Noah Zych
Chief of Staff, Uber Advanced Technologies Group
Noah Zych is Chief of Staff for Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), the business unit of the company focused on developing and commercializing self-automated driving technologies. Since joining Uber in early 2015, Noah has served key roles in establishing partnerships with automotive manufacturers and suppliers, developing the company’s operational and system safety functions, and issuing Uber ATG’s first Voluntary Safety Self Assessment. Prior to joining the leadership team at ATG, Noah worked in Advanced Products Engineering at Oshkosh Corporation on emerging technologies such as active suspension systems for off-road vehicles and autonomous cargo trucks for the U.S. Marine Corps. Noah earned a B.S. and an M. Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a certificate in Strategic Technology Management from the University of Illinois.
JoeBen Bevirt
Joby Aviation, Founder and CEO
JoeBen Bevirt is the founder and CEO of Joby Aviation a mobility company that is building a fully-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) passenger aircraft optimized to deliver an air taxi service. The Company is certifying a 5 seat aircraft nearly twice as fast and yet 100 times quieter than a helicopter.
Born an engineer, JoeBen has dedicated his life to driving radical innovation in the fields of electric propulsion and robotics. In 1999, JoeBen co-founded Velocity11 to develop high-performance robotic laboratory systems. Velocity11 experienced incredible growth and was acquired by Agilent Technologies in 2007. In 2005 he founded Joby Inc., which develops useful, unique, and delightful consumer products, including the popular Gorillapod flexible camera tripod.
Sterling Anderson
Aurora Innovation, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer
Sterling has been developing self-driving technology for the better part of the last decade, starting with the creation of MIT's Intelligent Co-Pilot in 2007. Sterling advised several large technology companies as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company before joining Tesla, where he led the development, and launch of the award-winning Tesla Model X, then led the team that delivered Tesla Autopilot. He has a PhD in Robotics from MIT.
Daan Roosegaarde
Founder, Studio Roosegaarde
Daan Roosegaarde, FoDutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde (1979) is a creative thinker and maker of social designs which explore the relation between people, technology and space. Roosegaarde has been driven by nature's gifts such as light emitting fireflies and jellyfishes since an early age. His fascination for nature and technology is reflected in his iconic designs such as Smart Highway (roads which charge from sunlight and glow at night), Waterlicht (a virtual flood) and Smog Free Project (the first smog vacuum cleaner in the world which makes jewellery from smog).
Professor Henrik Schärfe
Foundation Autonomous, CEO
Henrik Schärfe is a Researcher, Strategist, Global thinker, keynote speaker and is currently CEO of Foundation Autonomous. The Foundation is the natural result of extensive work on developing strategies for disruptive technologies.
Prof. Henrik Schärfe talks about blended presence where he can be present, or absent, in two places at the same time. Giving an object a face or a voice and we can project our humanity upon it. He shares with his audiences how machines are not rivals or friends; they are tools. Contemplating them helps us learn more about ourselves and how best to shape our future.
Congress speakers
Mandali Khalesi
Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development [TRI-AD], Japan
Vice President: Automated Driving
Dr. -Ing. Fritz Busch
Technical University of Munich
Chair of Traffic Engineering and Control, Department of Civil Geo and Environmental Engineering
Ralf Baron
Arthur D. Little
Senior Partner and Global Head of ADL’s Travel & Transportation Practice
Joseph Salem
Arthur D. Little
Senior Principal and Global Head of Operations of ADL’s Travel & Transportation Practice
Dr Dario Menichetti
PTV GROUP
Regional Director / Project Management & Services, Middle East
Jack Muhs
FedEx Express, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA)
Regional President
Seminar speakers
Dr. Mamoun F. Abdel-Hafez
American University of Sharjah
Professor and Department Head, Mechanical Engineering Department,
Eugene Chao
The Wharton Business School Alternative Investments Initiative
Research Associate
Plato Pathrose
Visteon Electronics Germany GmbH
Head of Validation, ADAS & Autonomous Driving
Eng. Mohamed Mahboob Hassan
Roads & Transport Authority (RTA)
Al Ruwayya Depot Manager, Public Transport Busses Department and Regional Planning
Dr. Michel Pasquier
American University of Sharjah
Dept. Of Computer Science & Engineering
