MENTORS & EXPERTS

Rex Alexander has over four decades of military aviation, general aviation, and commercial aviation experience as a pilot, A&P maintence technician, safety profesional and and is a globally recognized subject matter expert on vertical flight infrastructure. He is the founder and president of the aeronautical consulting firm Five-Alpha (5α) LLC, which is dedicated to providing specialized education, research, and insight into the very challenging and unique community of vertical flight infrastructure. Rex has served as Infrastructure Advisor to the Vertical Flight Society since January 2019, is Chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 418 Standard for Heliports & Vertiports technical commitee, is co-chair of the US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) Infrastructure Working Group, is a member of ASTM International F38 WK59317 New Specification for Vertiport Design, is a member of the Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) Technology Working Group, is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Airport and Heliport Lighting Committee, is a member of the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Vertical Flight Infrastructure Sub-Working Group, and serves as a platform instructor for the U.S. D.O.T. Transportation Safety Institute (TSI), where he helped develop and now teaches the Heliport Evaluation Course and heliport accident investigation techniques in the Advanced Rotorcraft Accident Investigation Course. He is an alumnus of Parks College of Aviation and a former US Army Warrant Officer and ‘Aeroscout’ Helicopter Pilot, Instructor Pilot and Standardization Instructor, having served both on active duty and in the Indiana Army National Guard.

Daniel Ateya is Managing Director of RTX Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of RTX. Daniel joined RTX Ventures in March 2022 and brings more than 15 years of experience in a combination of corporate venture capital, strategy, business development and R&D roles. Prior to joining RTX Ventures, Ateya was Director of 3M Ventures and leader of 3M’s Silicon Valley office where he built a large portfolio of venture investments and was involved in a diverse set of partnership and commercial agreements. Prior to 3M, Dan worked at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. as a research associate and project leader developing microfluidic chip technologies for portable diagnostic sensor applications. He has co-authored numerous articles on sensors and advanced materials in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Ateya holds a Ph.D. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Born and raised in Western New York, Dan lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.

Dr. Jason Cornelius is an aerospace engineer and Founder of the VFS Design Build Vertical Flight Competition. This is an international student competition providing university students a hands on design, build, and flight test activity in the vertical takeoff and landing sphere. Jason's research interests revolve around rotor performance design and analysis, aircraft conceptual design, high performance computing, and machine learning. Jason completed his PhD at Penn State University supporting the NASA Dragonfly mission. He currently supports both the NASA Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project and Dragonfly.

Mr. Johnny Doo, President of International Vehicle Research, Inc., is a seasoned professional focusing on autonomous electric-powered vertical flight technologies and applications. As the Group Lead of the Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) Working Group - Public Service, he collaborates with 250+ industry experts, shaping roadmaps and solutions for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)/eVTOL. With 40 years in the aviation industry, Johnny's expertise spans advanced design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, service, flight training, and business development. Formerly, he held key roles as the executive vice president at Continental Aerospace and vice president at Diamond Aircraft, overseeing diverse aviation power systems and spearheading a rapid single-engine personal jet development program.

Mr. Everlove holds a Master’s Degree in Emergency Services Administration and Emergency Management and currently serves as a battalion chief overseeing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operations, implementation of EMS equipment and resources, as well as primary and ongoing EMS education and training. As a nationally licensed Paramedic and chief officer with leadership experience in aviation rescue operations, ambulance transportation and prehospital EMS regulations, policies, and procedures, Mr. Everlove has been actively engaged in prehospital emergency services for over 34 years. He holds several state licenses as a Paramedic, along with specialized training in patient clinical care, and holds numerous certificates in National Incident Management Systems, the NAEMSE Instructor certificate, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Professional Certification. Mr. Everlove has received national, state, and local awards for service, including commendations for directing and coordinating the delivery of emergency services in partnership with agencies like the FBI, the United States Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the White House Medical Unit.

Tess invests in technology and people who believe as strongly as she does that frontier technology will develop solutions for societal problems. She is a partner based in Silicon Valley fostering entrepreneurship of frontier technology, specifically the commercialization of space, drones, autonomous vehicles, and climate technology.

