The Vertical Flight Society's 79th Annual Forum & Technology Display, May 16-18 in West Palm Beach, Florida, is the world's leading international technical event on vertical flight technology. The conference spans three days and includes 260+ technical papers on every discipline from Acoustics to Unmanned System, plus nearly 70 exhibitors and two short courses — eVTOL Technology and Artificial Intelligence.
Forum 79 also features nearly 50 invited speakers in the military, government agencies and industry:
Special Session 1: International VTOL R&D
Moderated by Dan Newman, Boeing
- Perry Comeau, Chief Test Pilot and IRIS Project Manager, NRC Canada
- Arnaud LePape, Rotorcraft Program Manager, ONERA
- Florian Antrack, Program Manager, Defence Technology, DLR
- Pat Collins, Senior Fellow, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD)
Special Session 2: US VTOL R&D
Moderated by Dr. Rajneesh Singh, US Army Research Lab
- Susan Gorton, Project Manager, RVLT, NASA
- Michael Fallon, Assistant PEO(A) for S&T and Vertical Lift S&T Portfolio Manager, NAVAIR
- Cliff Johnson, Senior R&D Engineer, FAA Tech Center
- Dr. Oliver Wong, Associate Director, Design, Simulation & Experimentation, US Army DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center
Opening General Session
Welcomes
- Mike Hirschberg, Outgoing Executive Director, Vertical Flight Society
- Angelo Collins, Incoming Executive Director, Vertical Flight Society
- Dr. Mahendra Bhagwat, Senior Research Scientist (ST) for Air Vehicle Aerodynamics & Preliminary Design, US Army DEVCOM AvMC (VFS Technical Director)
Straight Talk from the Top
Moderated by Graham Warwick, Aviation Week
- Tomasz Krysinski, VP, Research & Innovation, Airbus Helicopters
- Jason Hurst, EVP, Engineering, Bell
- Kathleen (KJ) Jolivette, VP/GM, Vertical Lift, The Boeing Company
- Roberto Garavaglia, SVP Strategy & Innovation, Leonardo Helicopters
- Paul Lemmo, President, Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Co.
43rd Annual Nikolsky Lecture
- Dr. Serge Germanetti, Airbus: “50 Years of Innovation, Reducing Pilot Workload and Enhancing Safety by Helping Pilots Manage Helicopter Performance”
Special Session 3: US Army PEO Aviation Future Vertical Lift
Moderated by Matt Sipe, US Army PEO Aviation
- Michelle Gilbert, Technical Division Chief, FLRAA
- Melanie Hardt, Technical Division Chief, FARA
- Col Danielle Medaglia, PM, Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Special Session 4: US Army PEO Aviation Modernization Update
Moderated by Matt Sipe, US Army PEO Aviation
- Col Calvin Lane, PM, Utility Helicopters
- LTC Nick Yerby, PM for Development & Modernization, Apache
- Scott Rosengren, Technical Division Chief, Cargo
- Bob Sheibley, Deputy PM, Aviation Turbine Engines
- Lynn Tompkins, Technical Division Chief, Aviation Mission Systems & Architecture
Special Session 5: US Air Force VTOL
Moderated by Dana Jensen, Gemini Industries / US Air Force
- Col Charles “Tron” McMullen, USAF, Deputy Director, Global Reach, SAF/AQQ
- Lt Col John “Wasp” Tekell, USAF, Agility Prime Lead, AFWERX
- Rachel Bellanova, Transformational Capabilities Office, AFRL/RST
Special Session 6: Flight Test Challenges for VTOL Aircraft
Moderated by Al Lawless, Aurora Flight Sciences
- Tony Mumford, Principal Engineer, Overair
- Dan Newman, Senior Tech Fellow, The Boeing Company
- Discussion: “A 21st Century Taxonomy for VTOL Aircraft”
Special Session 7: Challenges in Electric VTOL
Moderated by Luigi Ricci Moretti
- Rani Plaut, CEO, AIR
- Glenn Waters, Head of Advanced Technology, ARC Aerosystems
- Doron Merdinger, CEO, Doroni Aerospace
- Santh Sathya, CEO, LuftCar LLC
Special Session 8: Autonomy for VTOL Aircraft
Moderated by Pamir Sevincel, Quartz Capital
- Dr. Luuk van Dijk, CEO, Daedalean
- Dr. Hector Xu, CEO, Rotor Technologies, Inc.
- Mark Butkiewicz, VP, Applied Engineering, SURVICE Engineering
Special Session 9: Progress in Electric VTOL
Moderated by Mike Hirschberg, Vertical Flight Society
- Dave Dennison, VP Engineering, Archer Aviation
- Dr. Gregor Veble Mikić, Flight Research Lead, Joby Aviation
- Tony Mumford, Principal Flight Sciences Engineer, Overair
- Mikaël Cardinal, VP PM Organ Delivery Systems, United Therapeutics Corp.
Check out our Forum Program Overview for more information and resources.
