iNVITED/Keynote sPEAKERS

Dr. Tessy Thomas, Distinguished Scientist, has taken over as Director General (Aeronautical Systems) w.e.f 01-Jun-2018. She obtained her B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from Calicut University, ME in Guided Missiles from Institute of Armament Technology (now Defence Institute of Advanced Technology), Pune and PhD in Missile Guidance from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad. She obtained MBA in Operations Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi.

Dr. Tessy Thomas Joined IAT, Pune as a faculty member in Guided Missiles in the year 1986. She joined DRDL,Hyderabad in 1988. She was associated with Agni Programme right from its developmental flights. She has designed the guidance scheme for long range missile systems which is used in all Agni missiles. An energy management guidance scheme was designed and developed for the first time in the country for an all – solid propelled long range systems for which she was conferred with Agni self reliance award in the year 2001. She has contributed in various fields such as Guidance, Control, Inertial Navigation, Trajectory Simulation and Mission Design. She lead a major project AGNI-4 as Project Director, for a state-of-art system with many new technologies for the first time and successfully flight tested and proven. She was also Project Director (Mission) for the long range AGNI-5 system, which was successfully flight tested and proven. As Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, she held multi-dimensional roles and responsibilities and lead the development of strategic missile system from 2014 to 2018.

Dr. Tessy Thomas is the recipient of many prestigious awards including Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration Academics and Management-2012; DRDO Agni Award for Excellence in Self-Reliance – 2001; DRDO Award for Path breaking Research/Outstanding Technology Development-2007; DRDO Scientist of the Year Award-2008; DRDO Performance Excellence Award for Agni-4 in 2011; DRDO Performance Excellence Award for Agni-5 in 2012; Suman Sharma Award by The Institution of Engineers (India), National Design and Research Forum for Engineering Design in 2009; Madam Marie Curie Mahila Vijnana Puraskar-2012; Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award for the Year 2014 for Outstanding Contributions in the field Missile Technology, “Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Award-2016” towards outstanding contributions in the field of Engineering towards design, development and realization of indigenous missile systems by The Institution of Engineers (India), Telangana State Centre, Hyderabad, “Distinguished Woman Scientist Award” in 2016 for her contributions in the field of Missile Technology by Andhra Pradesh Science Congress, Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Csaba Singer is the CEO, CTO and Co-Founder of Hybrid-Airplane Technologies GmbH. He has completed his Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering form University of Stuttgart, Master of Engineering in Engineering and Computer Science from University of Exeter, and Ph.D from University of Stuttgart in year 2011.  

A keen believer of sustainable aerospace technology, Dr. Singer has been actively involved in Lighter-than-Air systems. His expertise in LTA systems ranges from design, prototyping, and CAD modeling to propulsion and dynamics. His ultimate goal is to enable interplanetary exploration through harnessing solar energy. 

Dr. Barry E. Prentice is a Professor of Supply Chain Management, at the University of Manitoba. In 2002, Dr. Prentice organized the first Airships to the Arctic conference. This began the public interest in Canada of using cargo airships for Northern transportation.  In 2005, he founded ISO Polar as a not-for-profit institute to coordinate airship research, cold-weather testing and to hold further Airships to the Arctic Conferences. In 2011, Dr. Prentice established Buoyant Aircraft Systems International (BASI), to undertake airship and drone research.

Swati Mehta is the Co-founder and COO at Empyreal Galaxy. Her vision is to build a technology-led enterprise, which uses innovation towards the betterment of society and the world at large. She brings with her rich experience in Talent Management, strategy & Innovation with various organizations across different verticals. Her specialty has been building innovation-centric culture of high performers and at Empyreal Galaxy, she aims to build a world beating team who work together to achieve a new reality for the society.

Mr. Goparaj Gopalakrishnan is an Airworthiness Specialist working with FLYING WHALES since 2018, specialised in Airframe and Electromechanical Systems. He is also representing the team currently evaluating the Indian market for the LCA60T. Prior to joining FLYING WHALES, he completed his master’s in aviation safety from the prestigious ISAE-SUPAERO institute. He has also worked for six years in Infosys Limited as an Engineering Analyst, where his contributions were noted in aircraft programs such as the Airbus A350-900, Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) 90 and Boeing 787. 

James Egan of Seattle Washington is the founder of Plimp Airships Inc, an innovative hybrid between plane and blimp which has benefits of both -- stable platform filming and long flight time like a blimp, along with speeds and dexterity of a plane.  This graceful hybrid airship flies like a majestic, large bird at any size -- from the drones we are building today to the passenger airships of tomorrow.  The vision is to satisfy global demand for these unusual aircraft from militaries, security groups, cell phone companies and advertisers eager to become part of the spectacle.`