Mel Johnson is the Head of Regulatory Affairs at Radia. Prior to joining Radia, Mel served in the Senior Executive Service in the Federal Aviation Administration as the Director of Aircraft Certification Service’s Compliance & Airworthiness Division (AIR-700). This division is responsible for issuing all design approvals for domestic and foreign manufacturers, executing continued operational safety processes, and providing flight test support. Previously, Mr. Johnson served as director of the Organizational Performance Division (AIR-300). AIR-300 assesses the Aircraft Certification Service’s organizational performance, provides planning and change management within the organization, and is responsible for the AIR Safety Program. Before he took the helm at AIR-300, he was the deputy director of the Policy & Innovation Division, where he oversaw the development of Aircraft Certification Services Policy, such as airworthiness standards, production and type certification procedures, and continued operational safety policy. Prior to joining the Policy & Innovation Division, Mr. Johnson was the acting manager of the Small Airplane Directorate, where he directed the airworthiness standards, continued operational safety, policy, and guidance for small aircraft, gliders, light sport aircraft, airships, and balloons. The directorate also managed the certification activities involving all aeronautical products within the geographical boundaries encompassing 21 states and international general aviation aircraft projects. Before his career at the FAA, Mr. Johnson worked for various aerospace companies designing and certifying modifications for a variety of aircaft from transport category aircraft, such as the cargo loading systems for the Boeing 747 and performance enhancements on the Beechcraft King Air. Mr. Johnson graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Parimal Kopardekar (PK) serves as the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Mission Integration Manager to coordinate Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) activities enabling progress of AAM ecosystem. In addition to this strategic role, PK serves as the Director of NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) and a senior leader and advisor for ARMD. In this capacity, he is responsible for exploring new trends, research areas, collaborations, and partnerships relevant to aeronautics enterprise. His focus is on unmanned aircraft systems, advanced air mobility, wildland fire management, autonomy, and future airspace operations. Recently, he co-led a comprehensive needs assessment study for wildfire mitigations. In the past, he served as the NASA senior technologist for Air Transportation Systems. He invented Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) to safely enable large-scale drone operations at lower altitudes, which is now being globally adopted. He also chairs International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s unmanned aircraft system advisory group. He is a recipient of many awards, including American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Hap Arnold Award for Programmatic Excellence, NASA Government Invention of the Year, NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, NASA Engineer of the Year Award, and the prestigious Samuel J. Heyman Service to America’s Promising Innovation Award. PK was named among 25 most influential people in drone industry. He serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Aerospace Operations and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He also serves as an adjunct faculty and teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses related to operations management, supply chain management, and innovation. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Cincinnati and a Master of Science degree from University at Buffalo in Industrial Engineering, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University of Bombay in Production Engineering.

Earl Lawrence is the Chief Compliance and Quality Officer at Xwing, where he is responsible for leading all of Xwings certificaton efforts. Lawrence retired from the FAA in 2022. Lawrence held several executive positions at the FAA most notably Lawrence was the Aircraft Certificaiton Executive Director. As the Executive Director Lawrence oversaw a professional workforce of more than 1,400 employees working in FAA Headquarters, 35 field offices across the U.S., and two international offices. Before his work in aircraft certification, Lawrence was Executive Director of the UAS Integration Office, responsible for the facilitation of all regulations, polices and proceedures required to support the safe integration of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System. Lawrence played a fundamental role in establishing, leading and successfully operationalizing this new organization. Lawrence also previously served as Manager of the FAA’s Small Airplane Directorate, where he manged airworthiness standards, continued operational safety, policy and guidance for for small aircraft, gliders, light sport aircraft, airships, and balloons. This work included leading the re-write of Part 23 and acceptance of industry consensus standards for small aircraft certificaiton. Prior to joining the FAA in 2010, Lawrence was the vice president of industry and regulatory affairs for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Before that, Lawrence worked for Rockwell Rocketdyne, first as a rocket engine mechanic and then as a manufacturing engineer on the International Space Station. Lawrence is a graduate of Northrop University, with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering Technology. A pilot since 1987, Lawrence holds a commercial multi-engine pilot certificate as well as an airframe and power plant mechanic certificate with an Inspection Authorization. He currently owns and flies a Piper Twin Comanche.

Mr. Ricci Moretti has over 25 years experience in vertical flight, focusing on aircraft design, development, testing and certification, acquired both in United States and Europe. He has led teams in the design and modification of conventional helicopters, as well as in the development of innovative aircraft platforms such as AgustaWestland Project Zero, AW Next Generation Civil TiltRotor, Piasecki PA890 slowed rotor winged compound electric helicopter and the Lilium Jet eVTOL. Mr. Ricci Moretti is the holder or co-holder of several patents and is a member of multiple professional Societies, as well as a Lifetime Member of VFS. An FAA Licensed private pilot, in his spare time he enjoys vintage aircraft flying, live steam model railroading and world travels.

Frank develops intellectual property strategies that match his clients’ needs and industry position, and masterfully executes follow-through plans that turn strategy into action. A trusted and valued advisor to senior leadership, Frank helps clients succeed by developing and managing their overall IP protection strategy and patent portfolio, both in the US and abroad. His strategic approach enables him to build portfolios that offer his clients a durable competitive advantage based on understanding the asset’s significance to business success, the client’s business goals, the competitive environment, and the overall patent landscape. In his 30+ years of practice, Frank has honed an efficient and highly effective hands-on approach to patent prosecution that minimizes the possibility of protracted and costly prosecution and produces patents with meaningful scope, value, and enforceability. His long experience working with the Patent Office means he has both knowledge of the intricacies of patent law and familiarity with the customs and practices that dictate how examiners work. He finds that frequent visits to the Patent Office to discuss his clients’ inventions with patent examiners can expedite the prosecution process. Frank advises clients on many types of offensive and defensive patent strategies, from opinions to licensing to litigation avoidance, and is often asked to provide second opinions on litigation strategy.

