We are excited to announce our association’s new board member composition, which now includes Sebastian Babiarz (Dronehub) as Co-President, and Heidi Schubert (Amazon) and Marcel Kägi (FOCA) on the Board of Directors. Their experience in the drone and UTM industry will enable us to create a more diverse association environment and eventually foster global consistency in the UTM ecosystem.

Sebastian Babiarz, now Vice-President of Business Development at Dronehub rejoins the association as Co-President for another mandate. Sebastian has more than 16 years of business experience in the drone and telecom industry, working in mobile networks R&D such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Alcatel-Lucent. “It is a great privilege for me and a large responsibility to shape the global drone airspace ecosystem in the next term of office as the co-president of GUTMA. One of the UAV segments that will play a special role shortly is the services of autonomous drones. Our role is to support the growth of this segment’s development fully”, he says.

We also welcome Heidi Schubert and Marcek Kägi on the Board of Directors. Heidi Schubert is the lead for the Amazon Prime Air team responsible for flight planning, operator interface, and drone air traffic control. She has 20 years of experience building innovative software and has a M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford in Aerospace Engineering from the Aerospace Robotics Lab. Heidi adds: “GUTMA is uniquely positioned to enable the harmonization of UTM regulations and share new ideas for UTM development. I am excited to serve on the GUTMA board and contribute to the shared vision of a safe, secure, and efficient drone airspace.”

Marcel Kägi, co-lead at the innovation and digitalization unit of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation of Switzerland (FOCA), is in charge of strategy development and implementation to position Switzerland at the forefront of disruptive innovation trends. He has been previously representing Switzerland in the administrative and budgetary committee (Fifth Committee) of the UN General Assembly. “The Swiss FOCA has a longstanding record of accomplishment in shaping global UAS policy, regulation and standards in an innovation-friendly manner. Currently, UTM is at the heart of my team’s efforts to create conditions that allow civil UAS technology to scale. GUTMA provides a truly global perspective on the UTM ecosystem”, Marcel says.

We give a warm welcome to our new board members and are looking forward to the joint cooperation towards a harmonized global digital UTM ecosystem.