WISA Talks

Jeremy Wang is co-founder and COO of Ribbit, a venture-backed startup creating the world's first airline to use fully autonomous aircraft. Since founding in 2020, Ribbit completed the first hands-free gate-to-gate flight in Canada, received approvals for remotely piloted test flights in Alberta, signed on multiple online retailers and wholesalers, and has been awarded a federal contract to resupply remote northern communities. Prior Ribbit, Jeremy was CTO of one of Canada's top drone operators and named as one of AIAA's 20 Twenties in 2018. He holds a BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Captain John Craig is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and the Aviation program at Seneca College and is currently the Director of Training for a major airline in Canada, responsible for all pilot training programs. He currently flies the Boeing 777 and has over 30 years of experience in flight training in various roles from ab-initio to turboprop and large jet transport aircraft.

Dr. Costa Kapsis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Costa’s research lies at the interface between science, engineering and architectural design with an emphasis on energy in buildings and communities. His research is focused on questions of energy efficiency, solar energy generation and energy transaction in the built environment.

Dr. Logan Jones works on operational analytics for NAVBLUE, to improve efficiency and planning in airline flight operations and innovate to provide airlines with solutions for sustainability. Previously with Airbus, he worked on the development and certification of Airbus’ Runway Overrun Prevention System and Braking Action Computation Function. He served on EUROCAE and ASTM standardization committees for runway safety technologies and spoke on runway safety at IATA, ICAO and Flight Safety conferences.

Allyson Kukel leads Airline Engagement for the Halldale Group which specializes in aviation training. She is the product owner of a collaborative effort between the Halldale Group and the ATPG, a sub-group of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is currently striving towards their Big Data MVP.

Naila's research explores how gaze behaviour can provide an objective measure of information processing, decision-making and complex skill performance. She is currently working to apply these questions to aviation education with the broader goal of enhancing our understanding of the complex human factors involved in piloting an aircraft and guiding the development of novel training paradigms and industry practices.  

Dan Chaudhry is the co-founder of Sky Sight Inc. and a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Bachelor’s of Geography and Aviation program. Dan has a passion for aviation and during his time as a student he founded the University of Waterloo Aviation Society - a student association focused fostering a foster a community for those interested in aviation. Dan completed his flight training at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre and holds a CPL, Group 1 Instrument Rating, and Class 4 Flight Instructor Rating.

Sunjoo Advani graduated from the University of Waterloo in Mechanical Engineering in 1985. After completing his M.A.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto, he was offered a position as Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. There, he created the SIMONA institute and its unique flight simulator, conducted research in simulation and Human Factors, and completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering. His company IDT provides specialised knowledge to airlines, aviation authorities, airframe manufacturers and research institutes.  

Dr. Martin (Marty) Smith completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Waterloo and since completing his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Université du Québec à Montréal 28 years ago he has developed numerous decision-making software solutions that target and mitigate the psychological drivers for operational non-compliance.  Airlines, Air Navigation, and Airport Authorities around the world have deployed his solutions. Marty is a noted conference speaker and consultant to IATA, ICAO, TSB, NTSB, Eurocontrol, and Flight Safety Foundation.  Most importantly Marty remains an active pilot, having accumulated numerous endorsements and licenses over his 43 years of flying.

Dr. Mehrdad Pirnia, a PhD Waterloo alumnus in Electrical and Computer Engineering, is a faculty member and Graduate Attributes lecturer in the Department of Management Sciences. His main research focus is enhancing the operation and planning of energy and transportation systems through artificial intelligence, optimization and stochastic techniques. He has previously held positions with California ISO, ALSTOM Grid, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).