Dan Raymer is President of the design and consulting company, Conceptual Research Corporation, and serves as Program Manager, Configuration Designer, and Chief Engineer for its varied projects. Current and recent projects include the DARPA Flying Missile Rail, the Raymer Manned Mars Plane, and a proprietary high-altitude UAV. Recipient of the prestigious AIAA Aircraft Design Award, Dr. Raymer is a recognized expert in the areas of Aerospace Vehicle Design and Configuration Layout, Computer-aided Design Methodologies and Design Education. During his 10 years in the Advanced Design Department of Rockwell (North American Aviation) he conceived and did the layout design of Rockwell's entries in what became the F-22, B-2, and T-45 programs, and was Head of Air Vehicle Design for X-31 from "blank sheet of paper" (CAD screen) to the configuration that flew (with minor fabrication-driven changes). His industry career includes positions as Director-Advanced Design with Lockheed, Director-Future Missions at the Aerojet Propulsion Research Institute, and Project Manager-Engineering at Rockwell North American Aviation. He also served as a research engineer and aerospace design consultant at the famous RAND Corporation think tank. Dr. Raymer is the author of the best-selling textbook "Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach" and the well-regarded layman's book, "Dan Raymer's Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders". His biographical book, "Living In The Future: The Education and Adventures of an Advanced Aircraft Designer", covers his career and his design projects including most of those described below. Dr. Raymer received B.S. and M.S. engineering degrees in Astronautics and Aeronautics from Purdue, an MBA from the University of Southern California, and a Doctorate of Engineering (Ph.D.) from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

Brian Schettler is managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. Schettler leads the Boeing venture capital team chartered with investing in selected startups throughout the world. His team identifies and pursues opportunities to make strategic investments in startup companies with discriminating and disruptive technologies for next-generation applications. Schettler has more than 17 years of experience in aerospace, technology, and defense companies in areas of corporate and business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business development, and product portfolio management. Most recently at Boeing, he was senior strategist for Boeing Military Aircraft, where he led mergers and acquisitions, business strategy, and partnership development in Silicon Valley and beyond. He also served as a strategist for Phantom Works, where he partnered with Boeing Research & Technology to build development strategies for new technologies and products while also building product and market strategies for new platforms and concepts. Schettler holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. He has completed executive education courses at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and has certifications from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Dr. Sanjiv Singh is an innovator, educator, and entrepreneur. He is currently a Consulting Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, and the CEO of Near Earth Autonomy, a start-up that develops autonomy for next-generation aircraft that will inspect infrastructure, deliver cargo, and transport passengers. Dr. Singh started his career in 1985, working on the first autonomous ground vehicles to operate outdoors. Since then, he has led research and development efforts with applications in aviation, agriculture, mining, and construction. In 2010 he led a team that demonstrated the first autonomous full-scale helicopter capable of take-off, landing zone evaluation, and safe descent. In 2011, he led the autonomy effort for Transformer, DARPA's flying car program. From 2012-2017, he led the perception efforts for ONR’s AACUS program that demonstrated high-performance autonomous rotorcraft flight in austere environments. Dr. Singh obtained his Ph.D. in Robotics at Carnegie Mellon in 1995. He is the founding editor of Field Robotics, a new open-access journal, a TEDx speaker, and a co-founder of four companies.

Dr. Anthony J. Tether was Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2001 to his retirement in 2009. DARPA is the principal Agency within the Department of Defense for research, development, and demonstration of concepts, devices, and systems that provide highly advanced new technology capabilities. As Director, Dr. Tether was responsible for management of the Agency's projects for high-payoff, innovative research and development. Dr. Tether received a Bachelor's of Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Mr. Whalley is an engineer with the US Army DEVCOM AvMC Technology Development Directorate (TDD), serving as the Capability Area Lead for Autonomous and Unmanned Systems. Since 1984, he has conducted research in helicopter flight control, handling qualities, and autonomy. Leading a team at Moffett Field, CA, they have been developing and testing autonomous helicopters since 2000, demonstrating numerous capabilities, including 3D risk-based obstacle field navigation, safe landing area determination, pilot-on-the-loop mission-adaptive autonomy, and single and dual-ship sling load operations on small- and full-scale (Black Hawk) helicopters. The team currently performs full-scale autonomy demonstrations using a fly-by-wire UH-60 and a conventionally actuated EH-60L, both operated by TDD, equipped with extended-range lidar, radar, and machine vision. Their work has been widely published, and Mr. Whalley holds degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (BS Aero '84) and Stanford (MS Aero '87).

Brian Wynne is the president and CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of uncrewed systems and robotics. AUVSI represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in business and government and who work in the defense, civil, and commercial markets. In 2017, Wynne was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Management Advisory Council (MAC), which advises the FAA on policy and regulatory matters, as well as the agency’s management and spending. He is also a member of the Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee (AAAC), a federal advisory committee of key decision makers formed by the FAA to support the safe introduction of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the nation’s airspace.

Dr. Shane Arnott, Ph.D, is Senior Vice President of Programs & Engineering at Anduril Industries. Dr. Arnott oversees the Maritime Division and its family of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles; Maneuver Dominance, a strategic pursuit of massed mission autonomy in the ground and surface domains; as well as Engineering development programs in Australia and United Kingdom that support multiple business lines. Before joining Anduril, Dr. Arnott spent 23 years at The Boeing Company as one of the their top-ranking engineers as a Boeing Senior Technical Fellow. He was the founding leader of the global Phantom Works division, where he worked multiple classified programs in the aerospace domain. His last role was leading the MQ-28 Ghost Bat (“loyal wingman”) program, where he brought the autonomous fighter from sketch to flight within 3 years. Most recently at Anduril, he lead the inception of the Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (XL-AUV) program, a co-development with the Royal Australian Navy including a range of mission payloads, intended to go from clean sheet to combat ready in 3 years. Dr. Arnott was recognized as Innovator of the Year in 2019 and his team received a prestigious Aviation Week Laureate award for outstanding innovation in aerospace in 2021. Dr. Arnott is a GoFly Master mentor, a Techstars industry mentor, advisory board member of the Stanford University Common Mission Project (in the U.S. and Australia), an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology and a contributing author to the NATO Allied Capability Transformation Program. He received his Bachelor of Computer Systems Engineering from La Trobe University and his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Queensland.

