Learn about current and upcoming webinars or check out all of our videos on the VFS Video Library page!
The Vertical Flight Society has been hosting virtual technical sessions, workshops, presentations and interviews on timely and relevant topics in VTOL and eVTOL. These webinars were hosted either by VFS headquarters or by our chapters around the world.
These programs provide important information to help the community continue advancing vertical flight.
| Oct 20: Next Generation Pilots: Training and Certification, presented by the VFS Montreal-Ottawa Chapter Speakers: Mr. Yann Lavallee, Senior Experimental Test Pilot, Bell Mr. Giorgio Clementi, President, International Test Pilots School Ms. Stella-Marissa Hughes, Strategy and Business Development, CAE  Pilots are at the heart of aerospace, in the past in looking into the future. But the responsibilities and competencies required to be a pilot have evolved in the past 40 years and look to undergo more very significant changes in the near future. In this event we will hear from flight test pilots on how they contribute to aircraft design & certification, as well as the changes coming to that landscape with new eVTOL, UAM & UAV aircraft poised to enter the market. We will also hear from CAE and the International Test Pilot School on how training for pilots both in operation and flight test environments. |
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| September 30: CH146 Griffon Limited Life Extension, presented by the VFS Ottawa-Montreal Chapter Speakers: Mr. Donald Falardeau, Program Manager, Griffon, Bell Mr. Pierre Drouin, Manager, Systems Engineering, Griffon, Bell Mr. Andrew Sayer, ILS Manager and Certification Lead, Bell Special Guest: Maj. Francois Roy, Canadian Armed Forces  Overview of the Royal Canadian Air Force Griffon Helicopter midlife upgrade program; including Canadian Government project steps and retrofit model, Bell's Proposed solution with focus on the new Mission Management System, development approach, handling of airworthiness certification and new Cybersecurity requirements, and use of digital thread. |
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| Aug. 11: eVTOL Writers Group Interview: Overair Unveils Much Anticipated Butterfly eVTOL Design Speakers: Ben Tigner, Craig Smith, Dan Salcius, Josh Aronoff, Colin Shaw and James Orbon, Overair  Overair revealed the commercial design of its revolutionary Butterfly all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility. The unique capability of Butterfly stems from its breakthrough propulsion system, known as Optimum Speed Propulsion. |
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| Wed., July 7: eVTOL Writers Group Interview: An innovative & data-driven approach to building the Aviation Workforce of Tomorrow in Advanced Air Mobility Christopher Courtney, Director of Advanced Air Mobility, CAE Timothy Schoenauer, Director, Global Training Solutions BAT/HAT, CAE  We are on the cusp of a new era of aviation and with this new era comes a huge demand for uniquely trained professional pilots to safely fly passenger and cargo at scale across global markets. While most attention in the field of Advanced Air Mobility has been focused on advances in electric propulsion, sources of power, and infrastructure, a void exists in the narrative on pilot training. This talk covers a wide range of topics from challenges in developing a training program for the eVTOL aircraft, the relevance of training to type certification as well as insights into the optimal training structure and regulatory pathways required to make this vision of tomorrow’s pilots a reality. It
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| Thu., July 1: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 4 Max Frischman, Eagle Point Funding Phoenicia Miracle, Miracle Strategies  We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM.
