George Alafinov

Chief Executive Officer, Jekta

George Alafinov is the CEO of Jekta, the OEM that is reviving the magnificence of flying boats in the PHA-ZE 100 aircraft. The first in a series of airframes, the Passenger Hydro Aircraft – Zero Emission 100 flying boat is designed to improve the transport opportunities for communities living close to water.  The inspiration is to make the PHA-ZE 100 an essential community transport asset, and with low operating costs, be an ideal aircraft for regions where traditional air travel is prohibitively expensive.

Led by George Alafinov, the international Jekta team has more than two decades of experience designing and building amphibian aircraft, including the eight-seat, composite amphibian LA-8, as well as the Borey ultralight amphibian. As a current board member of Delta Aerospace SDN BDH in Malaysia, George is consulting on how to optimize sales, marketing, and manufacturing of the Heron 8 (the brand name for the LA-8) in the region.

George started his career as an assistant at a Swiss aircraft design company, where he rose to become the head of product sales. He then moved sectors and became an international commodity trader before returning to aviation as a managing partner of a low-cost airline between 2019-2021. During that time, he supported the upgrade of the airline’s fleet, positioning it as the only A220 operator in Central Asia. George has also served time as a radio operator in the Swiss Air Force.

George is more than familiar with what it takes to think internationally, anticipate what future needs will be and create solutions to meet them. He is also a PPL holder and is pleased to be part of the future of an aviation sector that will reconnect families and improve travel options while being environmentally friendly. A Swiss citizen, George lives with his wife and family in Geneva.

Tom Anderson

COO, Airline, Archer Aviation

Tom Anderson is Archer’s Chief Operating Officer, Airline. In his role, Anderson oversees and directs Archer’s planned Urban Air Mobility operations, primarily focused on establishing its commercial operating service. Anderson comes to Archer after three years at Breeze Airways, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he spent five years at ATR Aircraft as Senior Vice President, Programs and Customer Services. He also previously held high-level positions at Airbus, Virgin America and Boeing and was part of the initial launch team that took JetBlue from concept to its first flights. Anderson’s deep experience in airline management, operations, and fleet maintenance will help the company commercialize a UAM service utilizing the eVTOL aircraft Archer is developing. Tom earned a BS in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds an MS in Transportation, Economics, Business & Engineering from Northwestern University. Tom is also a licensed aircraft technician and pilot.

Nichola Bates

Managing Partner at Aerospace Xelerated & Head of Global Accelerators & Innovation, Boeing

Nichola joined Boeing over four years ago, following a decade-long career working with early stage and scaling startups, where she championed the role of the SME to government, particularly in the security and resilience sector. Nichola brings extensive experience of international business development and fundraising for growth, from strategy through to execution; with a wide network across governments and industry. Having also gained experience of working inside one of the world’s largest corporations, she has become even more passionate about the benefits of collaboration between startups and corporates. In her role as Managing Partner for Aerospace Xelerated, Nichola invests in and supports startups using AI and autonomous technologies to the benefit of the aerospace sector and related industries.

Stephan Baur

Principal, Roland Berger

Stephan Baur joined Roland Berger in 2011 as a Principal in our Industrial Products & Services team. He is an expert in aerospace and in particular the Advanced Air Mobility industry. He is the global leader of the AAM team at Roland Berger and has advised clients globally on topics ranging from corporate strategies, financing, due diligence to operational topics such as production ramp-up.

Stephan Baur holds degrees in aerospace engineering from the Technical University of Munich (TU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and completed his PhD work on risk-sharing partnership in the aerospace industry from ETH Zurich. In addition, he is also a hobby pilot

Paul-Franck Bijou

VP Sales & Business Development, Lilium

Paul-Franck Bijou is a trained aeronautical engineer and comes to Lilium with 27 years of aviation experience having served in various roles in many regions across Europe and North America. He most recently was VP of Pilot Training and Flight Operations for Airbus Military Aircraft and before that, he spent over a decade in sales leadership positions for Airbus and NavBlue.

He is a certified Airbus A330 pilot and naturally, enjoys flying.

In his current position, Paul-Franck is the VP Sales and Business Development for Lilium.

Andrew Blundell

Managing Director, Aviation & Marine Finance, Close Brothers

Andy leads the Aviation and Marine Finance team’s activities across the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Andy has an in-depth knowledge of marine and aviation financing solutions for both corporate and personal clients, with a financed portfolio covering superyachts, commercial & leisure vessels and general aviation, business aircraft & helicopters. With 35 years experience in banking & finance, Andy has been at Close Brothers for 7 years and was previously at Barclays Corporate Banking and Lombard, where he held a number of senior roles.
Based in London, Andy’s team of industry specialists ensure that clients of Close Brothers Aviation and Marine consistently receive the best quality service available.

Chris Brown

Partner, Aviation Strategy & Global Chair, Future of Flight, KPMG

Chris leads KPMG’s Aviation Strategy hub and has over 15 years of experience across growth and decarbonization strategies, M&A and feasibility assessments, working with private equity, corporates and public actors.

Patrick Buckles

Chief Revenue Officer, Beta Technologies

Patrick Buckles is the Chief Revenue Officer for BETA Technologies, a Vermont-based aerospace company developing electric aircraft with a focus on both passenger and cargo and logistics missions. In this role, Patrick is responsible for leading the BETA’s commercial sales activities and strategy, globally. He manages new aircraft sales and works with existing and potential customers to realize the benefit of our aircraft to help improve their bottom line and reduce their carbon footprint. The company has already secured firm orders and commitments from partnered with leading operators across the logistics, medical, defense, and passenger sectors, including UPS, Bristow Group, United Therapeutics, the U.S. Air Force, and Blade, among others. BETA’s aircraft and integrated charging infrastructure will ultimately create an electric aviation solution to move people and cargo around the world safely, cost-effectively and with minimal environmental impact.Prior to this post, Patrick held a variety of leadership roles at Hawker Beechcraft and Textron Aviation in engineering and sales.  In these roles, he was part of bringing seven new aircraft to market and oversaw more $8 billion in sales. He has a degree in aerospace engineering from Wichita State University.

Claudio Camelier

Head of Marketing - Product Strategy & Market Analysis

As Head of Marketing at Heart Aerospace, Claudio is responsible for aircraft product strategy, market analysis and forecast, technical sales support, market intelligence and promotional strategy.

Claudio brings extensive experience in the aviation industry, both from the aircraft manufacturer and operator side. Before joining Heart Aerospace, Claudio was Director of Strategy for Amaro Aviation, a startup fractional ownership business jet operator. Prior to that he worked for over 20 years at Embraer, where he held various leadership positions in the company’s Executive Jets and Commercial Aviation divisions, taking responsibilities in Sales, Market and Product Strategies, Sales Engineering and Flight Operations Support.

Earlier in his career, Claudio worked for eight years in the airline industry, for VASP and Varig airlines, on flight operations and performance engineering, airport and navigation fees and aviation fuel management.