Igor Cherepinsky leads the Sikorsky Innovations group tasked with solving the toughest problems in vertical flight. Under his leadership, the multidisciplinary group currently is maturing next-generation technologies, process and products that will bring unprecedented levels of autonomy, systems intelligence, flight safety, speed and maneuverability to large rotorcraft, and introduce electric / hybrid electric propulsion and other advanced features to VTOL aircraft. Most recently, Sikorsky Innovations successfully demonstrated unmanned and optionally piloted vehicle capability where aircraft can be operated with two, one or zero pilots at any time of the day or night, and in a variety of complex scenarios, including contested, congested and degraded visual environments. Since joining Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, in 1998 as a flight controls engineer, Cherepinsky has contributed to the development and demonstration of fly-by-wire control for the UH-60M Black Hawk® helicopter; an autonomy mission manager software suite for uninhabited aircraft; and the S-76 helicopter testbed known as the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft. As director of Autonomy Programs at Sikorsky Innovations from 2017 to 2021, Cherepinsky led the team that developed autonomy software and hardware for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program. Aircraft agnostic autonomy and digital copilot system functionality was successfully demonstrated to DARPA on the S-76® and UH-60 helicopters, and PA-30 and C-280 fixed wing aircraft. Mr. Cherepinsky graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic University and with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Matt has more than 45 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and was an early pioneer in the global wireless industry. He’s been leading Iridium, the world’s first commercial low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite operator, since 2006 as it provides mobile communications to the maritime, aviation, defense, emergency response and IoT industries, among others. Iridium has grown to over 2 million users in its 25 year history and is used in the cockpits of over 70,000 aircraft around the world for safety and communications services, including business, general aviation, rotorcraft and UAVs for BVLOS command and control anywhere in the world. Mr. Desch is also a member of the US President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC). An active fixed wing and helicopter pilot for almost 50 years, he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA), and on the board of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. Matt has a B.S. degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, and resides in McLean, Virginia.

Michael Duffy is currently the Vice President of Product at Electric Power Systems. In this role, he leads a team that brings high-power battery systems to aerospace products, electrifying flight and reducing carbon emissions for transportation. Prior to EP Systems he worked at Boeing for 18 years in Boeing Vertical Lift, Boeing Research and Technology and Space and Launch. He holds 16 patents in vertical lift technology and unmanned systems technology. His favorite activities include: triathlons, hiking and backyard fires.

David Friedmann is an Aerospace Engineer with the Aviation and Missile Center within DEVCOM and Army Futures Command, currently serving as the Army Aviation S&T Director for Hybrid-Electric Technologies. He has been involved in rotorcraft technology development for over 25 years, working in structures and rotors technologies, and aircraft design projects. He has served in leadership roles in multiple large development programs for both manned and unmanned rotorcraft. Mr. Friedmann is a member of the Vertical Flight Society, has served on multiple technical committees and currently serves on the VFS eVTOL technical committee. He holds a B.S. and M.S. degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University.

Mike Hirschberg is the Director of Strategy of the Vertical Flight Society (founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society), the global professional society for engineers, scientists and innovators working on vertical flight technology. He has degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering, as well as an MBA. He was the executive director of VFS from 2011–2023, and has been the managing editor of the Society's Vertiflite magazine since 1997.

Thomas is founding Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine/ LifeFlight Aviation Services, a non-profit hospital consortium critical care system. (www.lifeflightmaine.org) serving the hospitals, rural, and island communities throughout Maine. With an extensive background in emergency medical services and air medicine Thomas has worked in the private, public and non-government sectors designing and implementing emergency care systems nationally and internationally. Thomas has served as an air medical and EMS subject matter expert for multiple federal and state committees including the Institute of Medicine, the Government Accountability Office, the National Transportation Safety Board, the National EMS Advisory Council, and DOT. Thomas is particularly interested in patient safety, risk, standards development, system design, organizational culture and governance, and the effects of health care policy and in the issues of access and equity in the provision of rural medical care.

