DAY 2 September 4 2024
Speaker: Danielle McLean
Title: The Hydrogen Aviation Revolution
Founder & CEO @ HYSKY Society
Brief Biography
Danielle McLean is a pioneering engineer and entrepreneur at the forefront of hydrogen aviation. As the founder and CEO of HYSKY Society, a 501c3 non-profit established in January 2023, she is dedicated to propelling the hydrogen aviation sector forward. Danielle's leadership in co-founding and co-chairing the H2eVTOL Council at the Vertical Flight Society, which later evolved into HYSKY Society, underscores her innovative spirit and commitment to sustainable aviation.
Before founding HYSKY, Danielle made significant contributions to Spirit Aerosystems (SPR) as an engineer, where she led the eVTOL research team to groundbreaking achievements, earning the Innovation Award. Her transition from stress engineering to a hydrogen aviation evangelist reflects her deep expertise in aerospace engineering and her vision for a cleaner aviation future. Recognized as a thought leader in the field, Danielle's exceptional skills and dedication are shaping the future of hydrogen aviation.
Speaker: Mikael Cardinal
Title: Biotech Meets Aviation: Pioneering Hydrogen-Powered Helicopters for Life-Saving Missions
VP, PM, Organ Delivery Systems @ Unither Bioelectronics
Brief Biography
Mikael Cardinal is VP Program Management – Organ Delivery Systems at Unither Bioelectronics, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, a multi-billion biotechnology company. Mikael is leading the company’s Canadian business unit, Unither Bioelectronics, responsible for the management of several R&D efforts focusing on the development of organ delivery systems using UAS and vertical lift vehicles, including hydrogen-powered, optionally piloted helicopters, with the end-goal of delivering manufactured organs at scale with zero-emission aircraft.
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Speaker: Bentzion Levinson
Title: The Power the Hydrogen brings to Drones
CEO & Founder @ HevenDrones
Brief Biography
Bentzion Levinson is the Founder and CEO at HevenDrones. A Stanford University Executive Leadership Alum, Bentzion is committed to driving meaningful change through technology. Bentzion led an expert team in a national project to detect and extinguish agricultural fires that were destroying farms across Israel. He founded HevenDrones in 2019 with the aim of creating an actionable drone ecosystem designed to optimize a wide range of industries, from emergency response, smart-cities and agriculture, to logistics, construction, defense, species conservation and beyond.
Speaker: Matt Gregori
Title: TBD
Technology Development Manager @ SoCalGas Research, Development & Demonstration
Brief Biography
Matt Gregori is a Technology Development Manager in the SoCalGas Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) group. His team seeks out and funds new natural gas and hydrogen technologies that are ready for deployment at the pilot or demonstration scale. His portfolio focuses on technologies for decarbonizing transportation, power generation, and the built environment.
During his career in the clean energy field, Matt has built and operated various types of clean energy projects, from biodiesel production facilities to food waste anaerobic digesters.
Matt holds a B.S. in Chemistry from The California Institute of Technology and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Speaker: John Piasecki
Title: Hydrogen-Electric (Hydrogen Propulsion)
President & CEO @ Piasecki Aircraft Corporation
Brief Biography
John W. Piasecki, President & CEO of Piasecki Aircraft Corp., has over 35 years of experience in rotorcraft and UAV research and development for military and commercial use. His achievements include flight demonstration of the X-49A compound helicopter, flight demonstration of the world’s first autonomous autogyro, and the first fully autonomous man-rated helicopter. Current projects focus on VTOL UAS, adaptive flight control, morphing aerostructures and hydrogen propulsion technologies. Piasecki, who won the Vertical Flight Society’s Paul E. Haueter Award for VTOL development, also is Vice Chair of DoD’s Vertical Lift Consortium and a Trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale and is an FAA-certified pilot.
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Speaker: Michael Duke
Title: Why Business Aviation Will Lead the Adoption of Sustainable Aircraft
CEO @ DBT Aero Inc.
Brief Biography
Michael is the Founder & CEO of DBT Aero, an aerospace technology startup whose mission is to positively impact billions of lives and eliminate the geographic, financial, & social distance that divides us by making sustainable, technologically advanced flight affordable, safe & quiet. Their patented Double Box Tail or DBT design is key to ultra-efficient, quiet, sustainable aircraft and may be the best option for practical electric/hydrogen regional flight. The technology scales from small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) to passenger airliners. DBT Aero has built & tested multiple unmanned & manned aircraft. Michael is a serial entrepreneur, former FBO owner, FAA Repair Station operator, aircraft importer & distributor, private pilot, cloud computing pioneer, international technology management consultant, contributing author & community volunteer.