Claudio has a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Brazil’s ITA – Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica and a MBA in Corporate Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas university in São Paulo, Brazil.

Jay Carmel

Principal, Oliver Wyman

Jay Carmel is a Principal at Oliver Wyman and is a leader in its Civil Aerospace consulting practice.

Jay helps aircraft technology providers and investors identify and execute on new growth opportunities across the aviation ecosystem. He has advised leading aircraft system OEMs and start-up companies on business strategy, market analysis, acquisition due-diligence and technology roadmaps. Jay focuses on aerospace domains most exposed to disruptive innovation, including advanced air mobility (AAM) and its enablers such as next-generation propulsion, autonomous flight, aviation connectivity, and advanced manufacturing.

Jay joined Oliver Wyman in November 2022 as part of its acquisition of Avascent, the leading independent aerospace and defense consultancy. Prior to Avascent, he worked at Merrill Lynch and for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Jay holds a B.S. in International Political Economy with a certificate in International Business Diplomacy from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Sergio Cecutta

Partner and Co-Founder, SMG Consulting

Sergio Cecutta is a partner and co-founder at SMG Consulting, an Aerospace, Defense and Autotech consulting firm, where he leads the Advanced Air Mobility practice and he oversees strategy, product management, market analysis and business development for a diverse client portfolio of worldwide companies. He has been a part of the Advanced Air Mobility industry since its early days. He has spearheaded multiple research projects and helped clients understand the market and provide tailored products.
As a senior executive at multiple Fortune 200 companies, he has been involved with the development and introduction of products like the Airbus A380, the SmartView Synthetic Vision
System and the Gulfstream G500/600. He has also led the strategic due diligence of several M&A deals.
He received an MBA from the W. P. Carey school of business and he holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rome and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
He is a mentor at several schools and organizations, promoting the development of the next generation of Aerospace and Automotive talent.

Richard Charlton

CEO & Co-Founder, Electro.Aero

Richard is the CEO & Co-Founder of Electro.Aero, the Australian-based technology company dedicated to building the world’s best electric aircraft chargers. A licensed private pilot with over 50 hours of electric aircraft flight time, Richard leads a team of pilots, engineers, scientists and support staff with the single-minded mission of solving the unique problems of aircraft charging.

Fleur Cox

Business Area Lead - ESS & Services, Rolls-Royce Electrical

Fleur joined Rolls-Royce Electrical at the end of 2021 after 15 years in Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace, with the majority of that time spent in Customer and Service Operations roles. Fleur is maximising this experience of bringing new products into an airline operation, alongside developing an optimised Services portfolio, to the Advanced Air Mobility market ensuring Rolls-Royce Electrical is providing the right solutions and support to customers from day one. Rolls-Royce is developing a full portfolio of solutions for the Advanced Air Mobility market, of which Energy Storage Systems is a key product within this portfolio and Fleur’s team is dedicated to delivering market leading technology.

Passionate Diversity and Inclusion champion, both within Rolls-Royce and in the wider industry, a former Employee Resource Group chair and alumni of the Rolls-Royce Next Generation Women’s Leadership scheme.

Dean Donovan

Managing Director, DiamondStream Partners

DiamondStream Partners has made a number of advanced aerial mobility investments including:  Elroy Air, Ampaire, GPMS, Volantio, Verdego, Wingtra, SwissDrones, and Alaris Pro.  Its partners were also co-founders of Volaris, Mexico’s largest airline, and Eos. Dean remains a Director of Volaris and is also a Director of Prophet.  He also participates in Washington State’s Unmanned Systems Industry Counsel (USIC) and the University of California’s CITRIS Aviation Council.  Dean previously worked at Bain & Company for 13 years where ran the Auto Practice and Aviation Practice at various times.  He was also Managing Partner for Bain Africa. Dean has worked extensively in Mexico, Spain, the US and Africa.

Dean graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California Berkeley where he studied Economics and Rhetoric. He received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1990.

James Dorris

Co-Founder & CEO, ODYS Aviation

James is a Co-founder and CEO of Odys Aviation. He co-founded the company alongside Axel Radermacher in April 2019 with a mission to transform aviation from fuel guzzling aircraft at congested airports to quiet, sustainable aircraft accessible from every neighborhood. Prior to founding Odys Aviation, James held leadership roles at GoogleX, Virgin Hyperloop One, and Arrivo. He started his career in Fusion Energy Research at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center where he developed novel hardware to spatially localize plasma instabilities, and has long been passionate about improving sustainability and efficiency of transportation systems. James has over 15 years of experience building teams at startups, developing core technology, and building transportation systems.

John Drysdale

Business Development Manager, The Shannon Airport Group

John joined The Shannon Airport Group in 2017 and now heads up the Shannon Aviation Services Cluster. He is responsible for the development and promotion of the aviation services community, both on and off the airfield, which now has over eighty businesses and three thousand employees. John is a non-executive Director of Propeller Shannon; this is a global aviation startup accelerator scheme funded by Enterprise Ireland and a number of stakeholders, including Boeing and the Irish Aviation Authority. He is the industry mentor on the Industry Advisory Committee for the Irish Aviation Students council (IASA) and an aviation programme validation committee member for the Technology University of the Shannon (TUS). John also sits on the Aviation Industry advisory board at Dublin City University and has been a long-standing member of the industry steering committee for the ICBE Aviation Skillnet. John is an EASA Part 66 licensed aircraft Engineer, holds numerous technical and academic qualifications/accreditations in Aviation and Business Leadership, and is a recent graduate from Dublin City University with a Masters in Aviation Leadership. Within his role within Shannon Airport Group, John is also the liaise with Future Mobility Campus Ireland and he also the organisations drone operator with Specific Category Approval under PDRA S01.

Wouter du Preez

Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner, Greenstar Aviation Partners

Wouter is an ex-Investment Banker with more than 25 years’ experience as aviation leasing and financing expert with a strong global track record in aerospace sector transactions across the capital structure including operating leases, debt, mezzanine and equity. He has a strong origination precept and has structured, closed and managed dealflow from cradle-to-grave across commercial, business jet and freighter aircraft, simulator funding, rail infrastructure etc.

Apart from his time as Head of Global Aviation at Rand Merchant Bank, Wouter also worked for investment holding companies, and an aircraft OEM as Structured Finance Director.

Today he is Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Greenstar Aviation Partners, a US-based Private Equity firm that invests and channels private markets equity growth capital into mission-critical decarbonization and carbon removal solutions for the aerospace sector that enable their clients to build sustainable businesses and portfolios. Greenstar is active in projects as varied as electric GSE, AAM battery charging and storage, waste-to-energy etc.

Wouter holds various degrees including a Master’s Degree in Investment Management (Cum Laude) and is a CFA Charterholder.

Patrick Edmond

Founder & Managing Director, Altair Advisory

Patrick is the founder and Managing Director of Altair Advisory, a specialist aviation strategy advisory and consulting firm with an increasing focus on sustainable aviation. Altair works with a range of industry stakeholders (operators, airports, ANSPs, OEMs, regulators) to formulate strategies for development and sustainability.