Vijay Kumar is the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering with appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Computer and Information Science, and Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1987. He has been on the Faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania since 1987. In addition to holding many administrative positions at Penn, Kumar has served as the assistant director of robotics and cyber physical systems at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2012 – 2013). His lab has spun off many startups in robotics, and he is the founder of Exyn Technologies. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. William Lewis is currently the President and CEO of the Tennessee Technical Test Team; an aerospace consulting firm. Dr. Lewis graduated from West Point in 1975 and served as an Army officer for 22 years; retiring as a LTC. During his career most of his duties consisted of Aviation and acquisition assignments. He performed duties as an instructor pilot, experimental test pilot and product manager. Following his retirement from active service, he became a professor at the University of Tennessee Space Institute where he led the Flight Research Office and Aviation Systems program. He departed academia to become the Chief Engineer of the RAH-66 program. Following the cancellation of the program, he became the Director of the US Army Aviation Engineering Directorate conducting airworthiness for the Army fleet. In 2012 he became the Director of the US Army Aviation Development Directorate leading the Aviation Science and Technology portfolio. During this period he initiated the Joint Multi-role (JMR) rotorcraft program, the Degraded Visual Environment program and most recently the Aerial Launched Effects project. He holds a BS from the United States Military Academy, MS degrees from Air Force Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ramy Mourad serves as Boeing’s Director of Engineering for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a position he has held since October 2021. With nearly two decades of dedication to advancing commercial and defense aerospace, his career is a testament to leadership, innovation, and transformative impact. In his current role, Ramy heads Boeing's UAM engineering collaborations with industry leaders, Wisk Aero and SkyGrid. With Boeing affiliates, his team is actively designing and building one of the world’s first certified commercial autonomous, electric aircraft. By leveraging Boeing’s scale and strategic capabilities, and Wisk’s Silicon Valley innovation and agility, he models strategic foresight in the growth of the UAM engineering team. Prior to his current role, Ramy held essential positions at Boeing, including Director of Northwest Lab Test & Evaluation and Director of New Mid-Market Airplane (NMA) Test Program. In these roles, he demonstrated crisis leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, strategically managed budgets, and implemented innovative approaches resulting in substantial cost reductions. Ramy's impact echoes through his roles as Director of Commercial Derivative Test Programs, Senior Manager for KC-46 Tanker Flight Test, and Manager for various helicopter and airplane flight test programs. Notably, his recovery efforts on troubled international test programs earned company-wide accolades, showcasing his resilience and program execution discipline. As an aviation enthusiast and pilot, Ramy's journey includes pivotal roles at Honda Aircraft Company and Eclipse Aviation Corp., where he honed his expertise in test engineering, certification planning, and innovative program development. Ramy believes that the aerospace industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution making aerial travel available to the majority of civilization. He strives to foster diverse, collaborative, and innovative team cultures in pursuit of that future.

Mr. Robert Pearce is the Associate Administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). He manages the agency’s aeronautics research portfolio and guides its strategic direction, including research in advanced air vehicle concepts, airspace operations and safety, integrated aviation systems, and the nurturing and development of transformative concepts for aviation. Robert has experience in all aspects of aviation R&D, including serving as Deputy Director of the FAA-led Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO). Bob began his career as a design engineer at the Grumman Corporation, working on such projects as the Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighter and DARPA’s X-29 Forward Swept Wing Demonstrator. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Syracuse University, and a Master of Science degree in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael Romanowski is Archer’s Head of Government Relations. In his role, Romanowski leads Archer’s development and execution of strategies for engaging government stakeholders, including the collaboration with regulatory authorities and industry to form a forward-leaning position on policy, process and global certification expectations. Prior to joining Archer, he spent more than 14 years at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) where he served most recently as Aircraft Certification Director of Policy and Innovation, and as the Directors of NextGen Integration & Implementation and Commercial Space Integration. In addition to Michael’s experience at the FAA, Romanowski served as the Aviation and Aeronautics Advisor to the Chief Technology Officer of the United States and as the Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council Aeronautics Science and Technology Subcommittee under the Obama administration. Prior to his government service, Romanowski was the Vice President of Civil Aviation at the Aerospace Industries Association, and he headed safety and certification at both Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky Aircraft. Romanowski earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Duke University.

Pamir Sevincel is the Managing Partner of Blackbird, a boutique early-stage startup advisory based in London. At Blackbird, Pamir primarily supports aerospace, deep tech, and software companies with 3 key aspects of scaling a business: 1) Go-to-Market Strategy, 2) Quantitative Modelling, and 3) Raising Capital. Blackbird's unique network of associates are brought in on a project-basis to flexibly create the best teams around the world, delivering highly customized services to startups. Over the years, Pamir has worked with aerospace VCs including UP.Partners, drone startups such as AirMap, and corporate entities like Airbus. He has done projects at the intersection of engineering and business with world-leading institutions including NASA, NEOM, the EU, NCDOT, and Bell Flight. Pamir is personally passionate about flight within the context of emergency response, especially after his home country Turkey was struck with a devastating earthquake in 2022 that affected 10s of millions. One of his passions include mentoring teams and judging pitching competitions at hackathons, having recently supported hackers at the MIT XR Hackathon. Pamir is also a Venture Partner at Quartz Capital, a multi-stage venture capital firm investing in B2B enterprise SaaS. UiPath, Palantir, Confluent, Samsara, Klarna, Kraken, Intercom & co are among the companies that the firm has invested in since its inception.

Dr. Smith received her PhD from Georgia Tech in 1994 while working in fixed- and rotary-wing industry from 1982 to 1997. She joined the School of Aerospace Engineering in 1997 where she is currently full professor and Director of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE). Smith performs research in the areas of non-linear computational aeroelasticity (using CFD) and the integrated multidisciplinary areas of unsteady aerodynamics and acoustic/fluid/structure interactions across rotating and fixed wing vehicles and systems. Her recent research also includes award-winning development of nonlinear reduced-order models for design and modeling and simulation. Her research sponsors include all branches of the DoD, NASA, and DoE, ARO, ONR, and NSF, as well as industry. She was named a Fellow of the AIAA and RAeS and a Technical Fellow of the American Helicopter Society (AHS), now VFS, for her research in these areas, where she has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications. She gave the 2022 VFS Nikolsky and 2023 RAeS Lanchester Memorial Honorary Lectures, as well as receiving the 2022 AIAA Applied Aerodynamic Award, for her research in computational aeromechanics. She has twice won the AHS Agusta-Westland International Fellowship Award and NASA Group Achievement Awarsd for her research in rotorcraft. She is a current board member of the VFS, past VLC board member, and VFS Technical Director Emeritus.

