Abstract

Commercial deployment of eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft is expected to commence in the next few years, though it will likely be some time before we see high-volume operations in urban environments. Such vehicles are expected to serve a number of niche, low-volume use cases in the initial years, including as a premium transportation service, for B2B logistics and for emergency response.

This webinar will examine the current state of development of the technology and its market readiness, and the potential use cases in the private sector as well as the public sector and military. The discussion will also touch on the likely challenges during operations in both urban and rural environments, the enablers (such as infrastructure and regulations) needed before large scale commercial deployment can take place, and more.

Organised in partnership with the Association of Aerospace Industries Singapore.

About the Speakers

Derek Cheng is Head of Commercial Asia-Pacific at Vertical Aerospace. He is responsible for leading all commercial, business and partnership development activities for Vertical in the Asia-Pacific region.

He was previously Head of Asia-Pacific for Airbus Urban Mobility, and more recently Head of Asia-Pacific for Government & Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for Airbus group (Commercial Aircraft, Helicopters, Defence & Space), where he was responsible for leading Airbus’ APAC regional business development strategy and sustainable aviation partnerships. Derek joined Airbus in 2016, and helmed various positions in Airbus’ Strategy & International organisation at its HQ in Toulouse.

Prior to joining Airbus, Derek was with the Singapore Economic Development Board for 7 years, and at last appointment was Regional Director for Europe, based in Frankfurt.

Derek obtained his Masters of Philosophy in Technology Policy from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK and graduated with first class honours in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, USA. He holds a private pilot’s license and plays competitive squash.

Andrew Cummins has focused his career at the intersection of innovation and aerospace. He is currently the Director of Strategy and Business Development at Archer, which is developing an all-electric aircraft to provide fast, sustainable, safe transportation to people in cities around the world. In this role, Andrew leads the company’s go-to-market strategy and collaboration with strategic partners, cities and governments to seamlessly integrate urban air mobility operations into communities around the world.

Prior to joining Archer, Andrew held numerous leadership roles in both corporate and startup environments. Most recently, he was Head of the Americas at Skyports, where he led the company’s growth and development in the region to build landing infrastructure for the AAM industry. Previously, he spent many years in the aviation industry at Rolls-Royce where he was Chief of Staff to the CEO and led Growth Strategy, as well as at Boeing in strategic development roles. In between his time at Boeing and Rolls-Royce, Andrew was a co-founder at SceneTap, an early-stage company that implemented leading-edge technology to optimize operations at hospitality venues.

He has an MBA and a Master of Global Management from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, and in his free time he explores the fantastic wine in Napa and Sonoma. He looks forward to taking an Archer aircraft to Napa/Sonoma in the future to skip the traffic!

Damian Kysely is Head of EMEA for Skyports Infrastructure. He leads Skyports’ vertiport infrastructure business in Europe and Middle East, focusing on business development, government affairs, project management and technology deployment. In his previous role at Skyports, he managed the design and development of the world’s first vertiport in Singapore in October 2019.

Prior to joining Skyports, Damian founded a UK government-backed company developing analytics tools for drone infrastructure deployment in built environments and held previous roles in transport technology consulting and early-stage venture capital.

Damian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Manchester.

Dr. James Wang is an internationally-renowned expert in manned/unmanned eVTOL aircraft and helicopter design and operation. His expertise spans across technology and business in the aviation and eVTOL industry and his advice is highly sought after.

In 2013, WIRED magazine named him the “Steve Jobs of Rotorcraft” for inventing the world’s first all-electric VTOL technology demonstrator aircraft – the AgustaWestland Project Zero. Dr. Wang has held several executive leadership positions, including Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Services and Vice President of Research and Technology, at Leonardo Helicopters. At Sikorsky Aircraft, he worked on numerous famous helicopter designs and engineering programs, and led Strategic Sales, culminating in multi-billions of dollars in international sales. He is now a professor and the director of the eVTOL Research & Innovation Centre at Nanyang Technological University.

He received his bachelor degrees in Aeronautics and in Electrical Engineering from MIT, a master’s from MIT’s Sloan Business School, and a PhD in rotorcraft design from the University of Maryland. He holds numerous patents and major international awards, including Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, UTC Gold Mead Award, VFS Honorary Fellow, AHS Grover Bell Award, AHS Fellow, MIT Luis de Florez Award, NASA Research Award, Finmeccanica Innovation Gold Award, Italian National Innovation Grand Prize, and the coveted Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Team Award.

About the Chairperson

Chris Leck is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at RSIS. Currently on sabbatical leave from the Singapore Public Service, he was most recently the Deputy Executive Director of Singapore’s national space office, the Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn). He was recognised in the Apolitical and World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Agile Governance’s 2021 Agile 50 list as one of the world’s 50 most influential people navigating disruption.

Chris has served for more than 20 years in various capacities within the Singapore Public Service. Prior to his OSTIn role, he held senior appointments in the transport and defence ministries, including as the transport ministry’s Director of Futures & Transformation where he led efforts to develop plans for the introduction of new mobility concepts such as advanced air mobility and autonomous mobility.

He graduated from the London School of Economics with a bachelor’s degree in government & economics. He also holds master’s degrees in political science and international law from Columbia University, the Australian National University and Tel Aviv University, and attended the general management programme at INSEAD.