Patrick has over 20 years of aviation-industry experience across senior roles in the airline, airport and aircraft leasing sectors, as well as a background in strategy consultancy.

He has headed up the Network and Strategy function for three regional airlines and is a board member of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).

From 2013 to 2019, Patrick was Group Strategy Director for Shannon Group plc, the operator of Shannon Airport in Ireland. In this capacity he led the expansion of Shannon’s International Aviation Services Centre, a successful and growing aerospace industry cluster consisting of over 80 independent aviation and aerospace companies.

Patrick studied Computer Engineering at Trinity College Dublin and Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, and also holds an MSc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University in the UK and an MBA from Purdue University in the USA.

Megan Eisenstein

Managign Director, Industry Affairs and Innovation, NATA

Megan Eisenstein is the Managing Director of Industry Affairs & Innovation at the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) in Washington, D.C. In this role, she is responsible for aviation industry sustainability initiatives and serves as the staff liaison to the association’s Airport Business, Environment, and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) committees. Eisenstein also represents the interests of aviation businesses on the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Technical Committee on Airport Facilities.
A private pilot with a passion for aviation, Eisenstein previously served as Fleet Manager for a Northern Virginia-based charter operator, where she was responsible for worldwide sales of the company’s supermid and heavy jet aircraft. Megan began her career at an aviation consulting company where she was the manager of the firm’s auditing business division, preparing proposals and contracts for Part 91, 91K, 135, and 121 operators as well as for the Department of Defense’s Theatre Express Program.
Eisenstein earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Aviation Management from Dowling College and a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University.

Edward Espiritu

Senior Manager, United Airlines Ventures

Edward Espiritu is a Senior Manager at United Airlines and currently leads the aerospace and aircraft technology vertical for United Airlines Ventures (UAV), having led the group’s transactions in Archer Aviation, Heart Aerospace, ZeroAvia and Eve Air Mobility. The company officially launched UAV in June 2021 as a corporate venture capital fund focusing on opportunities among three main pillars of sustainability, aerospace and technology. In addition to UAV, Edward also is part of the company’s Corporate Development team, where he led the company’s acquisition of its wholly owned flight training school and also worked on the company’s minority investment in Clear Secure, Inc. He has been with United since 2014, starting his career with the airline in Finance and has supported numerous operational groups and enterprise wide initiatives before moving into Corporate Development and ultimately UAV. Edward earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and his Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Declan Fitzpatrick

Interim Chief Executive Officer, Irish Aviation Authority

Declan Fitzpatrick is Director Regulatory Performance & Innovation for the IAA, with 30 year’s experience in the aviation industry including commercial service delivery and regulatory oversight. Declan has held previous roles in industry with Aer Lingus and SR Technics delivering aircraft transitions and design solutions. He has also served as a Commissioner for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), overseeing the development of the global standards and recommended practices for civil aviation. The IAA delivers a first class regulatory performance standard and has an excellent reputation at ICAO and in Europe. The IAA team is currently transforming its business processes and bespoke services for key customers to continue to build on this reputation, including new 24/7 platforms and bespoke aircraft registry services.

With a background in airworthiness engineering, Declan is a Bachelor of Science in Engineering but also holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a Masters in Risk and System Change.

Stephen Fitzpatrick

Founder & CEO

Stephen Fitzpatrick is a British entrepreneur who believes that technology, ingenuity and focus can solve the climate crisis. For over a decade, Stephen’s businesses have been accelerating the decarbonisation of the world’s most polluting sectors – energy and transport.

After founding OVO Energy in 2009 – now one of the UK’s largest energy retailers with 4.5 million customers, Stephen set up Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace in 2016 to decarbonise air travel using the best technologies from across the aviation, energy and automotive industries.

In addition to his successful entrepreneurship, Stephen is an active campaigner on climate change. He recently led Zero C, a successful policy campaign for the introduction of a carbon tax that would accelerate the country’s transition to net zero and use the revenues to support people, households and businesses through the low-carbon transition.

Brian Flynn

Managing Director, DiamondStream Partners

Mr. Flynn is a Managing Director of DiamondStream Partners, a firm that invests in and helps build travel related companies, especially those about to benefit from the advent of hybrid-electric aviation.

He co-founded Volaris (NYSE: VLRS), Mexico’s largest airline. He also co-founded DiamondStream Analytics, a travel analytics firm. He currently sits on the board of Sellar Labs and GPMS. Mr. Flynn helped form The Metropolitan Bank and build it to $1.3B in assets. Among other investments, Mr. Flynn led the acquisition and turnaround of Victory Refrigeration which led to a 13x return for investors.

He previously was a Managing Director at Bachow & Associates, the then largest private equity fund in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with investors such as CalPERS and the Ford Foundation. At Bachow, he identified, negotiated an investment in or acquisition of, built, grew, and sold companies in a variety of industries.

Mr. Flynn served as CEO of Innova Corporation (now Harris Corporation: HRS), a leading telecom equipment company that resulted in a 22x return for investors. Prior to Bachow, he was a consultant at Bain & Company where he met Mr. Donovan. Mr. Flynn also worked for DLJ in investment banking and GE Capital in finance.
� He is a Beta Gamma Sigma graduate of Columbia Business School and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College, and he also studied at the London School of Economics. He sits/sat on various public and private company boards of directors.

Julie Garland

Founder & CEO, Avtrain

Julie is the Founder and CEO of Avtrain – one of Europe’s leading drone training and certification bodies setting the standards for others to follow. She is a former Airline Training Captain, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Barrister at Law and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; prior to undertaking her position as CEO of Avtrain she was the Director Compliance for Norwegian Air International . She is the Vice- Chair of the Unmanned Aircraft Association of Ireland and sits on the Board of Directors of JEDA – Joint European Drone Associations as the Irish representative and is the JEDA representative on JARUS – the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems where she is Vice-Chair of the JARUS Industry Stakeholder’s Board Steering Committee.
Avtrain’s mission is to encourage prolific drone operations and keep the skies safe through the highest standards of training and certification.
They certify Drone pilots and Operators for all fixed wing, hybrid, single and multi rotor drones in all weight categories for the grant of European Authorisations under EASA regulations. They hold an approval as Recognised Entity issued by the Irish Aviation Authority for the grant of Open A2 and all Specific Category Authorisations, Declarations & Light UAS operator Certificate (LUC) and independent verification of compliance with Operational Safety Objectives to a high level of robustness.
Avtrain live by the 3D’s – If it is Dull, Dirty or Dangerous then a drone should be doing it. Avtrain is a consortium member of Future Mobility Campus Ireland Air based at Shannon Airport where they are pushing the boundaries in autonomy, Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Pilot Training.

