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.

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.

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.

Stephan is driving the adoption of a new generation of automated manufacturing technology designed to transform how electrical wiring systems are produced and integrated into advanced aircraft.

As New Business Development Director at Q5D, Stephan works with manufacturers across aerospace, UAV, defence, automotive, and advanced mobility to replace labour-intensive wire harness production with automated processes. Q5D’s technology combines robotics with automated wire deposition, enabling electrical wiring to be manufactured with greater consistency and even integrated directly into structural components.

For the eVTOL industry, this approach addresses one of the less visible but critical challenges of scaling aircraft production. Electric aircraft depend on increasingly complex electrical architectures supporting propulsion, batteries, avionics, flight controls, sensors, and high-voltage power distribution. Automating wiring production offers manufacturers a route to reduce weight, improve quality and repeatability, accelerate assembly, and build more scalable and resilient supply chains.

Drawing on extensive international experience in technology sales and business development, Stephan brings a commercial perspective to the challenge of moving advanced manufacturing technologies from innovation into industrial deployment. At Q5D, he is helping aerospace and mobility manufacturers understand how automation can remove production bottlenecks and support the transition from prototype aircraft to repeatable, high-rate manufacturing.

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.

Brett is helping shape the energy, infrastructure, and partnership strategies required to move advanced air mobility from aircraft development toward real-world deployment.

As Strategic Partnership Manager for the aviation sector at NREL, Brett leads collaborations across the sustainable aviation ecosystem, bringing together industry, government, airports, utilities, technology developers, and research organizations. With more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry, his background spans power generation planning, transmission and distribution, energy infrastructure, project development, and strategic partnerships.

For the eVTOL industry, the challenge extends far beyond developing and certifying the aircraft themselves. Large-scale deployment will require airports, vertiports, utilities, and communities to prepare for new electricity demand, charging infrastructure, grid integration, energy storage, power management, and operational requirements. NREL’s advanced air mobility work brings these interconnected challenges together, helping stakeholders assess infrastructure readiness, model future energy requirements, identify investment priorities, and reduce the risks associated with deployment.

Brett’s work provides a critical systems-level perspective on how the aviation and energy sectors must collaborate to enable the next generation of electric flight. Through partnerships across the aviation ecosystem, he is helping connect emerging aircraft technologies with the energy systems, infrastructure, planning, and investment needed to turn advanced air mobility from demonstration projects into scalable transportation networks.

Every eVTOL aircraft depends on a complex network of electrical connections carrying unprecedented levels of power between batteries, electric motors, inverters, charging systems, avionics, and flight-critical equipment. As aircraft architectures move toward higher voltages and power levels, ensuring those connections remain safe, lightweight, reliable, and resistant to the demanding conditions of flight is becoming a critical engineering challenge.

Dave Amet is helping eVTOL manufacturers solve that challenge. As Business Development Manager for the eVTOL, Hybrid & Electric Aircraft markets at Amphenol, he works at the intersection of aircraft electrification and advanced interconnect technology, supporting the development of high-power and high-voltage solutions for the next generation of electric aircraft.

Amphenol’s aerospace technologies are designed to address some of the most demanding requirements created by electric propulsion, including high-current power transmission, high-voltage operation at altitude, partial-discharge protection, vibration, thermal performance, EMI protection, weight reduction, and rapid charging. Its portfolio includes interconnect systems developed specifically for all-electric aircraft and urban air mobility applications, with solutions capable of supporting the increasingly high voltages and currents required by emerging eVTOL architectures.

With a commercial perspective spanning eVTOL, hybrid-electric, and electric aircraft, Dave brings valuable insight into how aircraft manufacturers can translate rapidly evolving electrical architectures into safe, certifiable, and scalable platforms. His expertise highlights a fundamental reality for Advanced Air Mobility: achieving commercial electric flight will depend not only on batteries and motors, but on the interconnect infrastructure capable of safely delivering power throughout the aircraft.

Battery performance will ultimately determine how far, how safely, and how economically eVTOL aircraft can fly. Every kilogram matters, yet electric aircraft must carry enough stored energy to deliver demanding take-off, climb, cruise, reserve, and repeated flight-cycle requirements—all while meeting the exceptionally high safety standards of commercial aviation.

Jeremy Livingstone is helping connect some of the world’s most advanced battery technologies with the next generation of electric mobility. As Vice President of Sales at Samsung SDI America, Jeremy brings extensive experience in advanced battery commercialization and works at the intersection of battery technology, customers, and the rapidly evolving requirements of electrified transportation.

Samsung SDI is developing next-generation battery technologies focused on higher energy density, greater power, faster charging, improved safety, and reduced weight. Its all-solid-state battery technology is particularly significant for future electric aviation, combining solid electrolytes with proprietary anode-free technology to increase energy density while improving safety. Samsung SDI is targeting mass production of its all-solid-state batteries in the second half of 2027 and is also expanding its advanced battery technologies into emerging applications including drones and Urban Air Mobility.

