With nearly two decades of experience leading the design, certification, industrialisation, and manufacture of advanced aircraft, David Alexander Bausek is recognised as one of Europe's foremost aerospace engineering leaders driving the evolution of both conventional and electric aviation. Throughout his career, he has successfully taken multiple aircraft programmes from initial concept through certification, production ramp-up, and full-scale serial manufacturing, combining deep technical expertise with proven executive leadership.

In addition to serving as Chief Technology Officer at Volocopter, David is also Chief Executive Officer of Qingdao Wanfeng Diamond Aircraft Manufacturer Co. Ltd., where he oversees one of the world's leading general aviation aircraft manufacturers. This unique dual leadership role provides him with an exceptional perspective across both established aircraft production and next-generation Advanced Air Mobility, spanning aircraft engineering, composite manufacturing, certification, digitalisation, industrialisation, and global production strategy.

Prior to assuming these executive leadership roles, David spent more than 17 years at Diamond Aircraft, holding senior engineering, programme management, and manufacturing positions. He led several flagship aircraft programmes from initial design through certification and serial production while also establishing advanced engineering and manufacturing facilities in China. Alongside his industry leadership, he has lectured in aircraft design, advanced composites, and innovative VTOL technologies, helping develop the next generation of aerospace engineers.

As Conference Chair of The EVTOL SHOW USA 2026, David will lead a world-class technical programme bringing together OEMs, suppliers, regulators, operators, infrastructure providers, and technology innovators to explore the engineering, certification, manufacturing, infrastructure, and operational challenges shaping the future of Advanced Air Mobility.

Drawing on his experience leading both a globally established aircraft manufacturer and one of the industry's pioneering eVTOL developers, he offers a uniquely authoritative perspective on transforming innovative aircraft concepts into scalable, certifiable, and commercially successful aviation programmes.

Jared W. Perdue, P.E. is a transportation leader and licensed professional engineer guiding one of the nation’s most forward-looking mobility agencies as Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). With extensive experience in transportation planning, infrastructure delivery, and public policy, Jared is leading Florida’s efforts to integrate emerging mobility technologies—including advanced air mobility (AAM) and eVTOL operations—into the state’s transportation network.

As Secretary of FDOT, Jared oversees one of the largest transportation systems in the United States, directing strategic investments across highways, aviation, rail, ports, and intelligent transportation infrastructure. Under his leadership, FDOT is advancing initiatives that support the development of vertiports, multimodal connectivity, and the policies needed to safely integrate electric aircraft into Florida’s rapidly growing mobility ecosystem.

Throughout his career at FDOT, Jared has held numerous engineering and executive leadership roles, building expertise in infrastructure planning, project delivery, and interagency collaboration. His practical understanding of both engineering and public administration has positioned Florida as a national leader in preparing for the commercial deployment of advanced air mobility.

With decades of experience in engineering, operations, and large-scale transportation program delivery, Will oversees the execution of statewide initiatives that enhance connectivity, safety, and readiness for emerging technologies such as advanced air mobility (AAM).

As COO and Assistant Secretary, Will is responsible for coordinating FDOT’s operational strategy across Florida’s extensive multimodal transportation network, including highways, aviation, rail, ports, and transit systems. His leadership supports the integration of innovative infrastructure, intelligent transportation systems, and planning initiatives that will enable the safe and scalable deployment of eVTOL aircraft and vertiport networks.

A licensed Professional Engineer, Will has built his career within FDOT, holding senior leadership positions across engineering, construction, and transportation operations. His expertise in infrastructure delivery, stakeholder collaboration, and strategic planning has helped position Florida as a national leader in embracing next-generation transportation solutions.

Jason is responsible for driving Horizon's operational strategy, commercial execution, and organizational growth as it advances the development and certification of its hybrid-electric eVTOL platform. He plays a central role in scaling the business, aligning engineering, manufacturing, certification, and commercial activities to support Horizon's transition from development to market entry.

Jason brings extensive executive leadership experience managing complex technology programmes across highly regulated industries, including aerospace, healthcare, and smart city infrastructure. His background spans corporate strategy, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, operational transformation, and business development, with a proven track record of delivering large-scale initiatives requiring close coordination between technology, regulatory, and commercial stakeholders.