James Greenstreet

EVP, Falko

James has over 20 years of corporate and structured finance experience in the aircraft, leasing and insurance industries. Having started his career at Arthur Andersen, Mr. Greenstreet joined BAE in 1995 to work with Jeremy in the corporate finance team. During his time at BAE, James worked on numerous aircraft financing and lease transactions. He has significant experience in airline restructuring and work out situations. James left BAE in 1999 to join Jeremy and his team at XL Capital and then moved on to be a cofounder of Orbis. At Orbis he worked on a number of transactions in the aerospace, asset-backed, consumer finance and insurance sectors. James was a member of the Buy-in Team.

Eddie Gross

Shareholder, Vedder Price

Eddie Gross has almost 40 years of experience representing bank-affiliated, captive and independent financing providers and investors, as well as lessees and borrowers. in all aspects of aviation and other equipment finance transactions, including documenting, structuring, negotiating, syndicating and enforcing these transactions.

Eddie is considered an industry leader regarding the leasing and financing of all types of aviation assets, including fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and engine pools. Clients include market-leading aircraft and helicopter financing providers, investors and operating lessors, as well as large publicly or privately held businesses, governmental entities or high-net-worth individual lessees and borrowers. The business aircraft financed in these transactions include jets and turbo-prop aircraft operated primarily for the customer’s business purposes, or for transportation services including chartering, or pursuant to fractional or “pay card” arrangements. The financed helicopters are typically operated in various service capacities (e.g., air ambulances, oil and gas service, fire suppression, hauling, etc.) or for VIP, business or other transportation purposes. These aircraft and helicopter financings vary in structure and include domestic and multi-jurisdictional tax and non-tax leases, operating leases and secured loan financings, involving progress payment, completion and other multi-funding structures. The structures of these transactions typically involve multiple counter-parties, including citizenship and other trusts, management companies, maintenance program providers and affiliated and unaffiliated users of the aircraft and the manufacturer or other seller.
In 2016 through 2022, Eddie was ranked Band 1 in Private Aircraft (Global-wide) in Chambers High Net Worth. The legal ranking recognizes the world’s leading high net worth advisers where one aviation professional described Eddie as “the most knowledgeable aircraft finance lawyer in the US that I’ve worked with, both from a know-how and market perspective.” He was also recognized among the world’s leading aviation attorneys by Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides from 2013 to 2021.

Jef Geudens

Head of Technology, Skyports

Jef is Head of Technology at Skyports. Jef is an internationally respected leader in drone delivery and operations, advising governments on emergent drone technologies and their safe deployment into shared airspace. Jef has been instrumental in developing the framework for BVLOS operations in the UK, working closely with the regulator to create a more permissive operating environment that doesn’t compromise safety. Within Skyports, Jef oversaw the development of both our mobile- and remote-operations control centres in London and Singapore. In addition, Jef has also developed the technology stack for our Ship-to-shore operations enabling the world’s first commercial ship-to-shore drone delivery service in Singapore. He also led on the development and implementation of the Skyports DAA system, allowing drone operators to safely self-separate from other airspace users. Jef has a background in Aerospace Engineering and worked as an aviation management consultant before joining Skyports.

Nick Gunady

CEO & Co-Founder, Aerovy Mobility

Nick Gunady is the CEO and CoFounder of Aerovy Mobility. He is currently a PhD student & researcher at Purdue University, where he works on Advanced Air Mobility operational studies sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center. Nick has previous experience working across a variety of civil and military fleets at American Airlines Tech Ops and GE Aviation Systems.

Michael Halaby

Head of Aviation Advisory, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Michael Halaby has 20+ years of providing strategic funding advice to C-suite executives in the aviation, automotive and financial institution sectors on accessing the US$ and international bond, secured bank debt, and regional financing markets; he has arranged over US$122 billion in debt financing via ~270 transactions for borrowers in the US, Europe and Middle East.  Michael is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society

— Based in London, Michael Halaby is Managing Director – Head of Aviation Advisory at MUFG Bank, Ltd.  In this capacity, Michael’s role is to build and supervise the Aviation Advisory business for its global aviation partners including lessors, airlines and investors which aims to help its clients raise capital, offer aviation financial consultancy services such as a lease versus buy analysis or fleet financing options and provide advice on ESG strategies.  He is an active speaker and writer on ESG (see list below)

— Previously, Michael Halaby was Principal at Halaby Aero Limited, a consultancy actively involved in advising aviation firms on accessing debt and equity financing as well as ESG aviation finance.  Assignments included advising a debut operating lessor on strategies to access the debt markets, assisting an aviation asset manager on their ESG policy, providing insight on regional aircraft, slots financing and on expansion into aircraft leasing.  Michael has also written recent analyses on ESG in aviation finance, on the regional aircraft sector and on the debt capital markets for aviation.  He wrote an ad-hoc market commentary, “Contrails of Consciousness”, which was read by hundreds of senior aviation professionals

— Michael was Head of Aviation Debt Origination – EMEA at Deutsche Bank in London for over six years; he was responsible for client coverage of airlines, aircraft operating lessors and aviation-related businesses across the debt product suite (eg secured bank debt, EETC, unsecured bonds, private placements, ABS, Schuldschein, Jolco); he increasingly spent time on equity private placements and M&A 

— Previously Michael was a Senior Transactor in Deutsche Bank’s Structured Finance team structuring secured debt transactions for airlines and aircraft leasing companies located in EMEA and some select names in the US 

— Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Michael worked at Valais Advisory for two years providing issuers and investors with impartial, independent assistance in securing and understanding debt capital markets financing 

— Previous to Valais, Michael was at BNP Paribas in New York for six years as Managing Director — Debt Capital Markets where he was responsible for financials and aviation DCM.  He personally executed 104 transactions with a total value of US$66.8 billion as Lead Manager/Bookrunner. Michael also built and ran the Yankee bond product group 

— Before BNP Paribas, Michael worked for ABN AMRO, for ten years, initially in Amsterdam then London and New York in their Debt Capital Markets group covering US aviation, auto and FIG clients.  At ABN AMRO, Michael executed 152 transactions with a total value of US$55.3bn as Lead Manager/Bookrunner 

— Michael received his MBA from Columbia Business School and received his BSBA from the University of

Denver; he is also diplomé in French Civilisation from the Université de la Sorbonne

— Before business school, Michael worked in Paris for four years at American Express Carte – France and

American Express Bank – France

— Michael often speaks at company presentations and conferences on ESG topics and the state of the debt markets for borrowers and lenders/investors, including Airline Economics, AirFinance Journal, Air Convention, IBA, ICAO, Ishka, Victory Events

— He also is quoted in various publications including the Financial Times, Airfinance Journal, Airline Economics 

— He is FCA registered and was previously a US registered representative (Series 17, 24 and 63); he is a British-American citizen 

— Michael is a member of ISTAT and has sat on the ISTAT Humanitarian Committee since 2015; he is also a committee member of The Aviation Club UK

— He was a helicopter pilot (R44), designed a line of aviation-themed notebooks: FLIGHTBOOK, and is an avid and award-winning amateur aviation photographer 

Bobby Healy

CEO & Founder, Manna Drone Delivery

Bobby kicked off his career building video games for Nintendo. He then founded Eland Technologies (an airline tech company) which he sold 12 years later to SITA.AERO. He then built CarTrawler (the world’s largest mobility marketplace for airlines) over 15 years, and led two successful LBOs for the business. For the last 4 years, he’s been building ‘Manna’ – a “Drone Delivery as a Service” business whose mission is to improve the world by making lightning-fast suburban deliveries affordable, green and safe. He is also a founder of Meili Travel technology with a mission to end the fiasco of car hire brokering.