Dr. Eugene L. Tu is the Center Director at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Appointed in May 2015, he leads a staff of civil servants and contractors in providing critical research and development support that makes NASA's and the nation’s aeronautics and space missions possible. Tu earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988, and both his master's degree and doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in1990 and 1996, respectively. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Tu received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2000, and the Presidential Rank Awards for Meritorious Executive and Distinguished Executive in 2009 and 2020, respectively.

Dr. Glen Whitehouse is the CEO of Continuum Dynamics, Inc., where he has worked since 2003. He holds BS degree in Aeronautical Engineering and Mathematics from Clarkson University and a PhD in Aeronautics from Imperial College London. Dr. Whitehouse’s expertise is in rotorcraft interactional aerodynamics in and out of ground effect and in dynamic interface environments. He is the key architect of the VorTran-M/M2 family of grid-based vorticity-velocity solvers, and has authored/co-authored of over 100 technical reports and papers related to rotorcraft research and development, including the 2009 VFS/AHS Forum Best Paper. Dr. Whitehouse is a member of the VFS Aerodynamics Committee and was the Chair from 2012-2014. He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Helicopter Society, and was the Technical Chair of the 2016 VFS/AHS Forum.

Brian is the Chief Executive Officer of Wisk Aero, a leader in the Advanced Air Mobility market. Wisk is building and certifying the world’s first autonomous, all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger use. Wisk is headquartered in Mountain View, California and regularly flight tests its autonomy systems and full-scale electric aircraft in the region. Wisk is actively building and testing their 6th Generation aircraft, the company’s first certified product for commercial use, and working with the FAA on a type certification program. The company’s goal is to bring safe everyday flight to everyone. Brian brings years of leadership and engineering experience in aerospace and aviation, with a particular focus on electric and autonomous aviation. Prior to joining Wisk, Brian served as Vice President and Chief Engineer for Sustainability and Future Mobility at Boeing, where he led a team that ensured the company’s technical expertise in sustainability technologies as well as emerging, advanced aerial mobility applications. He was the Chief Technologist for Boeing NeXt and sat on the Board of Directors for Wisk following its founding as a joint venture with Boeing. Prior to his roles at Boeing, Brian was the Senior Vice President of Programs and Vice President of Research and Technology at Aurora Flight Sciences, an industry leader in aviation autonomy and rapid prototyping. Brian was a Research Engineer in the International Center for Air Transportation at MIT after earning a Ph.D. and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

After starting his career at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Michel Assouline joined the strategy consulting firm Mars & Co, then in 1990 joined Thales as Director of Business Development then became Chief Executive Officer of a subsidiary of Thomson-CSF. He then joined the audiovisual sector as managing director of a German thematic TV channel. In 2004, he was recruited by Météo-France where he took over the management of commercial activities and communication to lead its digital transformation and commercial development. In 2019 he was appointed General Manager of the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (3AF). Passionate about aviation, Michel Assouline also holds a VFR private pilot's license.

Dr. Roger Connor curates the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s collections of vertical flight and remotely piloted aircraft, and is leading development of an AAM exhibit scheduled to open in 2027. He received his BA from Virginia Tech and holds an MA in Museum Studies from The George Washington University, an MA in American History from George Mason University, and a PhD in American History from George Mason University. Roger is an experienced fixed wing commercial pilot with over 4,000 hours of flight time, including over 3,000 hours in dual instruction given. He has held flight instructor certificates in the United States and United Kingdom and served as a designated private pilot examiner for the UK CAA. He also holds a seaplane rating and has nearly completed the requirements for a private pilot's helicopter rating. He was awarded Associate Fellow status by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his work in support of the American Helicopter Society's history endeavors. He co-authored In the Cockpit II: Inside History-Making Aircraft of World War II and a book on Virginia Aviation. His doctoral dissertation, “Rooftops to Rice Paddies: Aerial Utopianism, Helicopters, and the Creation of the National Security State” addressed the U.S. government’s technological stewardship in the development of rotary wing flight and its social implications. His other research projects include a history of aerial smuggling before World War II. Roger is currently lead curator for the museum’s World War I and World War II exhibits under development.

Nathan Diller is a Professional Staff Member for the United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense. He is responsible for the Defense Wide Procurement, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation budgets as well as integration across the services, with a focus on national security innovation. He is also responsible for the final integration of the House Appropriations Bill. After 22 years of service in the United States Air Force, Nathan retired as a Colonel. In his last USAF assignment, he was the Director of AFWERX, where he led the strategy and execution of a $1 billion per year budget across the Air Force and Space Force. In that role he was the Chief Commercialization Officer for the Department of the Air Force and managed the AFVentures, Spark, Prime, SpaceWERX, Small Business Innovation Research, and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Director of Aeronautics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He also served as the Air Force Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office and USAF Rapid Capabilities Office. On the Joint Staff J8, he led requirements as the Chief of the Air and Space Branch. Upon completing a program management tour at the Space and Missile Center, he commanded the 586th Flight Test Squadron, supervising classified flight test for joint, interagency, and international clients. He was an Executive Officer to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and a DARPA Service Chiefs Fellow. Nathan was selected for the French Test Pilot school with a first test tour at Edwards AFB, supporting B-1, B-2, F-16, F-22 and F-35 flight test and instructing at the USAF Test Pilot School. He flew F-16s for two Combat Air Force assignments, becoming an instructor pilot. His first flying assignment was at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training after being commissioned from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Nathan grew up on a farm in Texas and went on to graduate from the USAF Academy with a Bachelor of Science in physics and humanities. He has graduate degrees from Harvard, MIT, National Defense University, and France’s ISAE-SUPAERO in engineering, policy, and strategy. He was a member of the Air Force Acquisition Corps as Level III certified Program Manager and Test professional. In civil and military roles, he has over 2,900 hours across more than 60 aircraft and is an FAA Certified Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot.

