Volker Hammen has been with Volz GmbH & Co. KG since 2019 and has held the position of Head of Engineering there since 2022. In addition to his MSc in Mechanical Engineering, he also successfully completed a part-time MBA at Mannheim Business School. When developing new actuators, Volker Hammen focuses on the demands of customer projects and achieving the perfect balance between rigidity and weight savings.

Phillipp S. Volz, Managing Director of Volz Servos GmbH & Co. KG, explains in an interview how he expects the UAM/AAM market to develop in future and discusses the key role that certifications will play here.

At the age of 27 (2010), Phillipp S. Volz assumed the management of Volz Servos GmbH & Co. KG and, since 2021, also that of Aircraft Electronic Engineering GmbH.

Prof. Florian Holzapfel is Professor of Flight System Dynamics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). His research focuses on flight system dynamics with a special emphasis on flight control/flight guidance, trajectory optimization, sensor technology, data fusion and navigation, modeling, simulation and parameter estimation as well as avionics and safety-critical systems. He attaches particular importance to close cooperation between his institute and many primarily small and medium-sized aerospace companies. 

Prof. Holzapfel also studied aerospace at the TUM and received his doctorate there in 2004 at the Chair of Flight Mechanics and Flight Control under Prof. Gottfried Sachs. In the meantime, he has gained several years of industrial expertise, including in the field of flight control. Prof. Holzapfel is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and a member of the DGLR.

Aerospace Engineer Mike Hirschberg assumed the duties of Director of Strategy of the Vertical Flight Society (vtol.org) in June 2023, after 12 years serving as the VFS Executive Director. The VFS was founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society. The Society has been the primary forum for the interchange of information on vertical flight technology. According to the Society Bylaws, the purpose of the Society is to “advance the theory and practices of the science of vertical flight aircraft.” “The VFS recognized the developments made in the field of eVTOL (electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft) about 10 years ago and we are very active in bringing together the community, people, companies and universities”, says Mike Hirschberg.

Mark Juhrig has 30 years of experience in the field of industrial automation and electromechanical actuators for aviation applications. He is also a general aviation author, pilot and flight instructor. Since 2008, Juhrig works at Volz Servos GmbH & Co. KG, where he is responsible for the perfect interaction between the actuators‘ electronics and software.

Felix Thun has been with Volz Servos since 2018 and has assumed joint responsibility for the company's business development as Director Sales & Business Development since 2020. Among others, he attends trade fairs around the world to connect Volz with national and international customers and keep up to date with the latest developments. Felix completed his master's degree in industrial engineering at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in 2016 and then worked for two years in project management for energy efficiency projects at a large facility management company.