Jan-Eric Putze

Jan-Eric Putze is the CEO of Droniq GmbH, a joint venture of Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS)
and Deutsche Telekom. Born in Frankfurt, he is responsible for Finance, Sales & Business
Development, Marketing & PR and Human Resources at Droniq. His responsibilities include
the identification and development of new business areas and the expansion of the Droniq
cooperation network.
Before joining Droniq, the 48-year-old managed the business of R. Eisenschmidt GmbH, a
subsidiary of DFS. Before that, he was responsible for the sales and logistics of aviation
publications at DFS.
Jan-Eric Putze is a qualified banker as well as a commercial pilot and flight instructor. He lives
in Hattersheim am Main and has a daughter.

Andres van Swalm

Andres Van Swalm is the CEO and co-founder of Unifly, a software company established in 2015. He initiated his career in the aviation sector as an Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO) with the Belgian Air Force, gaining significant expertise in Air Traffic Management (ATM). Leveraging this knowledge, he co-founded Unifly, aiming to facilitate autonomous aviation through the development of UAS Traffic Management (UTM) technology. Andres has been instrumental in various drone and UTM initiatives, notably the SESAR Joint Undertaking project CORUS, where he contributed to defining the UTM concept of operations. Furthermore, he assumed the role of work package leader in the creation of the UTM Architecture for the Global UTM Association (GUTMA).

Christoph Raab

Christoph Raab is Secretary General of the Alliance for New Mobility Europe (AME), a European organisation for the integration of UAVs, their related services, vertiports and eVTOLs into aviation and other ecosystems. Before, from 2018 to 2020 he acted as Executive Director for Drone Alliance Europe (DAE). From 2009 to 2016, Christoph Raab was Chairman of the European Security Round Table (ESRT), a Brussels based policy forum for security and defence matters. Since November 2005, he has assumed the management of COPURA, an event management company. From 2002 to 2005, he was parliamentary assistant in the European Parliament.
Christoph Raab holds a degree in Economics at the University of Trier, a Masters degree from the College of Europe (Natolin) an MPhil from the University of Kent (BSIS) and is a trained journalist. He is a regular speaker and moderator at international conferences and advisory boards on topics such as security and defence, cyber security and drones, and has published various articles on drones, security, defence & cyber security.

Daniel Gutiérrez

Daniel Gutiérrez is a M.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University. After starting his career in the semiconductors sector, Daniel joined the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) startup Embention in 2007 leading the development of systems for UAV autopilots and smart payloads. Since then, Daniel’s work has focused on mission and safety critical systems for airborne systems and unmanned traffic management systems. In 2016 he joined ITG as UAS engineering manager where he has led the development of AIRUS U-space platform developed in conjunction with NTT Data, and has participated actively in U-space European projects such as DOMUS and AMU-LED (funded by SESAR JU) and U-elcome (funded by CINEA).

William Estrada

Engineer, with 32+ years at Transport Canada and NAV CANADA
Extensive experience deploying new technology in CNS, Met/Flight Service, AIS/AIM, ATFM, and ATM
Currently provides strategic leadership of the ATM division responsible for the design, development/procurement, deployment, and lifecycle management of ATM systems, including:
Trajectory-Based Operations systems
Tower systems
ATFM, MET, Web, and Flight Service systems
Data distribution (SWIM, AFTN/AMHS)
In-service enroute ATM systems (domestic and oceanic FDPs)

Mark Searle

Mark Searle leads IATA work on all safety activities to support IATA members; those on the IOSA Registry; and the wider airline industry to deliver continuous improvement in aviation safety. Current work is focused on the IATA Safety Leadership Charter; the implementation of Risk-Based IOSA; compliance with ICAO Annex 13 accident investigations to ensure the delivery of quality accident reports; and the development of safety improvement programs through IATA Detailed Implementation Plans.

Prior to IATA, Mark led the UK CAA Safety Strategy team responsible for the UK State Safety Program; preparing the regulator for the safe integration of new, and evolutionary, technologies; and advocating governmental and regulatory positions around the world. He has twenty years’ experience as a commercial airline pilot accumulating over 12,000 flying hours. Mark was Chair of the British Airline Pilots Association; and has held Board positions in financial services and insurance companies providing him with extensive corporate experience.