Dirk Hoke

Chief Executive officer, Volocopter

With a career spanning over 25 years and five continents, Dirk has led digitalization projects in the aviation, automotive, and technology industries. He started his career in Paris at Renault and subsequently worked 20 years at Siemens, where he held various C-level executive positions. Most recently Dirk was the CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, where he also sat on Airbus’ Global Executive Committee. Dirk serves on the Board of Directors of Spire Global and Solaredge, as well as on the Voyager Space Advisory Board. He is an alumnus of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader Program.

Stella-Marissa Hughes

Strategy, Business Development & partnerships leader, CAE Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Group

Stella-Marissa Hughes is the Strategy, Business Development & Partnerships Leader for CAE’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) group. Since the group was launched in 2020, Stella has led the go-to-market strategy for the adapting CAE’s products and services from its Civil, Defense & Security, and Synthetic Environment divisions to a new set of requirements driven by aircraft manufacturers designing novel aircraft, operators bringing to market complex missions, and cities seeking immersive tools to support data-driven urban planning. Stella is responsible for generating top-line growth in the AAM industry and securing partnerships. CAE has announced partnerships with Joby Aviation, Beta Technologies, Vertical Aerospace, Jaunt Air Mobility, and Volocopter. Since Stella joined CAE in 2015, her work has spanned from R&D strategy, business development, OEM relationship management, M&A, and venture capital. Stella previously worked at Bombardier Aerospace in Manufacturing Engineering, and she holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University.

Izzy Ishak

Senior Manager Commercial Business, Bristow Group

Izzy Ishak is an experienced aviation management professional with a track record of success in various managerial roles. She is the Sr Manager of Commercial Strategy and Financial Planning with Bristow Group and has engaged with stakeholders to develop new opportunities and analyzed financial plans and market strategy. Before that, she managed global sales pipelines, implemented programs to produce aircraft market supply and demand analytics, planned crew transition, and designed flight network schedules. She has demonstrated a strong ability to influence decision-making and drive business growth throughout her career. Izzy has an MBA in Airline Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Jaspal Jandu

Chief Executive Officer, LCI

Jaspal Jandu is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LCI and is responsible for running all facets of the business, including strategy and planning.
He was previously LCI’s Chief Financial Officer and played an instrumental role in developing its proven leasing platform and robust financial strategy. He spearheaded the development of the company’s partnerships with many leading financial institutions.
Prior to joining LCI in 2007, Jaspal worked for Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for numerous aviation investments. During this role, he transferred to the then in-house lessor, AWAS, remaining with the company until its divestment to Terra Firma. Jaspal has also held posts with the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) and has an established track record in the aviation industry.
Jaspal graduated from Essex University with a degree in Economics and completed his Economics Masters in 1996. Jaspal is also an alumnus of Harvard, Wharton, and London Business School, where he has completed a number of Executive Development programmes.

Ross Kelly

Co-Founder, CargoTron

Ross spent 13 years in the Royal Air Force as an Avionics Technician before joining Industry. First stop was at BAE Systems as a Project Engineer on the Tornado jet program. The second stop was more a 27-year journey starting at EH Industries as a Commercial Project Manager for the AW101 Helicopter development program; then AgustaWestland and finally Leonardo Helicopter Division in various business roles, leading teams to win new business with international customers. Ross is now enjoying his latest role as co-founder of the CargoTron PD250 Project.

Chris Kucera

Co-Founder & Head of Partnerships, OneSky

Chris has over twenty years of experience in the aerospace industry and 16 years of history working with Analytical Graphics, Inc., an aerospace software company. He’s had various roles at the company, from systems engineer to account executive, with a focus on scheduling and communications systems. In 2014 Chris co-founded OneSky as a subsidiary of Analytical Graphics, Inc. to focus on UTM solutions. Chris manages business relationships for OneSky and is responsible for customer outreach and industry engagement. He works with various organizations, such as GUTMA, ASTM, ICAO, AUVSI, Small UAV Coalition, etc., to understand the state of the art in drone technology and keep up to date on regulatory progress. Chris has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech. He is also a commercially rated multi-engine aircraft pilot.

Christophe Lapierre

CEO, Sigma Air Mobility

Christophe Lapierre started career in the Air Force in 1995, engineering graduate in Aeronautics, also officer and pilot career, held different assignments up to instructor and examiner, and chief pilot of French Head of State.
Christophe moved to business aviation in 2009 then with senior management roles across projects, flight operations, sales, and managing airline.

Christophe joined Luxaviation Group in January 2016 as Chief Commercial Officer, then President of services, head of Strategy.
Over last 5 years, Christophe drove strategy and sustainability with first steps into Advanced Air Mobility, and now heads new dedicated company Sigma Air Mobility to implement Group expertise and footprint into early deployment of decarbonized Air Mobility.

Mark Leach

Partner, Bird & Bird

Mark Leach co-heads the Technology Transactions and International Outsourcing practice groups at Bird & Bird.

He has over 25 years’ experience advising clients on complex technology and other commercial projects. He has a particular specialism in technology and business process outsourcing, acting for both customers and suppliers on deals which are often highly sensitive and business critical.  Mark also advises organisations on the sourcing of their broader technology requirements and the implementation of digital transformation programmes, as they seek to harness the opportunities presented by new technologies in areas such as cloud computing, Big Data, AI and blockchain.

Mark has a particular focus on the aviation, aerospace and defence industries.

Jim Lockheed

Investment Principal, JetBlue Ventures

Jim is a venture capital investor with JetBlue’s corporate venture arm where he focuses on travel (customer experience, tourism, hospitality, etc), commercial aviation (enterprise systems, airline operations & maintenance, loyalty, etc), and sustainability/climate tech (ESG, fuel sources, propulsion, new vehicles). His investments include Air Company, Beacon AI, Universal Hydrogen, Assaia, Frontdesk Lacuna, i6, and 3Victors.

Jim is a former entrepreneur with passion for helping founders build companies. He founded one of the first commercial drone based services businesses in the Pacific Northwest after working for Boeing/Insitu and the US Air Force before that. He spent nearly 10 years working with unmanned aircraft systems including operating surveillance drones overseas and managing operations for DoD programs. Jim has an MBA from the University of Oregon and BS in Technical Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Tim Chun-hing Li

Aviation Analyst, Deputy Lead - AAM Market, Ascend by Cirium

Tim is the Deputy Lead of Ascend by Cirium Advance Air Mobility Team. He liaises with the market regarding the latest development of the AAM sector and researching valuation methodology for these new assets. Aside from the AAM sector, he also involves in the commercial and engine market and is responsible for values research and delivering appraisals. Prior to joining Ascend, he worked at HAECO HK as a Technical Service Engineer.

