DAY 3 September 4 2024

Speaker: Mike Hirschberg

Title: H2 is an eVTOL Game Changer

Director of Strategy @ Vertical Flight Society

Brief Biography

Mike assumed the duties of Director of Strategy in June 2023, after 12 years serving as the VFS Executive Director.

Prior to joining VFS in 2011, he worked for 20 years in the aerospace industry, primarily in vertical flight. Mike was previously a principal aerospace engineer with CENTRA Technology (now Amentum), providing technical and program management support for over 10 years to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Office of Naval Research (ONR) on advanced aircraft and rotorcraft concepts. Prior to this, he worked from 1994 to 2001 in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Office, supporting the development of the X-32 and X-35 vertical flight propulsion systems. Mike also served as the Managing Editor of the Society's Vertiflite magazine from 1999 to 2011, and as the Editor in Chief since then.

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Speaker: Jonathan Douglas-Smith

Title: Challenges of hydrogen fuel cell systems in aerospace

Head of Business Development, IE-FLIGHT @ Intelligent Energy

Brief Biography

Jonathan Douglas-Smith has a background in Aerospace and Mechanical engineering and he has spent the last six years at Intelligent Energy with a focus on business development and commercialising hydrogen fuel cell technology within the aerospace industry.

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Speaker: Rod Randall

Title: Unlocking a clean and quiet solution for the Urban Air Mobility mass market

Co-Founder, Chairman @ MagLev Aero

Brief Biography

Rod is a highly accomplished tech entrepreneur, senior executive, venture capitalist, and private equity executive partner, with over 25 years of experience in the wireless, telecommunications, computer-networking, and electric vehicle industries. He currently serves on the boards of Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR), Mavenir Systems Inc., and Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology.

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Speaker: Santh Sathya

Title: H2 eVTOL opportunities and challenges

Founder and CEO @ LuftCar LLC

Brief Biography

Santh Sathya founded LuftCar - an autonomous air and road mobility eVTOL mobility company in March 2021.  He is also the CEO of LuftCar and serves on its board of directors. Santh deeply cares for environment sustainability and is a relentless innovator of technologies that solve complex problems, improve lives, build social equity and fuel progress.

Before launching LuftCar, Santh served as the Director of Strategy for L3Harris, managing $ 2B P&L for the Sector CEO. Santh was head of systems engineering at Boeing - Insitu drones, and led Model Based Systems Engineering and digital twin development. He held a position as Vice President of Strategy for Johnson Controls joint venture in Asia Pacific, where he laid out a five year strategy for EVs, Electrification and Smart Cities, increasing revenue by 25% in energy and transportation markets. Santh managed operations for a $ 1B P&L at GE Energy, where he pioneered lean product development. Santh's greatest accomplishment was in developing and building 300 hydrogen fuel cell cars for Ford Motor Company. Santh has core expertise in hydrogen fuel cells, propulsion, AI architectures and lean start up.

​Santh has a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, MS in mechanical engineering from Ohio University and BS in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy. Santh also holds an Artificial Intelligence Strategy Certification from MIT.

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Speaker: Danny Maco

Title: The role data telematics in AAM

Founder @ AeroTelematics

Brief Biography

Danny Maco is an engineering and technology executive with experience spanning many industries, including gaming, mobility, and insurance. Danny is focused on AeroTelematics, aiming to revolutionize the aviation and Advanced Air Mobility sectors by integrating advanced telematics into UAV, eVTOL aircraft, and Urban Air Mobility use cases to improve safety, operational efficiency, and the user experience. Danny holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

His passion for data analytics and the gaming industry laid the groundwork for his contributions in the mobility and connected vehicle field over the last decade. At AAA and other organizations, Danny introduced innovative concepts in connected vehicles, smart homes, and usage-based insurance. As an Insurtech specialist, he  has driven transformation through innovative telematics products and platforms.

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Speaker: Norbert Palenstijn

Title: Why vacuum in Cryogenic Vessels?

Product Sales Development Manager @ Leybold USA, Inc.

Brief Biography

Norbert has a formal education in business but has gone on to fulfill several technical roles in the leak testing, leak detection and vacuum industry over the past 25 years. 

He has valuable experience in understanding both the technologies and their importance in the operation of many manufacturing processes. He has supported customers to improve their processes, from basic topics to detailed process improvements. Apart from that, he has also developed a methodical and logical problem-solving approach to make the process of troubleshooting both educational and informative. Ultimately, Norbert strives to be a valuable sparring partner to enhance the capabilities of the people he's working with.

In his current position as Product Sales Development Manager at Leybold, he has a technological and commercial role supporting a product portfolio of industrial leak test and vacuum products. You know your products, and he knows industrial leak testing, leak detection and vacuum. Together we can find a solution for your challenges and optimize your processes.

