2017 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition To Discuss Innovation or Disruption - Which Comes First Written 18 May 2017

2017 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition To Discuss "Innovation or Disruption – Which Comes First?"

May 18, 2017 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will hold its 2017 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition (AIAA AVIATION Forum), June 5–9 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, Denver. The forum’s theme is “Innovation or Disruption – Which Comes First?”

Featuring 18 discussion tracks and more than 2,000 technical presentations by attendees from 40 nations and over 600 organizations, AIAA AVIATION is an international forum that will bring together leading minds from industry, academia and government to provide actionable insights into the critical challenges and opportunities facing aviation and aeronautics. Plenary topics will include: “The Need for Speed,” “Innovation in the Age of the Third Aerospace Revolution,” “Beyond the Robots: Toward Situated Autonomy,” “Innovation and Disruption Opportunities for Civil and Military Transport Acquisitions and Operations” and “Urban On-Demand Aerial Ridesharing – The Next Commercial Aviation Market.”

“The past few years have brought about startling and exciting advances in aviation systems and technologies – from greener aircraft to the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), to enhanced computer technologies,” said AIAA President Jim Maser. “The rapid evolution of these systems holds great promise but also presents a unique set of challenges. The AIAA AVIATION Forum brings together the world’s aerospace community for the critical conversations needed to build the cooperative framework necessary to understand these systems, their current state of development, their future growth and their potential impact on our community.”

Robert Wiess, executive vice president and general manager, advanced development programs, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, will deliver the forum’s opening keynote address, “Need for Speed,” on June 5. Other notable speakers include: Fay Collier, project manager, Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project, NASA Langley Research Center; Robert Cowart, director, supersonic technology development, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation; Robert E. Curry, chief scientist, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; Paul Eremenko, chief technology officer, Airbus Group; Jonathan Evans, president, Skyward, A Verizon Company; Vik Kachoria, president and CEO, Spike Aerospace Inc.; Jesse Kallman, president, New Commercial UAS Group, Airbus; Matt Knapp, founder and aero chief technology officer, Zunum Aero; Sam Kogan, chief executive officer, Gen5 Group LLC; Andrew Lacher, senior principal, unmanned and autonomous research strategist, The MITRE Corporation; David Mindell, founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation, and professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Mark D. Moore, director of aviation, Uber Engineering; Aaron Robinson, senior manager, environmental strategy and sustainability, United Airlines; Blake Scholl, founder and CEO, Boom Supersonic; Donna Senft, chief scientist, Air Mobility Command, U.S. Air Force; Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA; and Ed Waggoner, director, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, NASA.

AIAA AVIATION’s Forum 360 panel discussions will include: “Green Aviation,” “X-Planes: Discovery Through Flight,” “The Evolving Culture of Aviation,” “Supersonic Transport,” “Human – Machine Interaction,” “Aircraft Electric Propulsion: Transforming Aviation,” “Internet of Things as Applied to Aircraft Systems,” “Digital Manufacturing” and “NASA Aeronautics New Aviation Horizons.”

AIAA AVIATION will feature two symposia. The first, DEMAND for UNMANNED, will take place on June 6–7, and will look at the technical, legal, institutional and cultural implications of UAS, and how they are changing the nature of civil and military aviation, and driving calls for greater development of autonomous systems. The forum’s second symposium, Transformational Electric Flight Workshop and Expo, on June 7–9, will bring together speakers and attendees from industry, government and academia to explore developments in the field of electric aircraft propulsion. An exposition will also give attendees the chance to view the latest electric propulsion systems and discuss their implications with their manufacturers.

The premier sponsor of the 2017 AIAA AVIATION Forum is Lockheed Martin Corporation. The forum’s other sponsors are: Aerion Technologies, Airbus, Bastion Technologies, DAR Corporation, Dunmore Aerospace, Honda Aircraft Company, PCB Piezotronics, and The Boeing Company. Aerospace America is the forum’s media sponsor.