Future of Aviation Speaker

Jeffrey Smith

Chairman of the Board of Directors
Helicopter Assocation International

Smith has a superior and diverse training background in both military and civil aviation, which made him an ideal leader of the ERHC with its diverse membership of pilots and industry leaders with both military and civil experience. Throughout his career, Jeffery Smith has continually demonstrated his dedication to the industry in his willingness to take on new challenges and broaden his expertise. He has excelled as a pilot, a training instructor, directed operations and managed heliport activities in both New York and Washington, D.C.

Jeffery Smith has served as a member in...

Steven Spinello

Infrastructure Lead
Skyports

Steven is the Los-Angeles based Infrastructure Lead for Skyports, which designs, builds and operates vertiports for the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. At Skyports, he is leading the phased rollout of a multi-nodal vertiport network across the Los Angeles basin and surrounding areas to enable intra-urban aerial transport at scale. Prior to Skyports, Steven split time at the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development on the Mobility Innovation team under Mayor Eric Garcetti and Urban Movement Labs (UML) where he helped evaluate, select, and deploy transportation technology...

Paul Stith

Associate Vice President of Global Transportation Initiatives
Black & Veatch

Paul Stith is a recognized leader in the transportation electrification space. At Black & Veatch he is the is associate vice president of global transportation initiatives. With more than 30 years’ experience in technology and business, and active in electrification for over a decade on policy, program development and execution for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicle charging infrastructure in urban, distributed and corridors.

Mr. Stith speaks frequently at U.S. and international events and was lead author of Smart Electric Power Alliance’s...

Richard Stocker

Branch Manager of Airworthiness and Engineering
Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Richard is the Branch Manager of Airworthiness and Engineering at the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). In this role, Richard leads the Airworthiness and Engineering Branch which is functionally responsible for airworthiness standards development, aircraft certification, continued operational safety, and appointment and surveillance of authorised design and manufacturing organisations. Richard holds regulatory delegations from the Director of Aviation Safety and he is the CASA Head of Airworthiness responsible for compliance to ICAO Annex 8. Richard previously worked...

Tamara Swann

Western-Pacific Acting Regional Administrator
Federal Aviation Administration

Tamara A. Swann serves as the Western-Pacific Region (AWP) Acting Regional Administrator starting April 2022.

As the Acting Regional Administrator, Tamara provides leadership on key agency priorities, such as horizontal integration across the FAA Lines of Business and Staff Offices, to ensure the Agency provides consistent stakeholder support and engagement. The office partners with Federal, state, and local governments and others to promote aviation safety and education across the region. The office is responsible for cross-agency coordination (or horizontal integration) on wide-...

Darrell Swanson

Managing Director
Swanson Aviation Consultancy

Swanson Aviation Consultancy Ltd. is consulting firm focusing on the infrastructure requirements of electric aircraft (incl. fixed wing and eVTOL) and demand modelling. Darrell has established himself as a subject matter expert regarding electric aviation and how it will lead to a future of distributed aviation. His knowledge encompasses electric aircraft infrastructure requirements as well as defining market opportunities for emerging electric Low Cost Carriers (eLCCs). He is an advisor to NASA’s Transformative Vertical Flight programme, the Advance Air Mobility panel at ADS Group,...

Maranda Thompson

Senior Planner - Aviation
Mead & Hunt

Maranda Thompson has over 20 years of experience in the practice of aviation planning and supervises Mead & Hunt’s northern California planning practice. With a background in Urban Planning, Maranda has developed specialized expertise in airport land use compatibility planning in California and has an excellent understanding of the federal, state, regional, and local planning framework. Maranda assists local government agencies in the successful adoption of compatibility policies and regulations aimed at limiting the public’s exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards and...

Ben Tigner

Chief Executive Officer
Overair

Ben Tigner is founder and chief executive officer of Overair, the Santa Ana, California, based aerial ridesharing company developing Butterfly, a purpose-built electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Ben leads all aspects of Overair's aircraft development and commercialization.


Ben has an established record as a preeminent engineer and executive. Prior to leading Overair, Ben pioneered the development of innovative fixed and rotary wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned. He previously served as the President of Karem Aircraft. Additionally, Ben was the Chief...

Melissa Tomkiel

President
Blade Urban Air Mobility

Melissa Tomkiel is the President and General Counsel of Blade Air Mobility, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDE) (“Blade”), a technology-powered, global air mobility platform committed to reducing travel friction by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested ground routes in the U.S. and abroad. Today, Blade predominantly uses helicopters and amphibious aircraft for its passenger routes and is also one of the largest air medical transporters of human organs for transplant in the world. Blade’s asset-light model, coupled with its exclusive passenger terminal...

Anuj Totapudi

Business Development Director
ZeroAvia

Anuj Totapudi is ZeroAvia's Business Development Director for North America, making zero emission propulsion a reality. Anuj guides Airframer partnerships and Airline customer relationships in support of ZeroAvia's strategic growth as an H2 Electric Leader. With over a decade of Commercial Jet Engine expertise, Anuj worked for the likes of Pratt & Whitney, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and MTU, spanning from roles in product development, engineering operations and Sales of MRO Services. Anuj attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering and...