Combining strategic leadership with operational execution, Jason is helping position Horizon Aircraft for commercial growth by building the organisational capability, partnerships, and governance required to successfully deliver next-generation regional air mobility solutions.

Few engineers have experience designing both launch infrastructure for spacecraft and the ground infrastructure required for commercial Advanced Air Mobility. Drawing on senior engineering leadership roles at Joby Aviation, SpaceX, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Andy Krebs is helping develop the vertiports, charging systems, passenger facilities, and operational infrastructure that will enable electric air taxi networks to scale safely and commercially.

Andy has built a career delivering some of the world's most technically demanding infrastructure programmes. Before joining Joby Aviation, he spent almost six years at SpaceX, culminating in his role as Director of Starship Launch Engineering & Spaceport Infrastructure, where he led the engineering and construction of launch facilities supporting one of the most ambitious aerospace programmes ever undertaken. Prior to SpaceX, Andy spent more than eight years at the globally renowned engineering consultancy Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), delivering complex structural engineering projects requiring exceptional technical precision and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Today, Andy leads Joby Aviation's global infrastructure strategy, overseeing the engineering and deployment of the physical ecosystem required to support commercial eVTOL operations. His work spans vertiport design, structural engineering, charging and energy infrastructure, passenger facilities, regulatory compliance, construction delivery, and the integration of Advanced Air Mobility into existing transportation networks. He works closely with airports, municipalities, utilities, property developers, and government agencies to ensure the infrastructure is ready ahead of commercial service entry.

As Advanced Air Mobility moves from aircraft development to real-world deployment, Andy is at the forefront of solving one of the industry's greatest challenges: creating resilient, scalable, and economically viable infrastructure capable of supporting high-frequency commercial operations. His unique experience across aerospace, civil engineering, and major infrastructure delivery provides invaluable insight into how the next generation of aviation networks will be designed, built, and operated.

Few executives have played a more influential role in financing, scaling, and commercialising high-growth technology companies across Asia than Conor Chia-hung Yang. With more than three decades of experience spanning global investment banking, public markets, corporate finance, and executive leadership, he is helping guide EHang through one of the most significant transitions in aviation history—from technology pioneer to the world's first large-scale commercial operator of certified autonomous eVTOL aircraft.

Conor joined EHang's Board of Directors in 2019 before assuming the role of Chief Financial Officer in 2023, where he oversees the company's global financial strategy, investor relations, capital markets, corporate governance, and commercial growth initiatives. During this period, EHang has achieved a series of industry-first milestones, including the world's first Type Certificate, Production Certificate, Standard Airworthiness Certificate, and Air Operator Certificates for pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China—positioning the company at the forefront of commercial Advanced Air Mobility.

As EHang accelerates the commercial deployment of autonomous electric aviation, Conor is leading the financial and strategic foundations required to support global expansion. His expertise in capital markets, corporate strategy, commercial scaling, and investor confidence provides a unique perspective on how the Advanced Air Mobility industry can transition from certification milestones to sustainable, large-scale commercial operations.

The commercial success of Advanced Air Mobility will depend not only on certified aircraft, but on experienced operators capable of turning new technology into safe, reliable, and economically sustainable transportation networks. With more than 30 years of leadership across aviation, logistics, infrastructure, offshore energy, emergency services, and government operations, Jeremy Akel brings the operational perspective required to move the sector beyond aircraft development and into real-world service.

Jeremy leads Omni Helicopters International, a global aviation group operating in some of the world’s most demanding environments. Its businesses support offshore energy, emergency medical services, government missions, and emerging Advanced Air Mobility operations. Across Brazil and other international markets, Omni manages complex aviation networks in which safety, aircraft availability, regulatory compliance, infrastructure, logistics, training, and operational consistency are critical to daily performance.

Before joining Omni, Jeremy served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Bristow Group, where he helped lead a global aviation business generating approximately $1.8 billion in revenue. His responsibilities included fleet strategy, operational standardisation, training, international expansion, acquisitions, customer delivery, and safety performance. He later held senior commercial and investment roles across aviation finance and asset management before becoming Group CEO of Omni Helicopters International in 2019.

