Two dozen of the world’s leading electric aircraft developers and technology experts will speak at the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation’s 13th Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS) at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh on July 20-21 — the weekend before the 2019 Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture.
The CAFE Foundation and Vertical Flight Society have partnered again for this year’s symposium.
“The electric-powered aircraft industry is gaining momentum and the symposium provides an opportunity to get a comprehensive brief on the state of the industry and meet the top leaders before EAA AirVenture begins,” said Yolanka Wulff, executive director of the non-profit CAFE Foundation. “In 2007, CAFE Foundation organized the world’s first Electric Aircraft Symposium to address emerging interest in electric propulsion, along with energy and climate issues. These meetings helped create the industry you see today.”
For example, since the 12th symposium in 2018, four regular participants — Ampaire, Bye Aerospace, Eviation, and magniX — have all announced significant aircraft orders or commitments from customers in the flight training, regional airline, business aviation, and recreational aircraft markets.
“Advances in technology have initiated what we call ‘The Electric VTOL Revolution,’” said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society. “Today, we are seeing major international aerospace companies, Silicon Valley tech companies, and other startups developing eVTOL aircraft, including Uber’s ambitious Elevate program to operate thousands of eVTOL air taxis (developed by VFS members) for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) applications. Electric aviation has the potential to transform society.”
This year’s speakers include:
- Yolanka Wulff, Executive Director, CAFE Foundation
- Mike Hirschberg, Executive Director, Vertical Flight Society
- Ryan Naru, Vehicle Standards Engineer, Uber Technologies
- Willi Tacke, Founder and Organizer, e-flight-expo; CEO, Flying Pages GmbH Gilles Rosenberger, CEO, Faraday Aerospace
- Todd Hodges, Engineer (Retired), NASA Langley Research Center
- Tom Gunnarson, Lead of Regulatory Affairs, Kitty Hawk
- Gregory Bowles, Head of Government Affairs, Joby Aviation
- Kevin Noertker, Co-Founder & CEO, Ampaire
- George Bye, CEO, Bye Aerospace
- Omer Bar-Yohay, Co-Founder & CEO, Eviation
- Bruno Mombrinie, Founder & CEO, Metro Hop
- Rob Bulaga, President, Trek Aerospace
- David Ullman, Emeritus Professor Mechanical Design, Oregon State University.
Registration for the 13th Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium can be found on the CAFE Foundation’s website.