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Speaker: Andy Kelly
Title: Commercial Operations of Fuel Cell UAS
Head of Product Line @ Intelligent Energy
Brief Biography
Andy Kelly is responsible for IE-SOAR, Intelligent Energy’s fuel cell power products for UAVs. Andy has held Product Design roles in the green energy market for 16 years, with a focus on fuel cell powered drones for the past eight.
His expertise lies in bringing new, complex technologies to the market in user friendly, saleable products. Andy is experienced in product legislation and certification, and during his time with Intelligent Energy has led the development and certification of multiple fuel cell products.
Andy’s focus currently is introducing fuel cells to real world UAV operations.
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Speaker: Dave Franks
Title: Standards to Support Hydrogen and Alternative Aviation Fuels
Standards Specialist Engineer, Aerospace @ SAE International
Brief Biography
Dave Franks is a Standards Specialist Engineer within the Aerospace Standards team at SAE Intl. With an Aerospace Engineering Degree, he has over 10 years of diverse experience throughout aviation including performance/operations engineering at US Airways and American Airlines. He also modeled, tested, and qualified Flight Simulation and Training devices for a number of aircraft including business jets and the UH-72a Lakota helicopter. At SAE Intl. he now works in Aerospace Standards to help to build consensus solutions that move the mobility industry forward.
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Speaker: Alistair Blundy
Title: When things go wrong: insuring Hydrogen risks
Chief Executive Officer @ Skyrisks
Brief Biography
Alistair Blundy is the Chief Executive Officer of Skyrisks, the pioneer of aircraft insurance and risk management solutions for the fast-growing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector. Along with a team of insurance and data science veterans, Alistair co-founded Skyrisks in 2023 to be the global leader in insurance for revolutionary aircraft, such as the new breed of eVTOLs, and a broad array of innovative technologies across both piloted and autonomous flight. Alistair leads with an underwriting-first approach at Skyrisks, driven by a deep awareness of the complex engineering and regulatory challenges faced by the industry.
Speaker: Titus Waldock
Title: When things go wrong: insuring Hydrogen risks
Assistant Underwriter - Future Technologies @ Skyrisks
Brief Biography
Titus Waldock underwrites future technologies at Skyrisks, leaders in providing insurance for emerging aviation within the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector. Drawing on his background in organometallic chemistry and catalysis from Durham University, Titus applies his technical expertise to assess and underwrite the risks associated with cutting-edge propulsion systems such as the challenges of thermal runaway in batteries.
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Speaker: Robert Oldroyd
Title: Unlock Opportunities AND Protect Your Business
Risk Advisor @ Moreton & Company
Brief Biography
Rob Oldroyd has been a risk advisor at Moreton & Company in Salt Lake City, Utah for the past 7 years. He studied safety and risk management as part of his degree at Utah Valley University where he also currently teaches aviation insurance and corporate management as an adjunct professor. Previously, Rob worked as an analyst for JetBlue while finishing up his degree. Upon graduation, he started his risk management career at Moreton & Company. In his role at Moreton & Company he has been able to apply his analytical mindset to the individual needs of diverse clients. He really values the relationships and friendships he has made with clients and colleagues throughout his career. Outside of work, Rob has a wonderful wife and two daughters, aged 2 and 5. He loves spending time with his family, traveling, skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and anything else outdoors.
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Speaker: Albert Moussa
Title: Crash Fire Hazards of Air Taxis Fueled by Hydrogen vs. Aviation Gasoline
President @ BlazeTech Corp.