This fourth lecture will feature experts talking about non-dilutive funding opportunities, such as grants, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), other forms of Government funding and gifts. |
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| June 29, 2021: eVTOL Certification 101, presented by VFS/SFTE/SETP/AIAA Flight Test Council Speaker: David Webber, FAA Aircraft Certification/Standards  This Webinar takes a look at the existing framework provided by the FAA’s Code of Federal Regulations and its’ implications on “Flight Test” Subpart B (Performance and Flight/Ground Characteristics) and Human Factors certification of aircraft. The Webinar delves into the intent built into the existing framework, and will focus on the application of this framework to the emerging eVTOL operational use cases. |
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| June 28: 2021 BETA Technologies' Herman Wiegman, presented by the VFS East New England Chapter Moderator: Harry Nahatis, ENE Chapter President Speaker: Herman Wiegman, BETA Technologies  Join us to hear from Herman Wiegman from BETA Technologies! Herman’s expertise is in technical analysis of power and control systems, construction of multidisciplinary models that directly feed real designs. Before BETA he worked on energy storage for GE Global Research where he was Principal Engineer in their Electric Power Technology Center. |
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| June 25, 2021: FAA and VFS Present the Vision Systems Summit Moderator: Cliff Johnson, FAA Speakers: Carlo Tiana, Collins Trish Ververs, Honeywell   “Sightlines: The Emerging Role of Advanced Vision Systems for Vertical Flight” Advancements in Vision System technologies offers the potential to “see” clearly in degraded visual environments (DVE); such as those often experienced by rotorcraft. Helicopters are no stranger to challenging operational environments at low altitudes, over water, at night, in high and low lighting conditions, in obstacle-rich environments, and during less-than-ideal weather conditions. Rotorcraft pilots are frequently called upon to operate to and from sites that lack the real estate to support the necessary infrastructure for instrument approaches similar to those used by fixed-wing pilots (i.e. approach lighting and instrument landing systems). To confront these challenges, enhance safety, mitigate risk, and reduce accidents/incidents, the rotorcraft community embracing advanced technological solutions. These solutions include advanced Vision Systems technologies that can provide increased situational awareness capabilities to detect and remain clear of obstacles and weather in visually degraded environments. This summit is being presented in partnership with the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), EUROCAE/RTCA WG-79/SC-213, the Helicopter Association International (HAI), the General Aviation Manufacturer’s Association (GAMA), and other safety teams, government, and industry organizations representing the vertical flight community. |
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| June 22-23: 2021 Short Course on Introduction to Practical Cost Estimating Methods for VTOL Aircraft Lead Instructor: Robert Scott Instructor: Michael Vegh  Are you working to build the next great VTOL aircraft? Do you share an interest in trying to solve one of the great challenges to the application of rotorcraft? Whether you’re a student of aircraft design, a professional engineer, or a program manager, this short course is for you. In this 2 day class, we will explain the language, methods, and strategies that define the field of aerospace cost engineering as it is applied to VTOL aircraft. This class will teach you how to estimate and describe the cost of an aircraft and how to identify an affordable design. More information about the course can be found here. |
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| June 17: 2021 NASA Aeronautics Contributions to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, presented by the VFS AZ&PHL&Redstone Chapters Speaker: Susan Gorton, NASA  The presentation focused on the NASA aeronautics contributions to the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity design and developmental testing. The overview included a look at the evolution of the design and testing methods from the 2014 – 2018 and included some discussion of Ingenuity’s historic flight on Mars. |
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| June 14-15: 2021 Short Course on Electric VTOL Technology Lead Instructor: Anubhav Datta, University of Maryland Instructors: Michael Ricci, Launchpoint Technologies James Baeder, University of Maryland Bob Hess, BAE Systems  The Vertical Flight Society’s signature eVTOL class was expanded over 2-days with in-depth coverage of industry-standard battery systems development (BAE), advanced high-power hybrid-electric hardware (LaunchPoint), PEM fuel cells and hydrogen propulsion and as always, the fundamentals of Vertical Lift and rotor aeromechanics from design to state-of-the-art in acoustics (Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, University of Maryland). More information about the course can be found here. |
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| Tue., June 8: Electric Power Systems: EPiC battery family, an eVTOL Writers Group Interview Moderator: tba Speaker: Nathan Millecam, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer Randy Dunn, Co-Founder, Chief Science Officer Michael Armstrong, Chief Technology Officer  Electric Power Systems formally introduces EPiC to the aerospace industry. This FAA/EASA-certifiable, modular, scalable battery line will accelerate the timeline for electric aviation and is slated for certification in early 2022. It also forms the centerpiece of a broader EPS ecosystem which we will be unveiling later this year. |
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| Thu., June 3: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 3 Danielle McLean, Happy Takeoff Alice Cummings, Vyrtx Carl Dietrich, Jump Aero  We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM.
