SPEAKERS
Maria Algar Ruiz holds a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from ETSIA (Madrid) and ENSICA (Toulouse). She obtained her postgraduate Master’s degree in Fluid Dynamics from the Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium. After her studies, she worked as a Project Engineer at the CERN Research Institute and at Airbus. She joined the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2006 holding various positions. In the beginning of 2019, she was appointed as the EASA Drone Programme Manager directly reporting to the EASA Executive Director.
EASA
Rafał Paprocki – Head of Unmanned Traffic Management Projects Department in Polish Air Navigation Services Agency is responsible for development of the PansaUTM system and U-space concept within polish airspace. Fan of digitalisation, new technologies and unmanned world. Licenced drone pilot (VLOS/BVLOS). He merges his interest in UAV technology with everyday duties.
PANSA
Maj. Ing. Mário Malatinec graduated in 2000 from the SNP Military Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš, Faculty of Air Defence. Since 2016 he has been working as a Civil Aviation Officer at Sliač Airport, and since 2019 at the Flight Safety Department of the Air Force Headquarters of the Air Force of the Slovak Republic. In 2019 he completed the Inter-European Aviation Safety Program Management course at Kapun Air Station, Germany.
Air Force Headquarters SR
Head of HV operation in Západoslovenská distribučná a.s., currently he is the head of the team responsible for the construction and maintenance of HV lines in the whole Western Slovakia. He is responsible for the deployment and efficient use of UAVs in work processes, the use of means for condition monitoring and diagnostics of HV lines, in vegetation management processes, as well as for the installation of bird flight deflectors on power system conductors.
Západoslovenská distribučná, a.s
After graduation from Military Air Force Academy in Košice, Tomáš Schóber started his military career as the GCI controller in CRC in Zvolen. Later, he moved to (continued to) Flight Training Department of the Air Force HQ, where he was responsible (in charge) for national and international exercises, cooperation with foreign armed forces, as well as with ATC entities. After leaving the Armed forces, he worked as project manager and solution architect. At present, he works at R-Sys company as a product manager
R-SYS, s.r.o.
Tomáš Kakula is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Technical Testing Institute Piešťany, Inc. (Technický skúšobný ústav Piešťany, a. s.). In the past, he worked as Director General of the Competitiveness Section at the Ministry of Economy and as Head of the Competitiveness Unit at the Permanent Representation of the Slovak Republic to the EU in Brussels. During his previous positions, his main responsibilities included the business environment, SMEs, innovation, and industrial policy. He was also a member of the negotiation team for the state aid case of Jaguar Land Rover’s strategic investment in Slovakia. He holds a master’s degree in business management from the University of Economics in Bratislava, where he also earned PhD. in the field of financial management.
Technical Testing Institute Piešťany, Inc.
Ing. Patrik Veľký has been involved in aviation since he was 15 years old. He worked as an aircraft mechanic and later graduated from university, where he started to develop new systems in the field of aviation. His path is currently directed towards the field of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Currently, Patrik works as a project manager and developer at M2M Solutions s.r.o., where he works with a team to develop a navigation system for drones in space.
M2M Soulutions
Heiko Nissen completed his Engineer studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Flensburg. He started his professional career as a Product Manager in Communications Monitoring department of Siemens Defense Electronics in 1996. Over the last 25 years he held different management positions in different companies, always working closely with government security organizations. As the Area Sales Manager Security Eastern Europe, Heiko provides with his Rohde & Schwarz organization advanced Radio Monitoring solutions to government organizations and private companies.
Rohde & Schwarz
Mojmír Vedej is a professional with almost 30 years of experience in the field of insurance, an expert in property and liability insurance and his long experience ranks him among the leading experts in the field of insurance in Slovakia. During his career, he has held senior positions in companies such as AIG, Allianz and Respect Slovakia. He is a co-founder of PREMIUM Poisťovna in Slovakia and since 2016 his name has been closely associated with this insurance company, which is characterized by innovation and the search for new solutions.
Premium Insurance Company
Ákos is the Technology consultant at Aliter Technologies, which is an ICT company and also special drone developer. He is in the field of UAV´s and their development for 10 years as a project manager and business developer. Aliter Technologies is pushing the boundaries of UAV´s use and bringing an innovative approach to products and related services. Main development is focused on a tethered drone solution that integrates a mesh radio thus providing signal coverage and a bird diverter installation drone on high voltage powerlines.
Aliter Technologies
Ing. Ján Golais graduated from Comenius University in Bratislava, focusing on Data Privacy and Security. He is currently working as a Data Privacy Advisor at Slovak Telekom. He has more than 15 years of experience in the telecommunications and IT sector, having worked for EuroTel Bratislava, T-Mobile Slovensko, and Slovak Telekom.