For the eVTOL sector, established operators such as Omni are essential. Aircraft manufacturers can design and certify new platforms, but operators must determine how those aircraft will function within complete transportation systems. This includes route economics, dispatch reliability, fleet utilisation, maintenance, crew and passenger operations, infrastructure integration, safety management, regulatory approvals, customer confidence, and the ability to deliver consistent service under real operating conditions.

Omni is particularly relevant because it already operates the type of complex, high-frequency, safety-critical aviation networks that Advanced Air Mobility will need to replicate. Through its involvement in helicopters, low-altitude mobility, infrastructure, and emerging eVTOL operations, the company provides an important bridge between established vertical-flight expertise and the next generation of electric aircraft.

Jeremy has consistently argued that urban air mobility is not simply an aircraft-development challenge. Building the infrastructure, operational systems, regulatory frameworks, and customer confidence required to scale a new mode of transportation is equally important. His perspective ensures that discussions around Advanced Air Mobility remain grounded in execution: how networks will actually be launched, operated, financed, trusted, and scaled.

With more than 25 years of experience in aircraft design, flight mechanics, simulation, and high-performance engineering, Lucas Marchesini has built a career developing innovative aircraft capable of solving real-world transportation challenges. Before co-founding MANTA Aircraft, he worked across both the aerospace and motorsport industries, contributing to aircraft development programmes at Pilatus Aircraft, Calidus, and other aerospace organisations, while also applying advanced engineering principles within Formula One, IndyCar, and MotoGP programmes.

In 2020, Lucas co-founded MANTA Aircraft to develop a new generation of hybrid-electric eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft specifically optimised for Regional Air Mobility (RAM) rather than short-range urban air taxi operations. Under his leadership, the company has developed the ANN family of aircraft, designed around a modular hybrid-electric platform capable of carrying up to six passengers, achieving cruise speeds of 250–300 km/h, and offering operational ranges of 300–800+ km, while requiring significantly less charging infrastructure than battery-electric alternatives.

Lucas has championed a design philosophy centred on engineering simplicity, operational practicality, and certification readiness. Rather than pursuing increasingly complex aircraft architectures, MANTA focuses on reducing mechanical complexity, lowering total cost of ownership, simplifying maintenance, and accelerating certification through a winged hybrid-electric configuration that combines the efficiency of conventional aircraft with the flexibility of vertical and short take-off and landing operations. The company's technology has progressed through extensive computational analysis, wind tunnel testing, a one-third-scale flying demonstrator, and the development of a full-scale aircraft mock-up, while continuing engagement with certification authorities and industrial partners.

A recognised thought leader within the Advanced Air Mobility community, Lucas is a frequent speaker at leading international aviation conferences, where he advocates for commercially viable, economically sustainable regional air mobility. His work continues to challenge conventional assumptions around infrastructure, operating economics, and aircraft architecture, helping shape industry discussions on how Advanced Air Mobility can transition from demonstration programmes to scalable commercial operations.

As electric aircraft move towards certification and commercial production, materials engineering is becoming a critical enabler of Advanced Air Mobility. T.J. Castle leads the global operations of one of the aerospace industry's foremost suppliers of high-performance engineered materials, sealing technologies, and advanced thermoplastic composites used in the world's most demanding aerospace applications.

Greene Tweed’s technologies are designed to reduce aircraft weight, improve durability, extend component life, and deliver reliable performance under the extreme temperatures, pressures, vibration, and chemical environments encountered throughout eVTOL aircraft.

From electric propulsion systems and battery enclosures to actuators, landing gear, flight control systems, hydrogen applications, and structural assemblies, Greene Tweed's materials are helping engineers design lighter, safer, and more reliable aircraft.

A key area of innovation is Greene Tweed's Xycomp® thermoplastic composite technology, which enables OEMs to replace metallic components with lightweight, high-strength composite structures while significantly reducing prototype lead times and accelerating development. Combined with the company's advanced sealing technologies and high-performance engineered polymers, these solutions help aircraft manufacturers improve efficiency, simplify maintenance, and accelerate the path from prototype to production.