This third lecture will feature experts sharing their experiences at various points in the general fundraising process — including a discussion of angel, venture, Series A-D, SPAC, IPO and non-dilutive government funding. This is the third in a series of programs intended to educate the industry on the ins and outs of securing capital. We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM. |
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Tue., June 1: Agricultural Spraying Operations in Vertical Lift, presented by the VFS Ottawa-Montreal Chapter The Montreal-Ottawa Chapter of the Vertical Flight Society presented a 70-minute webinar on “Vertical Flight Aerial Application Operations” on Tuesday, June 1 with speakers from both the Canadian commercial helicopter and drone (UAV) industry. Overview Rotorcraft have been used for aerial application operations for agricultural, forestry and insect management since the 1930s. The first rotorcraft to be used were Cierva and Pitcairn autogyros modified in the 1930s. In 1946, Bell Aircraft certified the Model 47 with several aerial application kits for aerial spraying and dusting for crop spraying and insect control. This panel discussion will provide an historic overview of helicopter aerial application operations, piloting challenges, the design and development of modern aerial application (spray & solid) systems, and the use of VTOL drones in aerial sensing and aerial spraying. Speakers: Historical Perspective: Ken Swartz Helicopter Spray System Design: Wesley Reid, DART Academic Research: Mozhdeh Shahbazi, PhD, PEng, Centre de géomatique du Québec Drone spraying: Nicolas DesChamps and Gil Weisman, Drone DesChamps |
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| Thu., May 6: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 2 Lecturers: Michael Dyment, NEXA Capital Van Espahbodi, Starburst  The Vertical Flight Society started a new series of regular webinars to educate our members on avenues for startup funding. "Raising $tartup Capital" is intended to provide an introduction for our member companies on the different pathways for raising capital.
A. The Advanced Air Mobility Start-up Landscape (Dyment/NEXA)
a. The Four Supply Chains and Why They are all Important Considerations When Start-Up Capital is Sought
b. Case Study: An Example of Capital Formation Success
c. Start-Up Capital Best Practices (from an IB and VC perspective)
B. Starburst Accelerator (Espabodi/Starburst)
a. Preparing Startups for Series A
b. Venture Funding and Pitch Days
c. Startups and Leveraging Corporates
We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM.
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| Wed., Apr. 28: Robotic Exploration of Titan with Dragonfly, a Multi-rotor Relocatable Lander, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter Lecturers: Douglas S. Adams, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab  Dragonfly will send a radioisotope-powered rotorcraft lander to the surface of Titan to study the composition of a wide variety of surface sites, and to complete the first comprehensive in situ study of Titan’s chemical diversity and complexity. This presentation discussed the trades considered and the choices that were made during the concept development of Dragonfly, which started from a clean sheet of paper and matured into the winner of the New Frontiers 4 competition. Early modifications that are either under consideration or have already been made in the preliminary design phase will also be discussed, along with a description of the technology and concept of operations that enable the mission.
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| Fri., April 23: VFS Hampton Roads Chapter Virtual Luncheon Speaker: Ms. Susan Gorton, NASA  The presentation provided an overview of NASA's new Advanced Air Mobility Mission with particular emphasis on research for eVTOL vehicle technologies and will include an update on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. |
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Fri., April 23: Recent Vertical Lift Research at the National Research Council of Canada, presented by the VFS Montreal Chapter Agenda: Intro to NRC, IAM & Canadian Vertical Lift Autonomy Demonstration research – Mr. Derek Gowanlock, NRC-Canada Rotorcraft Flight Sim Model Fidelity Improvement – Bill Gubbels, NRC-Canada In-flight Physiological Monitoring of Pilot Workload – Dr. Andrew Law, NRC-Canada Drone Impact Testing – Dr. Azzedine Dadouche, NRC-Canada For over 60 years the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada’s Aerospace Research Centre has conducted a broad variety of helicopter and more broadly vertical flight focused research. Structural, manufacturing, flight controls, and aerodynamic improvements have all been focus areas for the research at the NRC. In this presentation four of the Aerospace Research Centre’s researchers and engineers will present the NRC’s Integrated Aerial Mobility (IAM) research program and several current research projects, including flight autonomy, rotorcraft simulator model fidelity improvements, in-flight physiological monitoring of pilot workload, recent testing of drone impact on aircraft structure. |
