2024 eVTOL Design Short Course

2024 Short Course on Electric VTOL Design
In-person only | Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 @ 8 am - 5 pm
Instructor: Dr. James Wang

The upcoming Short Course on Electric VTOL Design will take place at Transformative Vertical Flight 2024, which will be held Feb. 6-8, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. The class will be held in Room 204 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Badges can be picked up at the registration area in the Hall A Foyer. 

Taught by Dr. James Wang, this course provides an overview of the unique design challenges and opportunities of this new class of vehicles. Both electric and hybrid-electric passenger-carrying vertical flight aircraft will be covered for a variety of missions ranging from personal/private use to urban air taxis to regional electric VTOL bizjets.

Students are given insights from an industry expert on developing eVTOL aircraft from the beginning to the end of the project: from how to conduct a conceptual study, configuration trade, preliminary design and detail design, to finding partners, manufacturing, assembling, bench testing, flight testing, and certification, to conducting scheduling & cost estimation. The course also covers the state of the art in several technology areas, such as batteries, motors and hybridization.

Instructor's Bio:

Dr. James Wang has over 30 years of experience in aerospace and high-tech industries. He is an internationally renowned expert in eVTOL aircraft and Advanced Air Mobility. In 2013, WIRED Magazine named Dr. Wang “The Steve Jobs of Rotorcraft” for his ability to think “outside the box” and pushing the transportation technology boundaries for inventing and designing the AgustaWestland Project Zero, the world’s first all-electric VTOL technology demonstrator aircraft.

Dr. Wang has held many executive leadership positions, including as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of R&D at Leonardo Helicopters; led Strategic Sales and worked on numerous helicopter designs at Sikorsky Aircraft. He is the founder of Vtolwerke LLC which provides consulting services in advanced air mobility, eVTOL aircraft designing and problem solving, product development strategizing, and due diligence studies. Dr. Wang is currently a full professor teaching aircraft and eVTOL design.

Dr. Wang received his Bachelor’s degrees in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering and in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from M.I.T., and a Master’s and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.