CANSO Executive Summit 2024

Director General, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) was appointed on 19 June 2019. In leading and managing CANSO as the global voice of air traffic management, he is responsible for delivering CANSO strategies, expanding worldwide membership, and enhancing CANSO’s relationship with its industry peers and stakeholders Prior to this role, Simon was Deputy Director General of CANSO, where his responsibilities included overseeing all CANSO operations globally to ensure CANSO fulfilled its commitments and deliverables in a timely, efficient, and customer-focused manner.

Mark Esposito is a professor of economics and public policy with appointments at Hult International Business School and Harvard University. At Harvard, he serves as social scientist with affiliations at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for International Development; Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) and the Davis Center for Eurasian Studies. He has been affiliate faculty of the Microeconomics of Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, under the mentorship of Prof. Michael E. Porter and he served as Founding Fellow of the Circular Economy Research Center at the Judge Business School, at the University of Cambridge, where he retains a Senior Associate role. He advises governments in the GCC and Eurasia regions and is a global expert of the World Economic Forum and holds adjunct roles at Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, and Georgetown University. He co-founded the Machine Learning research firm, Nexus FrontierTech and the EdTech venture: The Circular Economy Alliance. He has a doctorate from Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech and he lives across Boston, Geneva and Dubai.

Juliette Mattioli is considered a reference in artificial intelligence not only within Thales but also in France. In 2017, she was one of the five representatives of France at the G7 Innovators Conference, contributing to the issue of AI, member of the #FranceIA mission. Since 2019, she is President of the “Data Sciences & Artificial Intelligence” Hub of the Systematic Paris-Region competitiveness cluster. Recognized for her excellent knowledge of industrial AI issues, she contributes in the field of algorithm engineering with a particular focus on trustworthy AI to accelerate the industrial deployment of AI-based solutions in critical systems. Juliette Mattioli is also co-author of a book on mathematical morphology, has published numerous scientific papers and filed several patents. She has also led numerous R&D projects for Thales programs and European projects (FP6, FP7, H2020) and is now strongly involved in the “Grand Défi National pour Sécuriser, certifier et fiabiliser les systèmes fondés sur l’AI”.

Kevin has been advancing technology in the aviation industry for 20 years, having joined Cirium in 2022 as the VP of Product, leading the way for the variety of aviation analytics products Cirium brings across the industry. Previously, Kevin worked for over 15 years at Lockheed Martin, including the CTO for all Airline, Airport, and Air Traffic Control products. He also has over four years of experience driving innovative products at Google’s drone delivery company, Wing. Kevin describes himself as a hands-on leader, who is passionate about revolutionising products and services to launch the right products to make the world a radically better place.

Parimal Kopardekar (PK) serves as the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Mission Integration Manager to coordinate Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) activities enabling progress of AAM ecosystem. In addition to this strategic role, PK serves as the Director of NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) and a senior leader and advisor for ARMD. In this capacity, he is responsible for exploring new trends, research areas, collaborations, and partnerships relevant to aeronautics enterprise. His focus is on unmanned aircraft systems, advanced air mobility, wildland fire management, autonomy, and future airspace operations. Recently, he co-led a comprehensive needs assessment study for wildfire mitigations. In the past, he served as the NASA senior technologist for Air Transportation Systems. He invented Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) to safely enable large-scale drone operations at lower altitudes, which is now being globally adopted. He also chairs International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s unmanned aircraft system advisory group. He is a recipient of many awards, including American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Hap Arnold Award for Programmatic Excellence, NASA Government Invention of the Year, NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, NASA Engineer of the Year Award, and the prestigious Samuel J. Heyman Service to America’s Promising Innovation Award. PK was named among 25 most influential people in drone industry. He serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Aerospace Operations and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He also serves as an adjunct faculty and teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses related to operations management, supply chain management, and innovation. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Cincinnati and a Master of Science degree from University at Buffalo in Industrial Engineering, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University of Bombay in Production Engineering.

Marie-Pier Berman is responsible for providing tactical and strategic leadership for the Operations group overseeing the delivery of NAV CANADA’s air traffic services (ATS) with a focus on providing safe, efficient, orderly, and cost-effective services. In addition to the delivery of ATS services, Ms. Berman leads the development and implementation of programs, procedures, and practices including ATS Standards, Flight Operations, and Aeronautical Information Management (AIM), ensuring that business initiatives are aligned with corporate objectives and integrated to deliver value to NAV CANADA’s customers. Ms. Berman was a commercial pilot before joining NAV CANADA in 2003 as an instrument flight rules (IFR) Air Traffic Controller. She has held successive roles as Unit Procedures Specialist, Shift Manager, Manager of Operational Training, MACCO and GMFIR, all in Winnipeg. From 2020 to 2022, she served as Assistant Vice President, ATS Service Delivery and has been Vice President since November 2022.

