Composites, formed “The Spaceship Company” to manufacture and market spaceships for the new commercial space-flight industry.   Rutan believes that the best ideas come from the collaborative efforts of small, closely-knit project teams and an environment not limited by adversity to risk. He inspires audiences with his vision on creativity, innovation and managers’ tasks to motivate a creative team. Rutan was profiled by 60 Minutes and featured on the covers of both LIFE and TIME.

“You were the perfect keynote speaker! You set the tone for technical vitality and intellectual curiosity which were our goals for the program. We believe that your outstanding success was due to your combination of entertaining the audience and delivering a message with substance and depth.”- University of North Carolina