Tine Tomažič, Ph.D.
Pipistrel, Slovenia
www.pipistrel.si

Title: On Electric Flight – A Story of a SME becoming the Global Leader

Abstract
Pipistrel d.o.o. Ajdovščina, now a company of 95 highly-skilled aviation-frenzy employees, started its ways in nothing more than a garage in 1989. In the middle of the 1990’s the stepping stones of efficient aviation designs were laid by the owner by introducing a major design philosophy shift, involving state of the art materials and thinking outside the box. In 2007 Pipistrel flew the World’s first 2-seat electric aircraft, soon followed by the world’s first 4-seat electric aircraft in 2011, which won the NASA Green Flight Challenge Competition. This was the turning point in aviation community’s perception of electric flight. For the first time ever an all-electric, emission-free, aircraft was able to cover distances of more than 300 kilometers with speeds of more than 180 km//h.
The presenter will provide a unique insight into design, development and organization challenges associated with the high-tech world of electric flight. This field is still far from being main-stream, however through building a network of applications and bringing design ideas into useful products it is possible to organize a global movement. A movement that is supportive to solutions only enabled by investing in application of electric flight. Common projects, collaborations and establishing mechanisms of support with the authorities are vivid examples of how a clever idea, if ever so small at the beginning, can gain momentum and result in an industry-wide effort towards completely new ways of flying.

CV
Tine Tomažič, Ph.D. in electrical engineering is a successful engineer and a member of the research and development team of private aircraft producer Pipistrel d.o.o. located in Ajdovščina. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Prešernova award 2007, the highest award for scientific contributions that a university student can receive in Slovenia (awarded for B.Sc. thesis). His research interest is particularly related to the field of light aviation modeling and design, namely the theory and practice of full scale aircraft modeling, aircraft control and supervisory systems, human machine interfaces and CAD/CAE Engineering. He is also a group leader with numerous R&D projects and a successful inventor with several patent applications. In 2011 he was a Chief engineer with Taurus G4 project a winner of NASA Green Flight Challenge (development of world first 4 seated electric aero plane).