Michelle Bishop oversees CANSO’s global programmes and leads strategy related to ATM. She is responsible for coordination with aviation industry stakeholders and CANSO policy and advocacy activities.

Filip Cornelis is Director for Aviation (DG MOVE Directorate E) in the European Commission, in charge of Aviation since October 2017.
He joined the European Commission in 1994. After a posting abroad, he worked in the Task Force for Accession Negotiations. He then led the Commission team drafting the Treaties of Accession for the 12 new EU Member States.
In January 2006, Filip Cornelis moved on to transport policy by joining the Office of the Director General for Energy and Transport, Mr Matthias Ruete. He was the leading member of the Office from 2008. He was then appointed Head of Unit for Aviation Security in the European Commission in September 2010. He moved on to become Head of Unit for Aviation Safety from December 2012 until October 2016. He
subsequently became Head of Unit for Aviation Policy until his appointment as Director for Aviation.

Marie joined IATA in 2022 as Chief Economist. In January 2023 Marie added the responsibility for IATA’s Environment and Sustainability activities to her Chief Economist role, and joined the Management Committee as Senior Vice President.
Marie joined IATA from Lombard Odier where she was Head of Global Trends and Sustainability. Her 30-year professional life includes roles for both investment banks and private banks, including HSBC in London, Merrill Lynch in Paris, and Indosuez in Geneva. Outside of the financial sector Marie worked for IKEA, and she also founded and managed her own company in the equine industry.
Marie holds an MBA from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. She speaks Swedish, English, and French fluently.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira has led Airports CouncilInternational (ACI) World as Director Generalsince June 2020, applying his vast experiencein commercial and technical aviation. He firmlybelieves that aviation has a crucial role to playin fostering social and economic growthworldwide and is committed to helping ACImembers and business partners sustainablyrecover from the impact of the pandemic.
Luis Felipe’s career in aviation began withIATA, Geneva, after serving 12 years at Shell(Latin America and Europe), to lead fuel andairport campaigns, in collaboration withgovernments, oil companies, fuel serviceproviders and airports for diverse worldregions. His tenure at IATA lasted a decadebefore he joined the World Fuel Services asVice President of Supply Development for LatinAmerica and Caribbean. Prior to joining ACIWorld, Luis Felipe successfully led the LatinAmerican and Caribbean Air TransportAssociation (2017-2020), where he led acomplete restructuring of the organization. Thisenabled it to be more effective and efficient,attracting members and strategic partners tosupport industry development in the region.
He is a Chemical Engineer from CatholicUniversity, Rio de Janeiro, with a postgraduatedegree in Finance, University of São Paulo, anMBA from Dom Cabral Foundation, São Paulo,and Post MBA from Kellogg University,Chicago.
Luis Felipe is a Board Member in Cirium andAdvisor Board Member in Honeywell. Heserves on the Board of the Air Transport ActionGroup (ATAG) and is particularly dedicated tothe sustainability of the sector.

Han Kok Juan is the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. He is responsible for the development of a safe, vibrant and sustainable Singapore air hub and the provision of air navigation services for the Singapore Flight Information Region.
Kok Juan is Chairman of the Asia and Pacific Air Navigation Service Provider Committee. He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Chair of the Asia Pacific CEO Committee of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO).
Prior to this, Kok Juan held senior appointments in various Singapore ministries, including of transport, law, national development, trade and industry, finance and health.
Kok Juan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom and a Master in Public Administration from the Peking University, People’s Republic of China.

Peter has been CEO of Ireland’s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) since 2018 and played a central role in the restructuring process that led to a new standalone ANSP, AirNav Ireland, in 2023. Peter has worked with the Irish ANSP since 1998, initially as an Air Traffic Controller, and was Director of ATM Operations and Strategy over the period 2012-2018. Peter is currently chairing an EASA Steering Group on ATCO Training and Licencing and recently chaired the Steering Board of the A6 Alliance. He has chaired the COOPANS Alliance over the period 2020-2022 and is currently working closely with his CEO colleagues in COOPANS as they oversee a major upgrade of the main ATM system. Peter holds a PhD in Future Air Traffic Management Systems.

