Walt Downing is Executive Vice President Emeritus of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) in San Antonio, Texas. He joined SwRI in 1979 as an engineer in the field of automated testing. He established and was Vice President of the SwRI Aerospace and Training Systems Division in 1994 before moving into executive management in 1998. He served as SwRI Chief Operating Officer from 2016 - 2025.

Walt graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BSEE and the University of Texas at San Antonio with an MBA. He has executive certificates in management and leadership from the University of Texas at Austin and MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a registered professional engineer licensed in the State of Texas.

IEEE Leadership Positions

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Board of Governors member-at-large (2001-6, 2012-17, and 2026-present);
AESS Secretary (2025-present);
AESS Past President (2022-2023);
AESS President (2020-2021);
AESS Systems Council Representative and VP Technical Operations (2017-18);
AESS VP Technical Operations (2015-17);
Lone Star Section Chair (2024-present);
Lone Star Section Vice Chair (2020-2023);
AUTOTESTCON Board Rep (1995-9, 2001-7, 2014-19 & 2020-present);
AUTOTESTCON General Chair (1999);
AUTOTESTCON Technical Program Chair (1986, 1990 & 1993);

Additional Information
2026 IEEE Systems Council Outstanding Service Award "for visionary leadership, strong governance, cross society integration, and advancing systems engineering."

2024 IEEE MGA Leadership Award "For dedicated leadership and outstanding contributions at the Region, Section and beyond, organizing students, academia and industry to grow membership and enhance collaboration."