For the eVTOL industry, these advances could help address one of the fundamental barriers to commercial scale: storing more usable energy in a lighter, safer battery system. Jeremy brings a valuable commercial perspective on how next-generation cell technology, manufacturing scale, customer collaboration, and battery innovation can come together to enable longer-range, higher-performance, and commercially viable electric aircraft.

Every eVTOL flight will ultimately depend on infrastructure on the ground. As electric aircraft fleets scale, airports and vertiports will need access to unprecedented levels of electrical power—supporting rapid charging, battery energy storage, resilient operations, and increasingly complex interactions with the electricity grid.

George Karayannis is helping build the infrastructure and commercial models needed to make that transition possible. As Public Sector Segment Leader at Schneider Electric, George works at the intersection of energy, mobility, infrastructure, technology, and public-private collaboration, helping governments and transportation organizations modernize critical infrastructure while addressing resilience, sustainability, and rapidly growing electricity demand.

For the Advanced Air Mobility industry, Schneider Electric’s expertise in intelligent energy management, microgrids, digital automation, grid optimization, and innovative infrastructure financing addresses a challenge that will become increasingly important as eVTOL operations move toward commercial scale. Vertiports and airports will need to integrate high-power charging, distributed energy resources, battery storage, renewable generation, and intelligent load management without compromising grid stability or operational resilience.

With more than 30 years of leadership across sustainable energy, smart cities, mobility, complex systems, and emerging technologies, George brings a systems-level perspective to the development of the AAM ecosystem. His experience provides valuable insight into how utilities, airports, cities, infrastructure operators, and private-sector partners can collaborate to finance and deploy the electrical infrastructure required to turn eVTOL networks from ambitious concepts into scalable transportation systems.

The future of Advanced Air Mobility may depend as much on making aircraft simpler as making them more sophisticated. Every additional moving component adds weight, complexity, maintenance requirements, and potential points of failure—challenges that become increasingly important as eVTOL manufacturers move from experimental aircraft toward safe, practical, and scalable operations.

Chen Rosen is taking a deliberately different approach. As Founder and Chief Technology Officer of AIR, he is the engineering force behind AIR ONE, a two-seat all-electric eVTOL designed to make personal electric flight practical, intuitive, and accessible. Rather than relying on complex tilting propulsion systems, AIR ONE combines fixed motors with a fixed-wing aircraft architecture, using the movement of the aircraft itself to transition between vertical and forward flight.

Drawing on decades of experience developing aircraft, drones, flight systems, and unmanned technologies, Chen has focused AIR’s engineering philosophy around simplicity, software, safety, and real-world usability. The company’s “fly-by-intent” approach is designed to translate pilot commands into aircraft actions while keeping the vehicle within predefined safety limitations, reducing workload and making advanced flight technology easier to operate.

AIR has progressed that philosophy from concept to full-scale flight operations. Its aircraft have undergone extensive flight testing, and the company has expanded operations into the United States after receiving an FAA airworthiness certificate for its full-scale prototype. Alongside personal aviation, AIR is applying the same underlying technology to uncrewed logistics and cargo applications, demonstrating how simplified electric VTOL architectures can serve multiple emerging aviation markets.

Chen brings a deeply technical perspective on one of the defining questions facing the eVTOL industry: how do we build electric aircraft that are not only capable of flight, but simple, safe, reliable, manufacturable, and practical enough for widespread real-world use?

Developing an eVTOL aircraft is only one part of building a new form of transportation. Commercial success will depend on connecting aircraft technology with operators, infrastructure, regulation, services, and viable business models—creating an ecosystem capable of moving Advanced Air Mobility from flight testing into everyday operations.

Juliana Rodrigues is helping build that bridge. As Head of Sales Engineering and Head of Business Development for Europe at Eve Air Mobility, she works at the intersection of aircraft technology, customer requirements, and market development, helping operators and partners understand how eVTOL aircraft can be integrated into future transportation networks.

An aeronautical engineer with more than a decade of aviation experience, Juliana began her career at Embraer Commercial Aviation, working across flight operations, market intelligence, sales, and marketing. At Eve, she has led European business development, supporting the sales strategy for the company’s eVTOL aircraft and services, developing partnerships across the Urban Air Mobility ecosystem, and helping prepare markets for future operations.

That commercial perspective is becoming increasingly important as Eve moves from aircraft development toward certification and entry into service. Following the first flight of its full-scale prototype in December 2025, Eve has progressed through an extensive flight-test campaign and is advancing certification activities across Brazil, the United States, and Europe. For the eVTOL industry, Juliana brings a valuable perspective on what happens beyond the aircraft itself: how technology, certification, customer requirements, infrastructure, and ecosystem partnerships must come together to create scalable and commercially viable Advanced Air Mobility networks.