Thomas’s perspective extends beyond materials alone, focusing on how manufacturing readiness, supply chain resilience, and next-generation engineering materials will support the transition from prototype aircraft to high-rate commercial production—one of the defining challenges facing the Advanced Air Mobility industry today.

From flight control surfaces and landing gear to battery systems and propulsion mechanisms, electromechanical actuators are fundamental to every eVTOL aircraft. As Technical Director at Olsen Actuators & Drives, Adam Bargh is helping develop the high-performance actuation systems that enable the next generation of electric aircraft to fly safely, reliably, and efficiently.

Olsen Actuators & Drives is a specialist supplier of bespoke electromechanical actuation systems for the aerospace sector and has developed the primary flight control actuation system for Vertical Aerospace's VX4 eVTOL aircraft—one of the most safety-critical systems on the aircraft, responsible for controlling flight surfaces during transition between vertical and wing-borne flight. As aircraft architectures become increasingly electrified, Olsen's lightweight, high-power-density actuators are helping OEMs reduce weight, improve reliability, simplify maintenance, and support certification.

Working closely with aircraft manufacturers, including Vertical Aerospace, Adam specialises in transforming complex engineering challenges into certifiable flight-critical solutions. His expertise spans systems architecture, electromechanical design, integration, testing, and product development, supporting OEMs as they transition from conventional hydraulic systems to fully electric aircraft.

As Advanced Air Mobility moves towards commercial deployment, Adam brings valuable insight into one of the aircraft's most critical enabling technologies, demonstrating how advances in precision actuation are helping shape the future of electric flight.

Michael has helped develop many of the high-performance thermoplastic sheet, film, glazing, and engineered polymer technologies now used across demanding aerospace applications.

As Senior Vice President of Technology at POLYVANTIS, Michael led the company's global technology strategy, driving innovation in advanced transparent materials, lightweight structural plastics, optical films, and high-performance polymer solutions. These materials are increasingly being adopted by eVTOL manufacturers for aircraft glazing, cabin interiors, battery enclosures, aerodynamic fairings, and lightweight structural components, where reducing weight while maintaining strength, durability, optical clarity, and fire performance is essential.
Prior to POLYVANTIS, Michael spent almost four decades in senior technology leadership roles at SABIC and previously GE, leading global research, product development, manufacturing technologies, and intellectual property programmes.

Throughout his career, he has overseen the commercialisation of numerous advanced materials technologies while working closely with aerospace manufacturers to solve complex engineering challenges through innovative polymer and composite solutions.

As aircraft manufacturers strive to maximise range, payload, and efficiency, Michael brings valuable insight into how next-generation engineered materials are helping redefine aircraft design. His expertise demonstrates why material science is becoming just as important as propulsion and aerodynamics in enabling the commercial future of Advanced Air Mobility.

The reliability of every electrical connection is mission-critical. From battery systems and electric propulsion to avionics, flight controls, sensors, and power distribution, high-performance interconnect technologies are fundamental to delivering the safety, redundancy, and reliability required for commercial Advanced Air Mobility.
Olivier Nicollin leads one of the aerospace industry's foremost specialists in high-reliability miniature interconnect solutions.
For more than four decades, Nicomatic has developed compact, lightweight, high-performance connectors, flexible circuits, switches, and integrated electronic interconnect solutions for aerospace, defence, space, medical, and other mission-critical industries. Today, the company works closely with leading eVTOL developers, supplying technologies that help reduce weight, optimise packaging, improve system reliability, and support the increasingly complex electrical architectures required by next-generation electric aircraft.

Under Olivier's leadership, Nicomatic continues to invest heavily in miniaturisation, high-density interconnects, and advanced manufacturing technologies, enabling aircraft manufacturers to integrate more electrical systems into increasingly compact and lightweight airframes. As electric propulsion and fly-by-wire architectures continue to evolve, these technologies are becoming essential to achieving the reliability, redundancy, and certification standards demanded by commercial aviation.