Dan Dumbacher is the Executive Director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Before joining the AIAA staff in January 2018, Dumbacher was a Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University, where he taught courses in systems thinking, systems engineering, and space policy. Prior to Purdue, Dumbacher served as the Deputy Associate Administrator, Exploration Systems Development Division, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. In that capacity, he provided leadership and management as the Program Director for Exploration Systems Development, which included: the Space Launch System, Orion, and Ground Systems Development and Operations development and integration efforts. He led a national team of over 5,000, spanning all NASA centers and industry, and was responsible for a $3 billion annual budget.

Dr. Irene M. Gregory is the NASA Senior Researcher for Advanced Control Theory and Applications. She leads a multidisciplinary research team across multiple programs and projects focusing on robust autonomous systems, self-aware vehicle intelligent contingency management, resilient learning control for advanced, unconventional configurations with particular focus on Advanced Air Mobility and integration of autonomous cargo into the National Air Space. Her research has been documented in over 140 technical publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and in numerous invited lectures and presentations. Dr. Gregory serves in leadership or advisory roles on various government, industry and professional societies’ autonomy related committees. She is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. Dr. Gregory received a S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Control and Dynamic Systems from California Institute of Technology. She is a Fellow of AIAA and a senior member of IEEE.

Geoff Hunt is senior vice president of Engineering & Technology at Pratt & Whitney, the company that introduced the GTF™ family of engines in 2016 to drive down the environmental impact of the latest generation of commercial airframes. He leads Pratt & Whitney’s global Engineering team, with a focus on designing and supporting the Pratt & Whitney portfolio of engine programs, developing technical leadership and capability, and advancing technologies that will support the next generation of commercial and military engines. Hunt’s career in the aerospace industry has included leading roles in the development of landmark products in aerospace. He was most recently senior vice president, Engineering & Technology for Collins Aerospace. In this position, Hunt led product development programs to ensure the company continued to offer differentiating technologies to meet customer needs, as well as ensuring flawless Engineering program execution by leading the implementation of best practice processes, tools and resources across the enterprise. Hunt began his career as an engineer at Rolls-Royce, where he spent 13 years working on large commercial engine development programs before joining United Technologies. His past 20-plus years of experience includes roles of increasing responsibility in Engineering and program management at both Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, where he provided leadership across a large range of products and platforms, including product development, system integration and program execution for the 787 Dreamliner. Hunt is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sheffield University, England, and an MBA from Boston University.

Andy has worked at Sikorsky for 35 years. He has significant experience in Preliminary design, proposal engineering, and Propulsion engineering. He is currently Senior Manager of the Propulsion engineering group. Andy is a graduate of MIT with a BS degree and Stanford University with an MS degree, both in aeronautical engineering. He is a former technical director and lifetime member of the VFS.

Langford is the CEO of Electra.aero, which he founded in 2020 to develop sustainable aviation solutions for regional mobility. In 1989 he founded Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, a pioneer in robotic and autonomous aircraft. Aurora was acquired by Boeing in 2017. John served as Chairman and CEO from 1989-2019. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Langford earned his bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees from MIT. While at MIT, Langford organized and led the Daedalus Project, which in 1988 shattered the world distance and endurance records for human-powered flight with a 72-mile flight between the Greek islands of Crete and Santorini. Prior to starting Aurora, Langford worked for Lockheed Corporation, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). Langford was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2018. He is a Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and served as AIAA President from 2018-2020. He has worked on over 100 aircraft development programs, many of which he organized and led. In 2023 the AIAA awarded John the Reed Award for Aeronautics, the highest honor they bestow for notable achievements in the field of aeronautics. Langford is a lifelong aeromodeller and a passionate STEM education advocate. His family owns Estes Industries, the world’s leading manufacturer of model rockets and model rocket engines.

Howard McKenzie is the chief engineer of The Boeing Company and executive vice president of Engineering, Test & Technology. He leads the Boeing Engineering function of more than 57,000 engineers worldwide and oversees the company’s technology vision, strategy and investment. His responsibilities also include oversight of all aspects of safety and technical integrity of Boeing products and services. His organization is an incubator for businesses that will define the future of urban, regional and global mobility, as well as those aimed at near-term opportunities. McKenzie is a member of the company’s Executive Council.