Andrew Macmillan

Chief Strategy Officer, Vertical Aerospace

Mr. Macmillan is Chief Strategy Officer of Vertical Aerospace and joined the company in September 2021. He leads the development of an ecosystem of partners to launch and grow the eVTOL operations of Vertical’s customers around the world. Before Vertical Mr. Macmillan was Chief Carbon and Strategy Officer at Heathrow Airport and worked in various regulatory, planning, operational and commercial roles at the airport for over a decade. He worked with McKinsey and Company in London and Tokyo on infrastructure and transport in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has an MBA from INSEAD and degrees from the London School of Economics and Hitotsubashi University.

James McMicking

Chief Strategy Officer, ZeroAvia

James’ 20+ year career combines strategy and engineering across multiple sectors, notably automotive and aerospace.  Following his Masters Engineering degree, James joined engineering consultancy Ricardo as a drivetrain engineer and went on to manage R&D projects for automotive clients around the world. Following a dual degree MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, James moved sectors to join management consultancy Booz & Company where he worked on and led a variety of strategy and operations projects for clients across aviation, defence, pharmaceuticals, distribution and finance.  It was from Booz that James joined the Aerospace Technology Institute as Chief Strategy Officer and one of its founding executives to set up the organisation in 2014. In 2018 James’ role expanded to include responsibility for all business operations.  As CSO, James oversaw development of several strategic initiatives including the world’s first dedicated commercial aerospace startup accelerator and project FlyZero, a one year strategic research project to understand the technical and commercial potential of zero-carbon emissions technologies for aviation. In 2021 James was awarded a commendation by the Air League for his contributions to the UK aerospace industry.

Brad Miller

Managing Director UK & EMEA, Ferrovial Vertiports

Brad is Managing Director for UK & EMEA at Ferrovial Vertiports. He oversees the development of the network of vertiports in the United Kingdom, Spain and the rest of Europe, with a focus on site selection, consumer demand and developing a positive societal and regulatory environment for UAM.
Brad has over 20 years of experience in aviation and project delivery. He has held a number of executive and transformation roles during his time at Manchester Airports Group (MAG), including Program Director for MAN’s T2 £1.2bn transformation program of works, Chief Operating Officer roles at both MAN and STN, Integration Director for the acquisition of London Stansted, Managing Director of East Midlands Airport, Corporate Development Director and Managing Director of MAGO (MAG’s e-commerce business).
Prior to his career in aviation, he worked as a consultant and in contracting on a variety of transport and mixed-use development schemes.
Academic Background
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from UMIST (the University of Manchester), an MBA from Manchester Business School, a Post Graduate Diploma in Surveying and is a member of the RICS (MRICS). Brad is also a Level 2 FA Qualified Football Coach.

Seyed Mohseni

CEO & Founder, ARC Aerosystems

Dr Seyed Mohseni is a highly accomplished entrepreneur with a remarkable record of founding successful businesses from a young age. Today, he is at the forefront of one of the most promising new aircraft developments in the world, leading ARC Aerosystems, a UK based company that specialises in the development of cutting edge, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) hydrogen powered aircraft for sub regional air transport. With a strong academic background in Aerospace Engineering, an MBA, and a doctorate in Gas Turbine Technology from Cranfield University, Dr Mohseni has brought together some of the most talent and successful aerospace professionals to develop a revolutionary inter-town air transport solution powered by renewable fuels and electric propulsion technology.

Richard Moody

Chief Investment Officer, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions

Richard is the Chief Investment Officer at Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, a UK based aerospace market leader focused on delivering the world’s first certified hydrogen fuel cell system aircraft Richard is responsible for all strategic investments, corporate finance, capital raising activities and investor relations Richard is also the founder of Viridis Capital a boutique advisory firm providing strategic advisory to clients across the transportation sector with a focus on sustainability considerations.
Richard has over 25 years of global financial leadership experience in investment banking organisations He was previously Global Head of Transportation Finance at Deutsche Bank ( overseeing a team of professionals covering the aviation, shipping and rail
sectors involved in both private and capital markets financings Prior to this role, Richard was DB’s Head of Transportation,
Infrastructure and Energy financing for the EMEA region.
Prior to DB, Richard served as Head of Transport Infrastructure at RBC Capital Markets, financing toll roads, ports, airports and rail infrastructure
Richard has a B A in Business Studies and a M A in International Business and Economics from the University of Reading in the UK and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Clem Newton-Brown

CEO, Skyportz

Clem Newton-Brown is CEO and founder of Skyportz, the only Australian business developing a network of landing sites for a future air taxi network. Clem’s background as a former Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Member of Victorian Parliament and barrister specialising in planning and property development has put him at the forefront of this emerging industry.

Clem serves on several Federal, State, industry and International committees advancing the development of the rules and regulations around establishing a whole new era in clean, green electric aviation.The success of the industry depends on these changes along with a network of Skyportz sites  from which air taxis will operate.

Skyportz already has over 400 property partner sites in Australia and New Zealand which are ready to activate when regulations permit.

Joshua Ng

Director, Alton Aviation Consultancy

Joshua Ng leads Alton Aviation Consultancy’s technology and mobility practice from his base in Singapore. Joshua has significant experience working with OEMs, operators, investors, and infrastructure players in realizing the ambitions of the sector.

Joshua has significant expertise in business strategy development, market demand forecasting, supply chain management, operational performance improvement, transaction advisory, and financial modelling. Joshua advises clients across the aviation value chain, all of whom entrust Joshua to provide accurate and insightful analysis when developing and implementing their long term business plans.

Prior to joining Alton, Joshua began his career at ST Aerospace, and later joined the New York-based consulting team of ICF, where he was a key member in the aviation and aerospace practice.

James Richardson

Co-Founder, Ancieo Research

James Richardson is a co-founder of Ancieo Research, an independent aerospace and advanced air mobility research company that combines financial and operational research on projects to investors. James has over twenty years of experience in the aviation industry as a commercial airline pilot for British Airways, BMI Baby and Air Asia. He also brings eight years of research and lecturing in aviation management, operations and future air mobility at Loughborough and Coventry Universities where he was programme director. His multi-disciplinary background gives him an appreciation of how concepts can come together to drive innovative ideas.

Nick Rogers

Co-Founder & CCO, KinectAir

Nick is a professional pilot and original cofounder and CCO of KinectAir, his 3rd startup in aviation.  Nick was instrumental in leading business development, partnerships and strategy for KinectAir’s go-to-market in 2022. The KinectAir thesis combines proprietary AI enabled software with regulated Part 135 operations on best in class turboprop aircraft. The team at KinectAir has created the first distributed point to point, networked regional air mobility marketplace that will be ready to adopt new, greener and more sustainable eCTOL technologies when they are certified.