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| Thu., April 22: US Army Aviation Policy for Advanced Manufactured Aircraft Parts, presented by the VFS Philadelphia, Arizona and Redstone Chapters Moderator: Ed Martin, US Army Speaker: Mark Ratliff, US Army  Aviation parts, components and support products are crucial to maintain readiness on a global scale. The utilization of Advanced Manufacturing (AdvM) techniques provides an excellent opportunity to supplement the supply line to ultimately help improve readiness. The US Army mission for airworthiness related to AdvM is to ensure that the parts, components and support products made utilizing AdvM have sufficient information and process controls in place so that the components will operate effectively to support the attaining, sustaining and completion of flight. This policy provides users, commanders and US Army aviation enterprise stakeholders with the processes related to the categorization and types of supporting data necessary for airworthiness approval. The policy also provides the appropriate path to initiate an airworthiness assessment for these parts, components and support products. |
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| Thu., April 8: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 1 Facilitator: Dana Jensen, Gemini Industries Lecturer: Kirsten Bartok Touw, New Vista Acquisition Corp  The Vertical Flight Society started a new series of regular webinars to educate our members on avenues for startup funding. "Raising $tartup Capital" is intended to provide an introduction for our member companies on the different pathways for raising capital.
This first lecture featured experts explaining general fundraising avenues available for advanced vertical flight technology development companies — including a discussion of angel, venture, Series A-D, SPAC, IPO and non-dilutive government funding. This was the first in a series of programs intended to educate the industry on the ins and outs of securing capital.
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| Thu., April 1: UAS/UAM Becoming a Reality, presented by the VFS Philadelphia, Arizona and Redstone Chapters Moderator: Colton Marchesseault, Boeing Speaker: Hector Garcia, Honeywell  Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) markets are gaining investor strengths and are starting to achieve market stability generating great tail winds for entry into service. Technology continues to advance at a very quick pace so now with regulators feeling the urgency they too are making great strides to move quicker so together this industry is becoming a reality. This presentation highlighted some of the market drivers and technology needs to make UAS and UAM operations a reality. |
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| Wed., March 24: Joby Aviation Journey in Urban Air Mobility, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter Moderator: Alexander Mark, Sikorsky Speaker: Maryam Khoshlahjeh, Joby Aviation  Joby aviation’s mission is to save a billion people an hour a day, using an all-electric passenger aircraft. Dr. Khoshlahjeh will be speaking about Joby Aviation's vision for Urban Air Mobility and its addressable market. This presentation covered Joby's S4 eVTOL aircraft and the progress Joby has made over the past decade to become the leader in this space. |
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| Wed., March 24: Real-Time Innovations: Using Industry Standards to Drive the Production of Next Generation Autonomous Platforms, an eVTOL Writers Group Interview Moderator: tba Speaker: Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director of Aerospace and Defense, Real-Time Innovations  Creating autonomous vehicles is a challenge. Deploying these platforms into a safe functioning environment is and even greater challenge, and our industry is on the verge of proving this in multiple application segments. These deployments will have to use proven industry standards to both qualify the vehicle systems and their area of operations. Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director of Aerospace & Defense at Real-Time Innovations (RTI) discussed the use of industry platform and safety standards, including DO-178C, FACE, and DDS, as a risk reduction and a deployment accelerant of new autonomous systems. |
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| Tue., March 9: System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) for Flight Testers, presented by the VFS eVTOL Flight Test Council Moderator: Al Lawless, Chair Speaker: Nancy Leveson, Professor, MIT VFS and the E-VTOL Flight Test Council hosted a short webinar introducing STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis) to flight testers. This is a hazard analysis technique that goes beyond component failures and considers unsafe interactions of system components - even if not failed. MIT Professor and originator Dr. Nancy Leveson discussed the advantages of STPA over traditional hazard/risk analysis techniques - especially for very complex systems. Attendees will come away with a big-picture sense of where this process pays off, what investment is needed, and where to go for training. |
