Vertiflite May/June 2021

THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY LeadershipMoves

of the Board for over 13 years. During this time, Kaman had grown, evolved and established itself as a leading manufacturer of engineered products serving the aerospace and defense, industrial and medical end- markets. Walsh joined the company in September 2020; he will jointly serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and CEO. Prior to this role, Walsh

Ricci Moretti Moves to Lilium Luigi Ricci Moretti became the chief engineer for Lilium in January, where he is responsible for the overall technical development of the Lilium Jet. Ricci Moretti was most recently the chief engineer for air vehicle design at Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, leading the development of the PA-890 electric compound helicopter

for three-and-a-half years. Prior to that, he was an engineer at AgustaWestland (now Leonardo) from 1998–2017; his last tours were as Chief Project Engineer for Special Research Projects — including the world’s first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) demonstrator, Project Zero — and chief engineer for the Next Generation Civil TiltRotor.

served as Chief Operating Officer at REV Group, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts and services. Prior to this, Walsh worked at Textron, where he most recently served as President and CEO of TRU Simulation and Training. After seven years as an officer in the US Marine Corps, Walsh’s career with Textron began in 1999 as Director of Marketing at Bell Helicopter. He progressed through leadership roles at Textron, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of Lycoming Engines, and Senior Vice President and General Manager of Textron’s Weapon & Sensor Systems business. Corporate Advisors Electric Power Systems (EPS) announced in March that Scott Drennan was joining its Board of Directors in an observing and advising role. Drennan is the CEO of Drennan Innovation, an engineering and leadership consulting company focused on the air mobility industry. He previously served as Chief Research and Development Officer for Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility division, after 26 years at Bell. The EPS board includes EPS co-founders Nathan Millecam (Chief Executive Officer) and Randy Dunn (Chief Strategy Officer), as well as representatives from Boeing HorizonX Ventures and Safran Ventures. Meanwhile, Uber Elevate co-founders Nikhil Goel and Mark Moore announced in March that they were part of Archer Aviation’s advisory board. They did not transition when Joby Aviation acquired the Elevate business unit from Uber in January. Prior to Uber, Moore spent 32 years at NASA focusing on advanced aircraft concepts and technologies, with the last pioneering distributed electric propulsion (DEP). Goel is a serial startup co-founder, advisor and investor. Both Moore and Goel have since founded new startups that are currently still in stealth. Archer’s March filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated that the company’s three executive officers (as of the end of 2020) were Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, listed as co-CEOs, and Tom Muniz, VP Engineering.

Dufour Appoints Hardegger as CCO In March, Visp, Switzerland-based Dufour Aerospace appointed Sascha Hardegger as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Hardegger arrives from Swiss Air-Rescue Rega, where he worked as Head of Communications (2009–2015), Head of Helicopter Operations (2016–2020) and Director of the Innovation Program

(since April 2020). Four years ago, Hardegger started Rega’s ambitious drone project aiming to develop a highly automated intervention drone and multiple support applications dedicated to finding missing persons in alpine areas. Dufour is targeting its aEro 3 eVTOL tiltwing aircraft for the medical supply transportation and emergency medical services (EMS) markets. In April, Dufour also secured an undisclosed amount of additional funding from session.vc and existing investors to help take the aircraft into pre-production and certification. Kaman’s Keating Succeed by Walsh Kaman Corporation announced in April that Neal J. Keating, Chairman of the Board of Directors retired in accordance with a previously announced transition plan. Kaman President and CEO, Ian K. Walsh, was appointed as Chairman. Keating had served as the Kaman Chairman

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