Inside a Cambridge Team Consulting Project at Boom Supersonic
By Kaven Naidoo (Global Executive MBA 2025)
It is now more than a year since I began our Global Executive MBA (Global EMBA) at Cambridge Judge Business School. When asked “Why Cambridge?”, between the global ranking and stature of the institution, the charm and allure of the campus and its Colleges, the long list of Nobel Laureates and esteemed alumni (including none other than Sir Isaac Newton himself), I am tempted to say “Where else?”. On a more practical note, the Global EMBA features a unique and innovative format that blends the benefits of online and remote learning, signature residentials within the hallowed precincts of Cambridge University, two international study tours, access to world class lecturers and a powerful network of experienced professionals from across the globe who form your student cohort. It has been an incredible journey thus far, one that continues to gain pace….beyond the speed of sound to be exact!
The Team Consulting Project
Amongst the various modules on the programme, one will find the Team Consulting Project. Students are free to form their own teams but have to seek out a project from an external project sponsor. Allow me to introduce you to our TCP team: Scott Lathrope, Director for Additive Manufacturing at Parker Meggitt in the United Kingdom; Sunny Chen, Co-founder of the Iliani Education Group and former Executive at Nomura in Hong Kong; Robby Sheehan, Area Manager and Executive at BBSI leading strategic Sales and Operations; and Hazwan Hatta, CEO of BigPay Malaysia. A few months ago, we had the audacious idea to reach out to Boom Supersonic, a private company in the United States, taking on a challenge of historical proportions, ie revitalising commercial supersonic flight since the last flight of Concorde more than 20 years ago. Our team mate Scott was able to reach out to his extensive aerospace network to assist with opening up a dialogue with Boom.
About Boom Supersonic
As with many things in the world of technology, it sometimes takes a programme like Concorde to really cut its teeth on frontier technologies before courageous innovators take the next leap. This has been the case with Spacex’s reusable launch capability and Boeing’s success with the 707. Boom Supersonic with their CEO Blake Scholl at the helm refuses to accept the status quo on commercial supersonic travel. Drawing on world-class talent and cutting edge technology, this group of rebel innovators seeks to launch Overture, its supersonic 60+ seater aircraft that will redefine commercial supersonic travel in the future.
About the TCP Project with Boom Supersonic
Matt McElfresh, the Director of Economic Analysis at Boom Supersonic, a seasoned professional with years of deep knowledge of this industry, graciously agreed to sponsor our team project. He challenged us to undertake an independent validation of Boom’s own market sizing, consider critical market demand factors, as well as make recommendations for future marketing efforts. Beyond the technical insights, Matt created an environment of openness and curiosity that made this project both intellectually rigorous and deeply enjoyable. The team successfully delivered its final report to Boom in snowy Denver Colorado in February.
In and amidst the urgency to deliver on this programme, we got some appreciation of the inner workings of this amazing team. From flight test, aeroacoustics, engine and marketing, one could feel the energy in the building. Between the innovation behind boomless travel, the development of a new medium bypass turbofan engine, the Symphony and the certification of a new supersonic jet, this is the stuff of dreams. A neat and recent pivot has been the encapsulation of Symphony’s engine core into a 42 MW “Superpower” ground-based power unit, earmarked to power AI data centres. In this way, development of the Symphony can be accelerated to fast-track the programme.
Closing remarks
If you managed to read this far, one can sense my deep enthusiasm for this project. Perhaps a takeaway is to appreciate the power of the Cambridge brand, its ever expanding network of professionals across the globe and the ability it has to create windows of opportunity. The sky is certainly not the limit!
Acknowledgement: The team extends its sincere thanks to Matt McElfresh for his exceptional support as project sponsor and to the rest of the Boom Supersonic team for a truly memorable experience.
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