He specializes in the implementation of data privacy legislation within corporate environments and provides expert consulting in data processing, information, and industrial security. Ján is also a pro bono consultant on privacy matters and the rights of individuals. He is the Managing Director of JUDICIUM, a company focusing on cybersecurity and the transformation of industrial solutions using modern technologies. Ján Golais is an active representative of various business associations and third-sector organizations in the field of privacy protection. His professional focus includes strategic planning, with an emphasis on results and added value for end customers.
Beluga
Vladimír Foltín has been professionally involved in aviation for more than 25 years. He started his career working for an ANSP in Slovakia, first as an AIS technical support, later as an ATCO and instructor, and a leader of various ATM development projects. His experience in the ANSP culminated into a position of a senior safety management official
Vladimir now works in the GA and VTOL certification department of EASA. He manages certification projects and shares his ATM experience with other working groups. In 2016, during Slovak Republic presidency of the EU Council, he was appointed as a chairperson of the EU Council working group for aviation.
EASA
Ing. Nikol Vašutová completed her studies at Department of Air Transpor at CTU in Prague and since that she has been working at UAS Integration office at Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic. She participated in several national and international projects focused on design and implementation of U-space/UTM and air mobility throughout the EU. As UAS Coordinator she is responsible for designing the development and implementation of UTM systems and U-space concept within Czech airspace.
Air Navigation Services CR
Mr. Eyal Engel, a Major (Reserve), serves as the Director of UAV Sales & BizDev. for Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI). With a distinguished background as a former UAV Pilot and flight instructor at the Israeli Air Force (IAF), he has been operating UAVs since 1995. Focusing on the European market, Mr. Engel is committed to delivering cuttingedge technology and UAV systems to the Slovak Republic. His expertise and strategic vision are focused on providing the most upto- date solutions to meet the evolving needs of the region. Through his role at IAI, Mr. Engel aims to strengthen partnerships and enhance capabilities, ensuring Slovakia remains at the forefront of UAV innovation and security.
Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI)
Professionally, he has long been involved in the operation, inspection and maintenance of power distribution equipment and activities related to environmental protection and vegetation management in power line corridors. He has been working on UAS issues since 2016. In the company Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s., he has introduced the standard use of these devices in various inspection and diagnostic activities, vegetation management and service work. Recently, he has been intensively involved in the issue of BVLOS inspection flights and their inclusion among the standard ways of UAS operation at Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s.
Východoslovenská distribučná, a.s.
CEO, serial entrepreneur, and passionate about the newest technology. The last couple of years working on the “twinzo – digital twin,” bringing digital twins to everyone. To manufacturing plants, ports, offices, everywhere…
Twinzo
Imrich Marton worked in foreign service (2000-2024). He served in New York, Budapest and London. From 2018 till 2024 he was Director for Analyses and Policy Planning in the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. He studied law at Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice and foreign policy at the Oxford University. Currently he is PhD Candidate at Comenius University Bratislava and founder of foresight platform Facta Pro Futura (www.factaprofutura.com).
Adapt Institute
Istvan Endresz is Head Of Droneshow Operations at Hugary’s largest AV Rental company. We are lucky enough to have access to a wide range of AV equipment and gadgets and constantly look for new ways of leveraging this 21 Century aerial media platform. His former experence ranges from game development to creating interactive multimedia installations to visitor centers.
Visual Europe Group
Michał Lewandowski is working with UTM systems in Poland for two years. He has been involved in the aviation world since 2016. Amateur drone pilot.
PANSA
Capt. Sebastian Łagoda, Acting Deputy Head in the Communication Security Department, Border Board of the Border Guard Headquarters (Poland).
Border Board of the Border Guard Headquarters (Poland)
Graduate of Imperial College London with a Master of Science in Advanced Nuclear Engineering, and Cardiff University with a Bachelor of Engineering in Integrated Engineering. The most recent addition to the WB Group, he brings skills and experience from US and UK based corporations. Having developed several electro-mechanical solutions, products and automated test systems for aerospace and defense industry, his young career is full of accomplishments. Combined with his most recent role as the Lead of Business Development for the US market, he has a unique combination of youth and experience which will allow him to coordinate some of the most challenging operations activities for the WB Group.
WB Group
Ján Mečiar is a popular TV JOJ presenter with many years of experience in the media environment. Thanks to his interest in technological and innovative topics, he accepted the invitation to be a presenter at the DRONTEX 2023 conference.
Moderator of the conference
Rastislav Sopko has long been involved in sales and marketing in managerial positions, mainly in the energy sector. He is also active in environmental issues through several platforms. He has been working as a Director of the Mám Dron Association since the beginning of 2022.