Olivier brings valuable insight into one of the least visible—but most critical—elements of every eVTOL aircraft: the electrical nervous system that connects every mission-critical subsystem and enables safe, reliable, and certifiable electric flight.

Throughout his career, Stephen has collaborated with aerospace OEMs developing next-generation electric aircraft, helping solve the complex electrical interconnect challenges associated with high-voltage propulsion, battery integration, power distribution, and flight-critical systems.

With almost three decades at Amphenol, Stephen has worked across every stage of connector development, from product engineering and applications support to innovation and technology leadership. His expertise spans high-voltage electrical connectors, power distribution, signal integrity, EMC protection, qualification testing, and aerospace standards development, working closely with aircraft manufacturers to solve the complex electrical challenges presented by increasingly electrified aircraft.

Amphenol is one of the world's leading suppliers of aerospace interconnect technology, providing the connectors, cable assemblies, and electrical distribution solutions that underpin flight-critical systems throughout modern aircraft. Within the eVTOL sector, these technologies are enabling lightweight, high-power electrical architectures capable of supporting electric propulsion, battery systems, avionics, fly-by-wire controls, charging infrastructure, and mission-critical communications while meeting the stringent safety, redundancy, and certification requirements of commercial aviation.

Stephen brings valuable insight into how next-generation electrical interconnect technologies are helping manufacturers deliver lighter, more efficient, and more reliable electric aircraft capable of supporting the future of flight.

Every kilogram saved in an eVTOL aircraft translates directly into greater range, increased payload, improved efficiency, and enhanced commercial viability. Craig Collier has spent more than 30 years helping aerospace manufacturers achieve exactly that through advanced structural optimisation, composite design, and digital engineering.

After beginning his career as a research scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, Craig founded Collier Aerospace, creator of the industry-leading HyperSizer® and HyperX® software platforms. Today, these tools are used by aerospace OEMs to optimise metallic and composite aircraft structures, enabling engineers to develop lighter, stronger, and more certifiable aircraft in significantly less time.

Alongside leading Collier Aerospace, Craig also heads research programmes within the NASA Advanced Composites Consortium, helping develop the next generation of structural design and analysis tools. His expertise offers a unique perspective on how digital engineering and structural optimisation are accelerating the certification and commercialisation of Advanced Air Mobility.

Chris is pioneering a new generation of robotic manufacturing technology that automates the production of electrical wiring directly onto complex three-dimensional structures.

Q5D's manufacturing platform combines robotics, additive manufacturing, and automated wire deposition to replace labour-intensive wire harness assembly with a faster, lighter, and highly repeatable manufacturing process. For the eVTOL industry, where aircraft contain kilometres of electrical wiring supporting electric propulsion, batteries, avionics, flight controls, and high-voltage power distribution, this technology has the potential to significantly reduce assembly time, aircraft weight, manufacturing cost, and supply chain complexity.

Under Chris's leadership, Q5D is working across aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing to industrialise automated wiring technologies that support next-generation aircraft production. His expertise provides a unique perspective on how innovative manufacturing processes can help accelerate the transition from prototype eVTOL aircraft to scalable, commercially viable production.

Jason leads the global operations of TAT Technologies, one of the aerospace industry's leading providers of Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO), thermal management, heat transfer systems, and component support services for commercial and military aviation.

With more than 25 years of aerospace and advanced manufacturing leadership, Jason has built his career scaling complex, high-reliability manufacturing and aftermarket operations. Before joining TAT Technologies, he held senior leadership positions at Proterra, helping scale one of North America's largest electric bus manufacturers, following executive roles at Honeywell Aerospace, where he oversaw major OEM manufacturing, engine component production, repair, and overhaul operations.

For the Advanced Air Mobility industry, TAT Technologies brings decades of expertise in aircraft lifecycle support, thermal management, and aftermarket services—capabilities that will become increasingly important as eVTOL fleets enter commercial service. From battery and electronics cooling to repair, overhaul, and component reliability, Jason understands the operational infrastructure required to keep next-generation aircraft flying safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Drawing on experience across aerospace, electrified transportation, and industrial manufacturing, Jason provides a practical perspective on one of Advanced Air Mobility's biggest challenges: transforming innovative aircraft into commercially sustainable fleets supported by world-class maintenance, repair, and operational readiness.