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| Tue., Feb. 24: Motion Amplification® and Camera-Based Full Field Vibration Techniques, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter Moderator: Mark Alexander, Sikorsky Speaker: Jeff Hay, CEO, RDI Technologies  The webinar was an introduction to Motion Amplification® technology, applications, and case examples with videos. Motion Amplification® is a patented video-processing technique that detects subtle motion and enhances that motion to a level visible with the naked eye. Motion Amplification® Technology can resolve motions as small as 250 nanometers at 1 meter and can be performed live and in real-time, making it suitable for a range of applications from product design, test, and measurements, R&D, test cells, to field-based machinery fault diagnosis, dynamics, and structural testing. |
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| Tue., Feb. 23: Los Angeles County Fire-Air Operations: Saving lives from the air, presented by the VFS East New England Chapter Moderator: Harry Nahatis, ENE Chapter President Speakers: Dennis Blumenthal, Chief of Helicopter Maintenance Patrick Sprengel, Former Battalion Chief of Air Operations  Join us to hear from Dennis Blumenthal, Chief of Helicopter Maintenance, and Pat Sprengel, Former Battalion Chief of Air Operations at LA County Fire. Thank you to United Aero Group for generously sponsoring this month's webinar! |
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| Wed., Feb. 17: VFS eVTOL Writers Group Interview - Embention Moderator: Kelsey Reichmann, Avionics International Speaker: Javier Espuch, Business Development Manager  Embention develops components for drones and UAM, as well as autonomous systems for professional and military use. Embention develops two main product lines: Veronte and NMAND. - Veronte: The Veronte product line develops autopilots and equipment for autonomous vehicles. It includes high-performance UAV autopilots, control stations, payloads such as cameras, and many other accessories. This system is capable of controlling unmanned vehicles, such as fixed wing, helicopter, and multirotor vehicles, in order to perform fully autonomous operations. - NMAND The NMAND product line develops the integration of ready to fly platforms and unmanned vehicles. These drones can be customized for many applications such as surveillance or photogrammetry. |
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| Wed., Feb. 10: VFS eVTOL Writers Group Interview - Volocopter Moderator: Charles Alcock, Senior Editor, AIN Publications Speaker: Florian Reuter, CEO, Volocopter Oliver Reinhardt, Head of Certification & Quality, Volocopter  Here are the main topics and points of the conversation that were aired in the session: * Progress report on certification work with EASA, update on when the agency will finalize the SC-VTOL and what this will look like. * More detail on Volocopter’s just-announced plans to work with the FAA on certification and how it intends to navigate its way through to type certification. * Update and discussion on Volocopter’s plans to support the operational launch in locations such as Paris, Germany, Singapore and the U.S. |
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| Thu., Feb. 4: Quarterly Membership Meeting of the Federal City Chapter of the VFS Moderator: Rich Koucheravy, VFS Federal City Chapter President Speaker: James Sutherland, University of Maryland  Agenda: Welcome and introductions (Rich Koucheravy) UMD Graduate Student Design Team Presentation, James Sutherland US Military Panel, Service Vertical Lift Modernization Efforts, US Army: Colonel Lance Van Zandt (HQDA, Army G8, Aviation) US Navy: CAPT Brian "Ghost" Binder, Branch Head, Rotary Aircraft, OPNAV N98 US Air Force: Major Jake Berninghausen (SAF/AQ) USMC: Colonel Chris Boniface, Aviation Programs & Weapons Systems/Assault Support (HQMC Aviation) USCG: CAPT Frederick “Carl” Riedlin, Chief of Aviation Forces (CG-711) - 7:30-8:00 Chapter Business and Closing |
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| Tue., Jan. 19: Austin Meyer - How X-Plane can be used for eVTOL flight, presented by the eVTOL Flight Test Council Moderator: Peter Schmidt, Transcend Speaker: Austin Meyer, X-Plane  On Jan 19th, Austin Meyer, inventor, investor, entrepreneur, software engineer, and CEO/developer of X-Plane presented on flight simulation of eVTOLs based on X-Plane’s “near-first-principle physics” approach. He discussed the challenges he faced and overcame in doing so with X-Plane, including enhancing blade element theory flight modeling and improving its handling qualities for aircraft with multiple, possibly tilting/transitioning props. |
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