Dan Newman is the Chief Technology Officer for Honeywell Advanced Air Mobility Division. He previously served as a Senior Technical Fellow of The Boeing Company in Aircraft Configuration Development and as the Chief Engineer for Advanced Vertical Lift in Boeing’s Phantom Works Division. Dan is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a Technical Fellow, and an Honorary Fellow of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), for which he served as the Society’s Technical Director and Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarship Committee Chair. Dan has also chaired the NATA Industry Advisory Group (NIAG) Study Groups SG-219 Next Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities, SG-239 on Integrated Sustainability for the Next Generation Rotorcraft, and SG-266 on Joint-Domain NATO Rotorcraft Interoperability and Survivability in a Peer Nation Threat Environment, and served as a program manager at the U.S. Department of Defense at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dan received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Sibley School at Cornell University and his Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at the University of Maryland, where he was named a Distinguished Aerospace Engineering Alumnus.

Darryll J. Pines has proudly served as the 34th president of the University of Maryland since July 2020. The Glenn L. Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Pines has emphasized achieving excellence in all aspects of university life while creating a diverse and multicultural community that allows everyone to reach their full potential. He has led efforts to address the grand challenges of our time, and 50 university projects have received $30 million in university-sponsored grants to study and implement solutions in areas such as sustainability, literacy, and food, energy and water insecurity. Pines also cofounded the 120 Initiative, an effort to reduce gun violence in collaboration with the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Other signature campus initiatives include the Terrapin Commitment, the largest single year investment in need-based scholarships in university history; TerrapinSTRONG, an onboarding program to create a shared understanding of the university’s mission, history and values; and a pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2025. Pines first arrived on campus in 1995 as an assistant professor and steadily rose through the ranks of academic leadership. He served as chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2006–09 and for the following 11 years as dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Institute of Physics; chairs the Engineering Advisory Committee for NSF’s Engineering Directorate; sits on the Board of Trustees for Underwriters Laboratory not-for-profit arm; and serves as a member of the MIT Corporation, the board of trustees for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Pines received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ken has over sixty years of experience in the Aerospace, Propulsion, Turbo machinery, manufacturing and systems engineering community, much of which has been at the leadership level. Dr. Rosen is founder and President of General Aero-Science Consultants, LLC. (GASC), organized in 2000; and a Principal Partner of Aero-Science Technology Associates, LLC (ASTA), formed in 2002. Both GASC and ASTA are engineering and business development consulting firms. He is currently an active consultant concentrating on innovative EVTOL & VTOL aircraft, aircraft gas turbines and electric/hybrid-electric propulsion systems.

Marc Sheffler served as Chief Technology Integrator for The Boeing Company’s Advanced Mobility organization, representing rotorcraft. He oversaw teams developing advanced technology for current and future rotorcraft. Previously, he was Mesa Site Director of Engineering and Philadelphia Director of Research and Technology. He had leadership roles on the Apache Program, RAH-66 Comanche Program and for the V-22 Osprey. Mr. Sheffler was Chairman, Board of Trustees, of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center. He is a Fellow of the Vertical Flight Society and Ex-Officio Technical Chair. Mr. Sheffler graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, and Widener University with an MS in Engineering Mechanics and Engineering Management. He was named to the inaugural class of the Academy of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Excellence and was awarded the Virginia Tech 2009 Distinguished Service Award.

Lucas Stoflet is the current President of the International Association of Medical Transport Communications Specialists (IAMTCS) and serves on their Executive Board of Directors. Alongside his duties for IAMTCS, Lucas works full-time as a Partner Engagement Manager for Life Link III in Wisconsin. He joined Life Link III in 2016 as a Communications Specialist. Since then, he has taken on several roles including Lead Communications Specialist, Communications Training Officer, Radio System Maintainer, and lead the development and implementation of Life Link III’s OneLink™ mobile application. Prior to coming to Life Link III, he worked as a dispatcher for Mayo Clinic Medical Transport in Rochester, Minnesota. He also has experience as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher and previous 911 EMS experience. Lucas has Degrees in Business Management, and Paramedic Technician.

Dr. James Wang is an internationally renowned expert in Advanced Air Mobility, eVTOL aircraft and helicopter designing and operation. His expertise spans across technology and business in the aviation and eVTOL industry and his advice is highly sought after. In 2013, WIRED Magazine named him “the Steve Jobs of Rotorcraft” for inventing the world’s first all electric VTOL technology demonstrator aircraft – the AgustaWestland Project Zero. He received his bachelor degrees in Aeronautics and in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T., a master’s from M.I.T. Sloan Business School and a PhD from the Maryland Rotorcraft Center. He holds numerous patents and major international awards, including Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, UTC Gold Mead Award, VFS Honorary Fellow, AHS Grover Bell Award, AHS Fellow, M.I.T. Luis de Florez Award, NASA Research Award, Finmeccanica Innovation Gold Award, Italian National Innovation Grand Prize, and the coveted Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Team Award.

President and Chief Executive Officer for the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) and the MedEvac Foundation International (MFI), the air medical trade organization and its charitable organization respectively. Jana Williams is the President and CEO for the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) and the MedEvac Foundation International (MFI), the air medical trade organization and its charitable organization respectively. These organizations and their global members seek to make high-quality transport medicine accessible to all. Jana has more than 30 years’ experience in the EMS, incident management, and air medical communities and enjoys gathering perspectives from many vantage points. She took the role at AAMS/MFI in 2023 combining a love of air medical, collaboration, and non-profit management. Prior to joining AAMS/MFI, Jana was an executive at a large air medical operator and before that has held leadership positions across the healthcare and transport spectrum. She is a Regent Emeritus at the Medical Transport Leadership Institute, learning from and coaching the next generation of leaders. Jana is passionate about safety, healthcare access/equity, and supporting first responders.