Matthew Sattler

Head of Business Development, Supernal

Matthew Sattler is a transportation and startup problem solver focused on fixing hard tech challenges. Matthew currently leads Business Development for Supernal and is responsible for creating partnerships that will enable a future mobility ecosystem. Prior to joining Supernal, Matthew helped commercialize autonomous aircraft at Reliable Robotics and led business development for Boom Supersonic, a startup building a next generation Supersonic airliner.

Kolin Schunck

Senior Manager Strategic Innovation & Intelligence, Lufthansa Innovation Hub

Kolin Schunck is a business and law graduate with experience in innovation, aerospace, and strategy consulting. He currently works as a Senior Manager for Strategic Innovation & Intelligence at Lufthansa Innovation Hub, where he is responsible for the area of sustainable aviation. This includes sustainable aviation fuels, electric and hydrogen aviation, and advanced air mobility. Kolin is passionate about the disruptive forces shaking up the aerospace and aviation industry and is dedicated to contributing to a more sustainable aviation industry by connecting with the ecosystem, providing knowledge, and sharing insights with both external and internal Lufthansa Group stakeholders. He is a true aviation enthusiast and brings his passion to his work in a positive and impactful way.

Gustavo Sermeraro

SVP Global Business Development, Lobo Leasing

Gustavo joined Lobo Leasing in 2015, he is responsible for the development of new business and management of customer relationships. Currently based in Portugal, He brings 22 years of experience in the aviation industry working for major OEMs in a diversified number of areas such as sales, marketing, management, customer service, finance and engineering.

Previously, he was Regional Sales Director for Bell Helicopter in Latin America, former Sales Director for Heli-One, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager for Safran and Black Belt at GE Aviation. His extensive experience and background brings a comprehensive understanding of the helicopter and financial markets and an ability to explore and develop new opportunities in the emerging eVTOL and advanced air mobility segments.

He holds an Executive MBA, BS in Engineering and a fixed wing private pilot license.

Balkiz Sarihan

CEO & Head of Urban Air Mobility, Airbus

Balkiz Sarihan leads Airbus’ Urban & Advanced Air Mobility,
with a focus on developing the market, industry, business, and
service ecosystem to develop advanced air mobility solutions.
Airbus is shaping the future of AAM/UAM with its vehicle
CityAirbus NextGen as well as investments in key
technologies as part of its decarbonisation roadmap.
Sarihan combines elements from a diverse career in
Programme, Operations, Business, and Strategic roles in both
North America and Europe, with the ability to translate vision
into a shared path of execution. With a customer-centric focus,
she is a believer in business with a purpose, a creator of
connections, and a constant collaborator.
Sarihan is a proven business builder with previous successes in setting up and leading green field ventures through concept to delivery and execution. These include classic businesses such as aircraft leasing and digital platform ecosystems to build the next generation advanced medical systems. Previously, she led Business Development, Operations and Commercial activities at Vector Aerospace in Canada for close to eight years before joining Airbus Helicopters in 2015.
Sarihan holds an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University following her Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Andre Stein

Co-CEO, EVE Air Mobility

Stein has 25 years of experience in aerospace. He is a co-founder of EmbraerX, Embraer’s market accelerator, and he has been the leader of Embraer’s Urban Air Mobility initiative since its inception and EmbraerX’s Head of Strategy.

Before assuming his role at EmbraerX he led Embraer’s Commercial Aviation Product and Market Strategy he was responsible for the E175+ product definition and go-to-market strategy, raising Embraer market share in the US regional aircraft market from less than 50% to over 80%, and for new E-Jets E2 family of commercial jets, from the very first business case to its first aircraft delivery, winning multiple international awards. He also sponsored Embraer first R&D initiatives in Electric and Autonomous Aviation.
Previously Stein led Embraer strategic marketing efforts in Asia Pacific that resulted in Embraer first commercial and executive jets sales in the region and restructure Embraer commercial aircraft sales in Latin America bringing Embraer from almost no participation to the absolute market leadership in the region.

Stein hails from the Kellogg School of Management and is a Mechanical Engineer from Unicamp. He is an avid traveler who is passionate about mobility and has accumulate multicultural experience from living and working in Australia, Singapore, Silicon Valley and Brazil.

David Stepanek

Chief Transformation Officer, Bristow Group

David F. Stepanek serves as Bristow Group’s Executive Vice President, Sales and Chief Transformation Officer since April 2021. In this role, he is responsible for all sales, marketing and commercial functions of the Company’s business, focusing on both the Company’s existing end markets and the transformation of the Company’s business mix through strategic diversification into new markets. David served as Bristow’s Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer from June 2020 until April 2021 during the integration of Bristow and Era. From 2010 through 2019, he held positions within PHI, Inc., most recently having served as President, PHI Americas, responsible for the overall performance and direction of PHI’s U.S. and international operations in the Western Hemisphere. Before becoming President PHI Americas, he served as PHI, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer and led PHI’s growth in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and global expansion including the acquisition of HNZ Group’s offshore helicopter business. David held a variety of leadership positions at Era, Sikorsky Aircraft, (20 years) and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a heavy lift helicopter avionics technician.

Joshua Stewart

Battery Systems Engineer, BAE Systems

Joshua Stewart is a Battery Systems Engineer at BAE Systems. He has been working in the aerospace and electrification industries for over 10 years. Over the last 5 years, Josh has been a technical leader in the development of high-power, high-voltage battery systems for aircraft propulsion at BAE Systems. Josh is involved with the analysis and development of electric and hybrid electric aircraft propulsion systems, including Li-Ion battery storage, high-fidelity battery management systems, high voltage power distribution, motor drives and cables. He has played a critical role in the development of aircraft propulsion solutions for CTOL and eVTOL aircraft. With a strong background in flight-critical avionics and energy storage for ground transit, Josh has been able to apply a broad systems approach to the design of battery systems, including design for thermal runaway propagation and containment. He holds a B.S. degree from Binghamton University and a M.S. degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Mechanical Engineering, and is a member of the VFS and AIAA.

Katharine Stevens

Partner, Bird & Bird

I am fascinated by IP and the challenge of helping my clients protect, exploit and defend their IP rights to further their business objectives.

I have a broad IP practice, mostly focused on litigation of  patents, trade marks and designs. I have considerable experience of coordinating and running patent litigation in more than one jurisdiction and in designing and implementing pan-European protection and enforcement programs, running one such program for a consumer electronics client for almost 10 years.

I am lucky enough to be able to make use of my engineering background and over the years have done a lot of work in the engineering and tech & comms sectors, advising clients such as Nokia, BAE Systems, Semtech and InterDigital.  More recently, I have been advising on AI issues – something which I find of particular interest since my final year dissertation for my Masters degree was in robotics.

I also enjoy the strategic and tactical nature of my work, whether it be in relation to advising on the protection, exploitation or the defence of my client’s IP rights. I am very focused on getting the best result for my clients, be it through litigation, negotiation or other forms of dispute resolution.