Having founded Fictiv after recognising the manufacturing challenges facing modern engineering teams, Dave brings a perspective on how digital manufacturing, AI-driven supply chains, and advanced production technologies are helping accelerate the commercialisation of Advanced Air Mobility. His work demonstrates that the future of eVTOL depends not only on breakthrough aircraft, but on building a manufacturing ecosystem capable of delivering them at scale.

Success will depend not only on innovative aircraft, but on the ability to rapidly source, manufacture, and scale thousands of precision components across increasingly complex global supply chains.

Dave is leading the integration of one of the world's largest precision component suppliers with one of the industry's most advanced AI-powered manufacturing and supply chain platforms. Together, MISUMI and Fictiv are creating an end-to-end engineering ecosystem that enables aerospace manufacturers to source standard, configurable, and custom components faster, reduce development cycles, optimise supply chains, and accelerate production readiness.

For the Advanced Air Mobility industry, these capabilities are becoming increasingly important as OEMs transition from prototype development to low-rate initial production and ultimately high-volume manufacturing. From rapid prototyping and custom machined parts to production tooling, mechanical assemblies, and global supply chain management, Dave's expertise lies in helping engineering teams build faster, reduce manufacturing risk, and scale with confidence.

Every eVTOL aircraft relies on one component that passengers will never see—the permanent magnets inside its electric motors. Without rare earth magnets, the power density, efficiency, and performance required for electric flight simply wouldn't be possible.

David Bushi is helping rebuild one of the most strategically important parts of that supply chain. As Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at USA Rare Earth, he is leading the industrialisation of a fully integrated U.S. rare earth magnet manufacturing capability, reducing dependence on overseas supply while supporting the future growth of aerospace, defence, and Advanced Air Mobility.

With decades of experience delivering large-scale manufacturing transformations, automation, and Lean production systems, David brings a unique perspective on how critical materials, resilient supply chains, and manufacturing readiness will underpin the commercial future of the eVTOL industry.

Every eVTOL aircraft depends on one technology that passengers will never see—semiconductors. From electric propulsion and battery management to power conversion, flight controls, sensing, and avionics, advanced semiconductor technologies form the foundation of modern electric aviation.

With more than 24 years of experience spanning semiconductor design, power electronics, product strategy, and aerospace systems, GP Gopalakrishnan is helping shape the next generation of aerospace electronics at Infineon Technologies. His career has included senior leadership positions at Texas Instruments and Wolfspeed, where he played a key role in advancing silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, high-voltage electronics, and next-generation semiconductor technologies that are now transforming electric mobility and aerospace.

Today, GP leads Infineon's Aerospace & Defense Strategy, helping accelerate the adoption of high-performance semiconductor technologies that enable lighter, more efficient, and more reliable electric aircraft. As the eVTOL industry pushes towards higher voltages, greater power density, and increasingly sophisticated electrical architectures, his expertise provides a unique perspective on how next-generation electronics will underpin the future of Advanced Air Mobility.

When it comes to public acceptance of Advanced Air Mobility, few technologies are more important than those designed to save lives when everything else has failed.

As Chief Executive Officer of BRS Aerospace, Fernando Caralt leads the company behind the world's most widely recognised whole-aircraft parachute recovery systems, technologies that have already saved hundreds of lives across general aviation.

For the eVTOL industry, safety is not simply a certification requirement—it's fundamental to public confidence and commercial adoption. BRS Aerospace is working with next-generation aircraft manufacturers to integrate whole-aircraft emergency recovery systems into electric aircraft, providing an additional layer of protection for passengers, pilots, and people on the ground.

With decades of experience across aerospace engineering, operations, and executive leadership, Fernando is helping adapt proven aviation safety technologies to meet the unique challenges of Advanced Air Mobility. As the industry moves towards passenger-carrying commercial operations, his perspective highlights the increasingly important role that passive safety systems will play in certification, operational resilience, and building trust in the future of electric flight.