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Speaker: Jack Brouwer

Title: Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems - the CA Regional Hydrogen Hub

Professor, Director @ 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

Prof. Brouwer is an energy system dynamics expert with research interests in renewable energy systems; dynamic simulation and control; energy system thermodynamics, design, and integration; electrochemical conversion devices and systems such as fuel cells, electrolyzers and batteries; hydrogen production, storage and conversion systems; hydrogen transmission, distribution, and dispensing; and electrochemical reactions with concurrent heat, mass and momentum transfer.  Prof. Brouwer obtained his M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCI and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Post-Doc in Chemical Engineering at MIT.

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Speaker: Gaël Le Bris

Title: Preparing for Hydrogen at Aviation Facilities

Vice President, Aviation Planning @ WSP

Brief Biography

Gaël Le Bris, CM, ENV SP, PE is Vice President, Aviation Planning and Senior Technical Principal with WSP USA. His experience includes complex airport planning and engineering projects in the United States and abroad. Prior to joining WSP, he was the Airside Development Manager at Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport, France. Mr. Le Bris is the Chair of the Transportation Research Board's AV090 Standing Committee on Aviation Safety, Security and Emergency Management. He serves on several committees and workgroups of organizations including AIAA, SAE International, The French-Speaking Airports (UAF&FA), and the Vertical Flight Society. He has authored various technical articles and publications including ACRP Research Report 236: Preparing Your Airport for Electric Aircraft and Hydrogen Technologies as well as The Future of Airports: A Vision of 2040 and 2070. He is the Principal Investigator for the ongoing ACRP Project 03-75: Preparing for Hydrogen at Airports.

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Speaker: Loup-Giang Nguyen

Title: <Gaël Le Bris' co-speaker>

Aviation Planner @ WSP

Brief Biography

Loup-Giang Nguyen is an aviation planner at WSP USA. He has supported airfield planning and design projects for several airports across the United States including San Antonio International Airport (SAT), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Spokane International Airport (GEG), and Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS). He was one of the lead authors of ACRP Research Report 236: Preparing Your Airport for Electric Aircraft and Hydrogen Technologies. He is the deputy project manager for the ongoing ACRP Project 03-75: Preparing for Hydrogen at Airports. Mr. Nguyen holds master’s degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from the National University of Civil Aviation (ENAC) (Toulouse, France) and in Airport Development and Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Southwest Chapter of AAAE, the Infrastructure Workgroup of The French-Speaking Airports (UAF&FA), and of the Young Member Committee–Aviation of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

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Speaker: Joseph Sullivan

Title:

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Brief Biography

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Speaker: Michael Lewison

Title: Hydrogen Anywhere Anytime - Ethanol Is The Answer

President and Founder @ TO VIRIDI

Brief Biography

Michael Lewison is one of TO VIRIDI's founders and is responsible for the company's strategy of creating a network to deliver hydrogen the "last mile."  TOV's use of renewable bio-ethanol is the foundation of this network which will enable cost competitive generation of hydrogen "right at the doorstep" of users.  TOV's flex-fuel installations will provide both hydrogen fuel and electricity 24/7 in sizes ranging from 1.25T/day and/or 25MW/day and up.  Michael's background in business development solar energy, beverages, construction, software, online entertainment, and finance.

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Speaker: Anh Nguyen

Title: Design and Simulation of H2 Storage Solutions for Sustainable Aviation

Industry Product Leader, Aerospace @ Modelon Inc

Brief Biography

Anh is a senior simulation engineer at Modelon, engaging in service projects and driving aerospace domain product development as industry product leader.  He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and has 10+ years of experience with Modelica-based thermo-fluid system modeling and simulation.

 

Speaker: Dietmar Trees

Title: Uninterrupted Renewable Power and Hydrogen with HyWatts' Power-Plant-in-a-BoxTM

CTO @ HyWatts

Brief Biography

Dr. Dietmar Trees is Co-Founder and CTO at HyWatts, where he leads Research and Development of the novel High temperature Reversible Fuel Cell. He has broad experience in leadership positions in hydrogen fuel cell, aerospace, and semiconductor manufacturing industries. Prior to HyWatts, he managed development of airplane hydrogen power trains at ZeroAvia and HyPoint, after leading a research team at ASML creating the next-generation architecture for the machines making the most advanced semiconductor chips, which yielded multiple patents including a glass-to-metal seal enabling injection of liquid tin droplets at 1000 bar. He previously held leadership positions at Pratt and Whitney, where he led the Auxiliary Power Unit qualification and certification test department; the Supply Chain organization; and managed the APU program for Airbus. Dietmar began his career as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego, where he published nine scientific papers, including one focused on hydrogen combustion. Dietmar holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the Technical University in Aachen and an MBA from UC Irvine.

 

Speaker: Carl Rivkin

Title: Hydrogen Fueling and Supply Infrastructure

Principal Engineer @ Total Hydrogen

Brief Biography

Principal Engineer with Total Hydrogen (totalhydrogencorp.com).  Lengthy experience with hydrogen infrastructure development and deployment  focused on safety, reliability, and cost control.