For 18 years I was co-head of the London IP department and, for many of those years, had a role in the running of the international IP group. As a consequence, I know the international IP group very well and enjoy helping clients find the best person or team to assist them.

I am very focused on training and mentoring the next generation of IP lawyers. I write and speak regularly at industry events and am an active member of the IP Federation and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

My Admissions

Law Society of England & Wales in 1992

Higher Courts (Civil Advocacy) Qualification in 2019

Darrell Swanson

Principal Consultant, EAM Maven

Electric Aviation Maven or EA Maven is a consulting firm that specializes in demand modelling for electric aircraft, including both fixed-wing and eVTOL aircraft, as well as the related infrastructure needs. Director and Co-founder Darrell is an expert in electric aviation and its potential to shape the future of distributed aviation. He advises NASA’s Transformative Vertical Flight program, the Advance Air Mobility panel at ADS Group, the Community Air Mobility Initiative, and is a board member of the British Aviation Group. Darrell has over 25 years of experience in aviation consulting, including airport masterplanning and airport acquisition advisory services.

Marc Tembleque Vilalta

Head of Avolon-e, Avolon

Marc is Head of Avolon-e, leading Avolon’s eVTOL program since mid 2021. In his current role, Marc and his team are responsible for procurement eVTOL as well as developing a leasing product for the sector. He joined Avolon in 2019, leading the airline fleet planning advisory function and helping develop Avolon’s A330 freighter program.  Before joining Avolon, he worked at Airbus for 6 years, in various sales roles.

Marc holds a Master of Science in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University and Master of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya.

Billy Thalheimer

CEO & Co-Founder, REGENT

Billy is a multidisciplinary aerospace engineer and business development leader. He has led all aspects of the aircraft development process, from business case studies and initial drawings, through detailed design and integration, to flight testing and operations.

Since co-founding REGENT in 2020, Billy has overseen growth of the company to over 40 employees, with a commercial backlog of seaglider orders worth more than $8 billion, and raised over $45M from world-class investors like Founders Fund, Mark Cuban, Peter Thiel, and Japan Airlines.

Prior to REGENT, Billy was an engineer and program manager at Aurora Flight Sciences, where he was responsible for developing new programs in vehicle design and technology maturation to support Aurora/Boeing’s portfolio of future air mobility solutions. He also led technical program execution, financial management, and strategy for eVTOL aircraft programs; and worked as an air vehicle conceptual design engineer. Billy holds a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT.

Tine Tomažič

Director of Engineering & Programs, Pipistrel

Mr Tine Tomažič was born in 1983 and received his B.Sc and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2007 and 2014 respectively. A pilot since the age of 15, instructor since age 19 and test pilot since age 22, Tine has also flown in 8 different electric aircraft and participated in the development of five of them. Tine is a deep believer in electric flight and has dedicated his Ph.D Thesis, titled “Development of control strategies and systems to optimize flying with hybrid-powered aeroplanes” to research technologies to identify the future of electric flight, including distributed electric propulsion architectures, powertrain modeling, flight mission optimization. As a member of Pipistrel’s R&D team, Tine is responsible for the areas of electric flight- and electric-systems since 2007 and is Head of Design Organisation EASA DO 21J.524 and maintains credentials as Compliance Verification Engineer for Electric Powertrains, Systems and Flight Test. Tine has been appointed as the Director of Research and Development at Pipistrel as of 2015, which was in 2017 succeeded by PVS, and actively participates in developments of new standards for electric and hybrid electric general aviation aircraft and is a member EASA’s Technology-4-Safety advisory group.

Adam Twidell

Managing Director, Halo Aviation, Flexjet Group

After serving 10 years as a RAF pilot, Adam entered the world of private aviation as a corporate pilot. In 2008, Adam co-founded PrivateFly, which pioneered online transactions in on-demand charter. PrivateFly quickly became the leading online brand in international private charter. After 12 years of high growth, PrivateFly was acquired by Directional Aviation in 2018. Adam stepped down as CEO of PrivateFly in 2021 to focus on Future Flight Strategy for OneSky, which aligns perfectly with his passions for innovation and sustainability in aviation.

Duncan Walker

CEO & Co-Founder, Skyports

Duncan Walker is CEO and Co-founder of Skyports, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer and drone services operator.

Duncan formed Skyports in 2018 after identifying the need for safe, regulated, vehicle-agnostic landing infrastructure for the emerging AAM industry. The company is founded on the belief that electric aviation has the potential to deliver measurable benefits to people, businesses and the environment, and that Skyports’ vertiport infrastructure and drone services capabilities will enable it.

Duncan has 20 years of commercial real estate experience. Prior to founding Skyports he was a Main Board Director at Helical Plc, a FTSE listed investment and development company. He holds Master’s degree in Economics and Management from Oxford University.

Duncan lives in southwest London with his wife, three children and two dogs. When he is not in one of Skyports’ offices in London, Singapore or the US, Duncan can be found playing or coaching sports.

About Skyports

Headquartered in the UK with offices spanning four continents, Skyports is leading the design, build and operation of take-off and landing infrastructure for air taxis, providing the critical link between ground and sky.  Skyports is also a drone services provider, committed to creating positive change by connecting people, businesses and communities to vital supplies and services, such as healthcare, maritime, logistics and e-commerce.

The company partners with world-class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle manufacturers to enable safe, sustainable and efficient flight operations in urban and suburban environments, and is a first mover in the industry in key markets including APAC, EMEA and the Americas. Skyports is also playing a key role in the development of regulation and legislation to enable the advanced air mobility industry.

For more information, please visit: www.skyports.net

Alison Wyrick

Director of Customer Marketing, UAS/UAM & BTIs, Honeywell

Alison is a commercial leader with expertise in aerospace and advanced manufacturing, and is currently the global director of customer marketing for advanced air mobility at Honeywell. Her work experience includes various product, sales, and marketing roles at GE, Emirates Airline, and AeroTurbine. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in applied linguistics and a Master’s of Business Administration with a focus in aviation. Both Alison and her husband work for Honeywell and share an enthusiastic passion for all things aviation.

Alexandre Zaramela

Chief Executive Officer, Moya Aero

Alexandre is a true pioneer in electric aviation in Latin America. His experience spans 20 years in the fields of aircraft stress analysis, aerodynamic loads, wind tunnel testing, ground and flight testing, and certification.

As co-founder and later Chief Operating Officer of ACS Aviation, he developed aircraft for general aviation, UAVs, and manned electric airplanes. During his tenure there, he designed, produced and tested an all-composite Light Sport Aircraft, and small and medium-sized UAVs.

For over a decade, Alexandre has worked to refine electric propulsion for his innovations. In May 2015, he flew the SORA-e, first manned electrically-powered airplane in South Hemisphere.

Today, Alexandre leads a team of Moya Aero engineers focused on delivering more environmentally-responsible, sustainable, efficient, emissions-free products. His goal is for Moya Aero to be the leader in producing all-electric unmanned aerial vehicles for cargo and precision logistics.