Mám Dron Association
Raffaello Mariani is Associate professor in aeronautics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, AZ, USA, an MEng. In Aerospace Engineering – Experimental Methods, from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA USA, and a PhD In Aerospace Engineering from the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. After his PhD, he worked as a Wind Tunnel Test Engineer for ONERA The French Aerospace Laboratory in Fauga-Mauzac, followed by a position as a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore prior to joining KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 2018.
KTH Royal Institute of Technology – Higher Education and Research
Until 2024, Štefan worked in key Czech and Slovak state institutions in the field of civil aviation, where he dealt with the integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the common airspace. He has been a member of several international and national working groups dealing with the issue of UAS and protection against their illegal operation. Currently, he and his team at ZEPHYR UAS are involved in the integration of UAS into commercial corporate environments, consultancy services and the provision of complex advanced UAS services, with a particular focus on the energy, security, construction and civil aviation sectors.
ZEPHYR UAS, s.r.o
Jonas Quinque is a student in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology with specialization in Navigation, Sensor Fusion, Radio Frequency Electronics and Embedded Programming. During the past three years, he was the Head of Electronics and Software in the Rexus GAMEon Project.
REXUS_GAMEon
Omer Frank, MBA, Director of UAS Business Development, Elbit Systems is renowned UAV Pilot, Instructor, System Engineer, Project Manager, and Business Development Specialist; Accomplished UAV expert with over 25 years of experience, dedicated to explore all aspects of UAS, both in the military and civil arenas.
Among his key achievements:
Orchestrated several UAS projects from the phase of development, delivery, integration and till full customer qualification; Awarded as distinguished innovator for several unique and patents protects features; Gave lectures and interviewed for many articles as UAS specialized.
Elbit Systems
Michal Brichta works as the Director of the Slovak Space Office – Industry Branch operating within the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO). In 2019 he initiated a new strategic approach to the comprehensive development of national space industry capabilities. Building on this approach, his team works today to support the further development of the Slovak space sector and its internationalization with a focus on the full utilization of the country’s strong industrial and R&D potential. Michal Brichta is also the Slovak Delegate to the Council of the European Space Agency and a Vice President of the largest global space sector association, the International Astronautical Federation.
Slovak Space Office
Bc. Martin Královič FdA., MSc. is an expert in crowd and event safety management with more than 15 years of experience in this field. He studied Security Management at Buckinghamshire New University and successfully completed a Masters Degree at Coventry University in Public Safety and Security Management. He has been involved in the security of major Slovak and international events including the “Za slušné Slovensko” protests, the visit of Pope Francis, the Pohoda, Uprising and Rock for People festivals, as well as the security of major concerts such as Depeche Mode, Rammstein and Ed Sheeran. Královič also serves as security advisor to the mayor of Bratislava. He previously held the position of State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior in the caretaker government of Prime Minister Ludovít Ódor and was a member of the permanent crisis staff during the pandemic. He is the managing director and co-owner of PS:Events, an event agency, and SafetyCrew, a security consultancy.
SafetyCrew
Arkadiusz Krzak is WO Senior specialist in the Communication Security Department, Border Board of the Border Guard Headquarters.
Border Board of the Border Guard Headquarters (Poland)
Member of The Board, Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems
Co-owner of Akademia UAV sp. z o. o., specializing in UAV implementations in companies, institutions and services. He has been using/working with drones since 2012. An examiner of the Aviation Examination Commission of the Civil Aviation Authority since 2015. Former test pilot qualified to fly UAVs weighing up to 150 kg, with VLOS/BVLOS/INS qualifications. Member of the team approved for the first BVLOS flights without separate airspace in Europe. University lecturer, surveyor by profession. Member of the board of the Polish Paragliding Association.
Polska Izba Systemów Bezzałogowych
Brig.Gen. (ret.) Ing. Ivan Bella is undoubtedly one of the greatest personalities not only of the Slovak Air Force. After studying at the SNP Military Aviation College in Košice, he became a fighter pilot in 1983. On March 23, 1998, he left for the Star City near Moscow, where he began to prepare for his space flight. In 1998, he became a member of the French-Russian-Slovak crew of the 27th expedition to the Mir orbital station. Later, he served as a military attaché at the Slovak Embassy in Moscow, and since 2013 as a military attaché at the Embassy in Kyiv. In 2021, he worked in the Aeronautical and Naval Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic.
DRONTEX 2023 Ambassador
Andrew Hately is a senior researcher in the Drone unit at the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub in France. He was the technical coordinator of the CORUS and CORUS-XUAM (CORUS extension for Urban Air Mobility ) projects which produced and updated the concept of operation for U-space, Europe’s UTM system. He is now the technical coordinator of CORUS five. He is involved in U-space research through the U-space Coordination cell and participates in projects including SPATIO which is maturing separation processes, U-ELCOME an implementation project in Spain, Italy in France with a focus on Harmonisation, and EUREKA a project to develop the traffic management aspects of Vertiports for passenger operations as part of U-space. Andrew is involved in the European Network of U-space Stakeholders and is a member of the ICAO Advanced Air Mobility Study Group.
