2019 Electric VTOL Symposium

The Vertical Flight Society's 6th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium was held on Jan. 29-31, 2019, as part of the 8th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting, in Mesa, Arizona. This sold-out event had more than 375 attendees and was another watershed event in supporting the development of electric VTOL and urban air mobility.

If you missed this blockbuster event, VFS members can watch the videos below and download the invited presentations at no charge! (3 presentations were not included at the request of the presenters.) 

Log in at the top of the page, and then click on any of the images below to start the video — you can then expand it full screen in high definition.

Note: Video-on-demand for the two short courses will be available for purchase in early March.

In addition, the 36 Autonomous VTOL technical papers are available for purchase from the Vertical Flight Library. Learn more about electric VTOL (and sign up for our eVTOL email newsletter) at www.eVTOL.news!

Plan now to attend the 7th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium on Jan. 21-23, 2020 in San Jose, California, as part of our Transformative Vertical Flight 2020!

Plenary Presentations: Needs for Future Autonomous VTOL Aircraft

 
Members only:  1. Autonomy for Next Generation VTOL Systems, Dr. Bill Lewis, Aviation Development Director
Members only:  2. The Electric VTOL Revolution, Mike Hirschberg, Executive Director, Vertical Flight Society
Members only:  3. Army VTOL UAS Development, LTC Mike Osmon, Aviation Development Directorate
Members only:  4. Agility, Cyber and Emerging Technologies for Naval UAS, Dr. Robert Ernst, NAVAIR PMA-266
Members only:  5. Analyzing Electric VTOL for the Joint Force, Lt Col Nathan P. Diller, US Air Force
Members only:  7. Needs for the Uber Elevate Ecosystem, Mark Moore, Uber
 

Session 1: Progress in Electric VTOL

 
Members only:  8. The XTI TriFan 600, Bob Labelle, CEO, XTI Aircraft
Members only:  9. Terrafugia TF-2 Overview, Carl Dietrich, Co-Founder/CTO, Terrafugia
Members only:  10. The Karem Butterfly, Ben Tigner, President, Karem Aircraft
Members only:  11. Electric VTOL on the Boeing Horizon, Troy Rutherford, Senior Director for eVTOL, Boeing NeXt
 

Session 2: Challenges in Electric VTOL

 
Members only:  12. Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) Failure Modes, Patrick Darmstadt, Boeing
Members only:  13. Gust Rejection, Nick Brake, Empirical Systems Aerospace
Members only:  14. VTOL Flight Control for Safety, Justin Paines, Chief Test Pilot, Joby Aviation
 

Session 3: Standards/Regulations

 
Members only:  15. Anna Dietrich, Co-Founder, Terrafugia
Members only:  16. Ajay Sehgal, Chief Engineer, KBRWyle
Members only:  17. Dr. Mark DeAngelo, Aerospace Standards Engineer, SAE International
Members only:  18. Greg Bowles, VP, Global Innovation & Policy GAMA
Members only:  19. Standards & Regulations Panel Discussion
 

Session 4: System Safety

 
Members only:  20. Gwen Lighter, CEO, GoFly Prize
Members only:  21. Jonathan Hartman, Disruptive Technologies Lead, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
 

Session 5: Vehicle Technologies

 
Members only:  22. Hybrid Electric Propulsion System  Advantages and Disadvantages, Eric Blumer, Director of Advanced Technologies, Honeywell
Members only:  23. New Lithium Sulfur Battery Development, Dr. Zachary Favors, Chief Scientist, Nextech Batteries
Members only:  24. Fuel Cell Technology, Dr. Rick Sickenberger, Principal Engineer, Teledyne Energy Systems
Members only:  25. Demonstration of an Autonomous Optical Launch and Recovery System, Avinash Gandhe, Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
Members only:  26. A Multi-Physics Prognostics Framework for Urban Mobility Operations, Dr. Amine Chigani, CTO & VP Engineering, Sentient Science
 

Session 6: eVTOL Missions and Applications

 
Members only:  27. eVTOL Roadmapping, Michael Dudley, NASA Ames
Members only:  28. Group 3 - Intercity Missions, Seren Webber, University of Hawaii at Mānoa
Members only:  29. Group 4 - Public Service Missions,Johnny Doo, International Vehicle Research Inc.
 

Banquet Keynote: Michael Thacker, Bell

 
Members only:  30. Autonomy at Bell, Michael Thacker, EVP for Technology & Innovation, Bell
 

Session 7: Infrastructure/Passenger Experience

 
Members only:  31. Air Vehicle Factors Affecting Occupant Health Comfort, and Productivity, Bernard""Dov" Adelstein, NASA Ames Research Center
Members only:  32. Global Vertiport Infrastructure Opportunities, Michael Dyment, NEXA Advisors
Members only:  33. Vertiport Integration Constraints, Rex Alexander, 5 Alpha
Members only:  34. Vertiport Design Possibilities, Mark Pilwallis, Gannett Fleming
Members only:  35. Electric VTOL Noise Considerations, Dr. Ken Brentner, Penn State University
 

Session 8: eVTOL Opportunities

 
Members only:  36. A Review of Current Technology and Research in Urban On-Demand Air Mobility Applications, Nicholas Polaczyk and Enzo Trombino, Iowa State University
Members only:  37. A Venture Capitalist's Perspective on eVTOL, Peter Shannon, Levitate Capital
Members only:  38. eVTOL Aircraft Analysis Tools, Dan Wachspress, Continuum Dynamics
Members only:  40. Door-to-Door eVTOL, Guy Kaplinsky, NFT
Members only:  41. OpenECUs for eVTOL, Dwight Hansell, Pi Innovo
 

Session 9: Autonomy and Air Operations Panel

 
Members only:  43. Enabling Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and eVTOL Operations, Steve Jacobson, Autonodyne
Members only:  44. Implementing U-Space, Maurizio Manzo, UTM Product Manager, Leonardo Electronics Division
Members only:  45. How UTM Will Enable the Future of All Autonomous Aircraft, Jessie Mooberry, A³ by Airbus
Members only:  46. Autonomy and Air Operations Panel: Question and Answers
 

Session 10: eVTOL for Good

 
Members only:  47. Distributed On-Demand TVF Search & Rescue & Disaster Relief Network, Johnny Doo, President, IVR
Members only:  48. eVTOL for Search & Rescue, Eddie Bennet, CEO, The Ripper Group, Australia
Members only:  49. From Humanitarian Efforts to Easier Commutes, Jessie Mooberry, Head of Deployment, Airbus UTM
Members only:  50. A Unique eVTOL Concept and Applications, Arnaud Didey, CEO, Neoptera
Members only:  51. eVTOL for Good Panel: Questions and Answers
Members only:  52. eVTOL Symposium Wrap-Up, Mike Hirschberg, VFS Executive Director