Up, Up, and Away: Innovations in Advanced Air Mobility
A New U.S. DOT Volpe Center-FAA Thought Leadership Series
Today, we are on the cusp of a new era in aviation.
Drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and other kinds of innovations have the potential to help us tackle some of our most difficult challenges and achieve major breakthroughs that will lead us to a new aviation system ecosystem. We must consider how to move quickly to embrace new technologies while ensuring that the aviation system of the future is safer, more efficient, equitable, and sustainable.
In August 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination with the National Security Council, hosted the first ever White House Summit on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) as part of its commitment to ensuring that the U.S. remains the global leader in aviation and other emerging technologies.
On October 17, 2022, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act (Public Law 117- 53, Section 516) was signed into law by President Biden. The law creates a new leadership role for the U.S. DOT and, among other things, mandates the establishment of a new AAM interagency working group and development of a national strategy for AAM. Carlos Monje, Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy, is leading development of the strategy in coordination with FAA and agencies across government. In addition, the Drone Advisory Committee has been recast as the Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee. It is a broad-based federal advisory committee that provides independent advice and recommendations to the FAA on key unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and AAM integration issues, interests, and policies.
The U.S. DOT Volpe Center has a long tradition of facilitating knowledge exchange across the transportation community and bringing together our experts, our sponsors and other government officials, prominent academics, and forward-thinking industry and non-profit leaders to discuss fresh approaches to emerging transportation challenges. And FAA and the U.S. DOT Volpe Center and other key stakeholders have been federal partners in laying the foundation for the aviation system of the future for more than 50 years.
In November 2023 through February 2024, FAA and the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, in coordination with the Office of the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy, collaborated on a new thought leadership series focused on AAM. Moderated by U.s. DOT Volpe Center Director Anne D. Aylward, this series furthers our partnership for the public good.
Speaker Series Final Report
Read the Up, Up, and Away final report.
Speaker Lineup
Series Kickoff: Innovations in Advanced Air Mobility
Carlos Monje, Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy, U.S. DOT
Katie Thomson, Deputy Administrator, FAA
Robert Hampshire, PhD, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, U.S. DOT
Laurence Wildgoose, Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, and Environment, FAA
Elan Head, Senior Editor, The Air Current
Safety and Advanced Air Mobility
Derek Morgan, Chief Operations Manager, Aircraft Certification, Aviation Safety, FAA
Cindy Comer, Director, Certification and Safety Management System, Wisk
Eric Allison, Head of Product, Joby Aviation
Blain Newton, Chief Operating Officer, BETA Technologies
Transformation: Urban Air Mobility Concept of Operations
Paul Fontaine, Assistant Administrator for Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), FAA
Robert Pearce, Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), NASA
Steve Bradford, Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Architecture and Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Development, FAA
Environmentally Responsible Advanced Air Mobility
Julie Marks, Acting Executive Director, Office Environment and Energy, FAA
Stephen Rizzi, PhD, Senior Researcher for Aeroacoustics, NASA Langley Research Center
Christopher Roof, Chief, Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, U.S. DOT Volpe Center
Considerations for Equity in Advanced Air Mobility
Yolanka Wulff, Executive Director and Co-founder, Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI); Member, FAA AAM Advisory Committee
Okeoma Moronu, Head of Global Aviation Regulatory Affairs, Zipline International
International Collaboration in Advanced Air Mobility
Annie Petsonk, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. DOT
Lirio Liu, Executive Director, Aircraft Certification Service, FAA
Chris Carter, Director, Asia Pacific Region, FAA
Series Finale: The Advanced Air Mobility Workforce of the Future
Laurence Wildgoose, Assistant Administrator for Policy, International Affairs, and Environment, FAA
Robin Riedel, Partner, Aerospace and Defense, Travel, Transportation and Logistics, and Sustainability, McKinsey Center for Future Mobility
Becky Lutte, PhD, Chair of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University College of Aviation Worldwide
*The views of the speakers may not represent the views of U.S. DOT.
Contact Us
Ellen E. Bell
Director of Strategic Initiatives for Research and Innovation
U.S. DOT Volpe Center
Email:
Ellen.Bell@dot.gov
Terry Wadley
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Policy, International Affairs, and Environment National Engagement and Regional Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
Email:
Terry.Wadley@faa.gov
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