EUROCONTROL
Elina Millere has over 14 years of expertise in aviation and in EU Regulatory framework development. Beginning her career with the Latvian ANSP “LGS” in 2011, she transitioned into regulatory roles in 2014 as an inspector for the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency, eventually leading the Unmanned Aircraft Flight Safety section. In 2018, she joined EUROCONTROL, focusing on U-space integration, Support to States with a special focus on Airspace Risk Assessment. Currently, she is seconded to the European Commission, where she contributes to the implementation of the EU Drone Strategy 2.0.
European Commission
Mr. Piotr Samerek, head of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bratislava, will address the conference with his remarks on the overall potential of drone industry in Poland as well as possible ways of forging cooperation with Slovak and regional partners.
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Bratislava
Dr. Robert Oliver Ladig is a researcher working as Associate Professor the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)’s Dronecenter. His expertise lies in advanced aerial robotics, unmanned aerial systems, and automation in complex environments. Dr. Ladig’s research has been instrumental in the advancement of the aerial manipulation research field, which is crucial for practical UAS applications such as infrastructure maintenance and disaster response.
His work has been published in various journals such as MDPI Sensors and MDPI Drones, reflecting his contributions to the fields of UAV-based applications and robotic system design. His research continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the field of robotics, making significant impacts both in academia and industry.
University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
Marek Krnáč has been working in the Regional Innovation Development Agency of the Trnava Self-Governing Region since 2020. Since 2021 he has been in his current position of Deputy Director. In addition, he also represents the organisation and the Trnava Region as the chairman of the innovation section of the association of self-governing regions SK8.
KIRA
Matúš Sura is the founder and CEO of Terradron s.r.o., where he is responsible for the strategic development of the company in the fields of aerial mapping, inspections, thermal imaging, and geospatial data. Matúš has extensive experience in the corporate environment, gained through his work in advocacy, as an in-house lawyer, and as a manager in the banking sector. As an enthusiast of new technologies and digitalization, he views the UAV segment as a space with limitless possibilities, providing key information with significant potential for industrial applications.
Terradron, s.r.o
Dr. Jozef Rodina is a co-founder and CEO of the Airvolute company with more than 15 years of experience in robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles. He, together with the Airvolute team, pioneers AI-based autopilot for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for top-tier customers in the enterprise and defense market from the US, Germany, and Israel
Airvolute, s.r.o.
Ing. Tomáš Hettych graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava, majoring in Automated Control Systems. He is currently a Member of the Board of Directors at the Cybersecurity Competence and Certification Centre, previously he worked as a Cybersecurity Senior Manager at PwC and until 2018 as CSO (Chief Security Officer) at the multinational pharmaceutical group Sanofi. He has extensive experience in IT service management, process, project, information and physical security, optimization and standardization, acquisitions and IT procurement. He is Vice President of the Slovak branch of ISACA and co-founder and long-time Chairman of the Presidency of the Slovak branch of itSMF. He holds international certifications ITIL v3 Expert, Cobit2019, ISO/IEC 20000, 27001, 22301 Lead Auditor, M_o_R, Prince2, TOGAF, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC and CDPSE.
Cyber Security Competence and Certification Centre
Ing. Bc. Jozef Filko graduated from the SPU in Nitra, specializing in Mechanical Engineering, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in general law from Paneuropean University in Bratislava. He is currently a Project Manager, Lead Consultant, and Information Security Auditor at beluga s. r. o., Bratislava, where he has been working since 2015. He previously held similar positions at various IT and consulting companies. His career began at KPMG Slovensko, where he advanced from Junior Consultant to Senior Consultant and Auditor between 2006 and 2011.
Jozef has over 15 years of experience in the field of information security, IT governance, and audit, having led a variety of complex projects across multiple sectors, including telecommunications, finance, and public administration. His expertise lies in designing security solutions, managing IT governance transformations, and ensuring compliance with international standards and regulations such as GDPR. Notably, he was responsible for the design and implementation of a security solution for user authentication on social networks for an online advertising agency in Bratislava and for the review and development of a new enterprise architecture and IT operating model for a financial company, part of a banking group. He also supported the digital transformation of the IT division at a medium-sized Slovak bank. He holds several international certifications, including the Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) from ISACA, the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E) from IAPP. He is also certified in Project Management (PRINCE 2 Foundation) and ITIL 4 Foundation. He is recognized for his comprehensive knowledge and practical experience in information security, data privacy, and project management.
Beluga
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