Brief Biography
Dr. N. Albert Moussa, Technical Director of BlazeTech, has over 40 years of experience in fire and explosion in a variety of applications. He authored one book on flammability and over 200 publications, presentations, and reports. In 1979, he participated in a national committee organized by the Electric Power Institute to assess the potential hazards of a hydrogen bubble suspected inside a nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island power plant due to loss of coolant. In 1982, he compared the crash fire hazards of the Lockheed 400-passenger aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen, versus liquid methane, gasoline, and jet A. He has since worked on safety assessments of components and entire systems involving gaseous and cryogenic hydrogen. Since 1998, he has taught professional courses on fire and has given invited lectures at several universities and the NTSB Training Center. His credentials include: William Lockwood Memorial Lecture Award, Engineer of the Year by the NE- AIAA Section, AIAA Distinguished Lecturer, Best Papers by SAE and ASEI, and several ASME citations. He served on national committees and was Associate Editor of an ASME Journal. He received his B.S. (with Honors) from Stanford U. and M.S./PhD from MIT.
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Speaker: Ryan Wilkoff
Title: How do we make sure hydrogen aviation is green hydrogen?
Founder @ Forever Flight Worldwide
Brief Biography
Ryan founded Forever Flight as he graduated UNC-Chapel Hill during covid in response to the climate crisis. Forever Flight started by partnering with NREL to help rebuild Puerto Rico's grid and now is expanding internationally!
In his free time, Ryan likes to play football and go to concerts with his friends!
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Speaker: Jack Brouwer
Title: Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) - The Beginning
Professor, Director, Clean Energy Institute @ University of California Irvine
Brief Biography
Professor, Chancellor’s Fellow: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine
Director: Clean Energy Institute, UC Irvine (https://www.cleanenergy.uci.edu/)
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Speaker: Clint Harper
Title: Hydrogen's Promise for Sustainable and Inclusive Aviation
Community Advocate @ Harper4D Solutions
Brief Biography
Clint Harper blends 25-years of aviation experience with a passion for urban design and community involvement. An Air Force veteran, Clint's military roles spanned aircraft dispatch, airport operations, and airport, heliport, & UAV facility planning. After his military service, Clint pursued his interest in community and the built environment by earning a Master's in City and Metropolitan Planning and a graduate certificate in Urban Design. His efforts in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) integration led him to work with the Utah Division of Aeronautics, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and NASA. Clint was among the first to advocate for AAM integration, emphasizing the need for the aviation sector to collaborate with communities for integrated transportation solutions. Central to his vision is the aspiration to shape AAM to benefit the broader public.
Speaker: Chris Allo
Title: On Demand Hydrogen UAV filling
CTO @ ElektrikGreen
Brief Biography
Chris Allo, Founder and CTO
Chris Allo is an electrical engineer with over 30 years of experience working with various startups and Fortune 500 companies ranging from construction and geothermal to imaging, data storage and clean energy innovation. He has over 26 years of experience developing and consulting on alternative energy designs and solutions having lived completely off-grid since 1994. He was an early adopter of solar and has been involved with numerous types of sun and wind energy capture technologies, as well as battery and hydrogen storage and backup power solutions. His latest endeavor is creating low-cost hydrogen fueling solutions for small to large customer needs. Chris holds over 20 patents and has a B.S.E.E degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Automation from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
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Speaker: Jane Allo
Title: Logistics of Bringing Hydrogen to Airports
CEO @ ElektrikGreen, Inc.
Brief Biography
Jane Allo is a serial entrepreneur with experience in business startup, operations, finance, and management. She founded ElektrikGreen with a desire to decarbonize the planet and make clean energy accessible to everyone. Prior to starting ElektrikGreen, she was a co-owner and the Operations and Maintenance Contract Specialist at Namaste Solar, a Colorado-based solar installation and service company. She has a deep understanding of solar product development, marketing and sales, and financial operations for renewables and the burgeoning storage market. This experience coupled with living off-grid for almost 20 years has made her an expert in solar power generation and energy storage and backup systems. She has also served as an influential board member for several ventures including a geophysical company, a local custom home construction company, and a non-profit wildlife rescue and currently serves on the Town of Lyons Utilities and Engineering Board.
Speaker: Cody Bateman
Title: Why advanced AI is needed for BVLOS
CEO / Founder @ MetaVista Corp.
Brief Biography
Cody Bateman is internationally recognized as a thought leader in the field of advanced analytical techniques and most recently hydrogen production and storage. For more than 35 years he has built a career utilizing a combination of applied mathematics, quantum mechanics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to advance computational physics in numerous industries. For the last decade Mr. Bateman has focused on funding new start-ups with three successful exits including GenH2 Corp, now a leader in hydrogen infrastructure technology. His latest venture, MetaVista, is currently developing the most AI technology for drones to be fully situationally, not just spatially, aware.