Cate Bichara

Cate Bichara has been working in the aviation industry for 20 years. Holder, amongst others, of a Master in social and educational sciences, she has been involved in many aspects of training, particularly in the field of Air Traffic Control and the regulations pertaining thereto, having been the CANSO lead in the ICAO NGAP initiative, as well as the EASA rulemaking task on ATCO licensing. Currently, an external expert for EASA, working on the Next Generation Aviation Professionals initiative within the context of the Promotion Task SPT 107 in EASA’s European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS) on careers and opportunities in aviation.
Cate Bichara has been involved in Inclusion and Diversity for the past 8 years and has developed great expertise in this area, as well as the necessary environment of psychological safety. She bases her knowledge, amongst others, on her expertise in Just Culture. Her recently completed university certification in Inclusion and Diversity complements her knowledge and expertise in these areas.
A seasoned speaker, Cate has been invited to many events, either as a panellist, a speaker on a topic, or in the podcast form. Some of these are the ICAO Trainair+ symposia (Istanbul, Montreal, Johannesburg, Dublin), the FABEC training and learning seminars, the International Olympic Committee for gender equality month, as well as webinars and podcasts hosted by EASA, Fox ATM, ESG Consultancy and T-C Alliance.
Catherine is a diversity in transport ambassador for the European Commission. An avid learner, she is constantly seeking to expand her mindset and grow.

Giovanni Russo

Giovanni, Geneva Airport’s COO, brings over 30 years of comprehensive experience in civil and military aviation to his role. As a trained aviation professional holding both a scientific background and an MBA, he commenced his career in the Swiss Airforce, retiring in 2021 as a militia officer. Giovanni’s journey includes successful training as an air traffic controller and concurrent studies in mathematics and computer science while actively managing air traffic in Geneva and Zurich.

Further enhancing his knowledge, Giovanni pursued an aviation MBA at Concordia University (Montréal). He progressed through various management roles at Skyguide, a key air navigation service provider, before assuming the position of Head of Planning & Engineering at Zurich Airport in 2008. Since 2017, Giovanni serves as the COO of Geneva Airport, marking a significant chapter in his distinguished career.

Notably, Giovanni represents ACI Europe in the Network Management Board, showcasing his industry influence. His prior membership in the SESAR Administrative Board underscores his commitment to shaping aviation policies and standards. Overall, Giovanni’s wealth of experience, coupled with strategic leadership, positions him as a key figure in the aviation sector, particularly in the operational and management realms.

Pavel Kolcarek

Pavel Kolčárek is the principal scientist and cockpit architect for EU-based cockpit systems technologies at Honeywell Aerospace. He started working for the company in 2006 as a human factors scientist in the advanced technology department. Pavel has been part of and led many EU research programs and internal projects related to air traffic management, new human-machine interfaces, adaptive interfaces, and novel interaction methods. His research interests include human factors analysis, design of new human-machine interfaces, human-computer interaction, multimodal interaction, and artificial intelligence. Pavel has been in charge of the research and development of speech recognition, voice control and natural language processing technologies at Honeywell since 2016. His current research focus is on human-autonomy teaming and artificial intelligence technology.

Greg Houghton

Greg Houghton has a broad range of experience in the aviation industry. Greg started his career at Airservices Australia in 2002 as Sales and Business Manager. In 2005, he became the Manager of the Project Delivery Group and was responsible for overseeing project delivery.

In 2007, Greg took on the role of ATM Capability Manager, focusing on air traffic management, he then worked for Airways New Zealand as the Strategy and Development Manager before returning to Airservices Australia and has held various positions, including Operations Integration Manager and Director of OneSKY Transition and Infrastructure.

Greg is currently the Operations Director for OneSKY & Aerospace and is leading the most complex transformation of air traffic management in Australian aviation history. OneSKY will replace the existing air traffic management systems with an advanced integrated system known as the Civil Military Air Traffic Management System (CMATS) and will deliver more efficient air services, support future air traffic growth and enhance national security.