Ramón Tàrrech is the Director Air Traffic Strategy and Innovation at Indra. He has worked in management and technical domains of transport technology for 30 years, the last 20 in ATM at Indra. He is actively involved in European and International industry fora. He holds a MEng from the Catalonian Politecnica and a MSc from the MIT.

Alex started his ATM career as a Heathrow approach controller, and spent 18 years with NATS, managing various operational units (Farnborough, Manchester, West Drayton and Swanwick) and at the corporate headquarters as Director Strategy and Investment and Director International Affairs. He left NATS in 2011 and moved to Switzerland as COO at Skyguide, taking over the role of CEO in 2017. He is passionate about safety, the value of diversity and inclusion in order to boost company performance, and about innovation in ATM to improve the customer experience and our environmental impact.

As Chief Operating Officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, Timothy L. Arel is responsible for ensuring safe, efficient and secure air traffic services for approximately 50,000 aircraft operating every day over nearly 30 million square miles across the National Airspace System NAS.

Ms Nozipho Portia Mdawe was appointed as permanent CE of AT NS on 1 April 2022. She is the second black African woman to be appointed in this role within the company, marking a significant and historic milestone in the South African aviation history.

With over twenty-eight (28) years of professional working experience, Ms Mdawe has a strong history of orchestrating operational excellence in the Freight, Maritime, Aviation, Mining, Logistics and Supply Chain industries.

Ms Mdawe holds an MBA degree, and has completed the following qualifications: Global Executive Development Program; Advanced Strategic Management Program; Transnet Executive Women Development Program in Operations & Logistics Management and Management Advanced Program.

Ahmed Al Jallaf is the Assistant Director General Air Navigation Services at the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority. He was amongst the first UAE nationals to validate as an Air Traffic Controller in 2000. Ahmed holds an MSc degree in Aviation Safety Management. He has led many successful projects. The most notable is the UAE Airspace Restructuring Project implemented in 2017, which resulted in a significant increase in airspace capacity to cater to future global air traffic demands. He was awarded the prestigious 2018 Aviation Executive of the Year Award at the Aviation Business Awards. In 2019, he completed the “Impactful Leaders Program” from the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development (MBRCLD), whose vision is to “create leaders for tomorrow.” His passion for aviation drives him to innovate and constantly aim to raise the bar in this field. He is the Chairman of the UAE National Airspace Advisory Committee, GCC Air Navigation Committee, and the ICAO MID Air Navigation Planning & Implementation Group.

Dato’ Captain Norazman Mahmud carries with him more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry. His illustrious career includes flying multiple fleets of B737, B747 and A330 aircraft and was the first pilot in Malaysia to be rated on the A350 aircraft.
Captain Norazman first attained his pilot wings in 1990 and began his flying career with the country’s national carrier, Malaysia Airlines in 1991. He received training from the Civil Air Training Academy Australia and was later seconded to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in 2005. During his extensive career with Malaysia Airlines, he had served as an examiner for B737, A330 and A350 aircraft and Fleet Captain Wide Body. He was appointed as the Chief Pilot Fleet Operations of Flight Operations at Malaysia Airlines from 2017 to 2020 where he was responsible for leading the efficiency of line operations and contributed in enhancing the flight operations process via technology transformation.
Captain Norazman was previously the Director of Flight Operations of CAAM. In this position, he led the Division with four pillars of strategies, namely; Digital Transformation, Documentation, Training, and Collaboration to revolutionize CAAM in line with its vision to be the world’s leading aviation authority.

Michiel van Dorst is CEO of Air Traffic Control the Netherlands LVNL, which he joined in 2016. He is committed to LVNLs mission of working together with society, customers, and partners to enable safe, high-performance, and sustainable aviation in the Netherlands and beyond.

He is currently Chairman of the Europe CANSO CEO Committee (EC3). This committee represents European air traffic control organizations at the EU and various international aviation bodies. Michiel represents Europe in CANSO global Executive Committee. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of The Rotterdam Eye Hospital. This hospital specializes in eye surgery.
Before joining LVNL, Michiel has worked for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for more than two decades, of which the last seven years as operations executive in the Executive Committee and as captain on the Boeing 737 and Boeing 777. He served at International Air Transport Association (IATA) as Member of the Operations Committee from 2010 through April 2016.