20 July 2020 || 3 min read
Volocopter announced on July 16th that Dr. Arnaud Coville will take over the role of Chief Technical Officer from Jan-Hendrik Boelens. Dr. Coville joined the company as Head of VoloCity Development in May 2020, and brings with him expertise in technical leadership and aircraft design from past larger transport category aircraft and rotorcraft programs alike.
Volocopter’s VoloCity concept. Image // Volocopter
“Electrically powered air taxis will change aviation as we know it. Together with the talented team of experts here at Volocopter, we will bring the very first air taxi for safe urban travel to the market,” says Arnaud Coville, CTO Volocopter.
Arnaud Coville studied engineering and has a PhD in automatic control and robotics. His aerospace experience spans almost three decades. Volocopter stated in a press release that he assisted with development of aircraft from the Airbus Helicopters H135 to regional jets like the CRJ-700, through large aircraft like the A350 and A380. In these roles, Dr. Coville worked for companies including Safran, Fairchild Dornier, Diehl Avionik and Airbus Helicopter.
Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter stated “Jan-Hendrik has done tremendous work for Volocopter. For the past three years, he has led the VoloCity development and helped us reach defining milestones, including conducting several public flights and receiving Design Organisation Approval by EASA. It was under his leadership we brought our product this far, grew an exceptional team and helped set the Company up for success. Now we look forward to build upon this legacy and continue our journey with Arnaud Coville.”
Why it’s important: Volocopter aims to continue their technological development push through to small scale deployment of on-demand aerial mobility services. Accordingly, tapping Dr. Coville as a talent leader for Technology at Volocopter will allow the company to leverage his expertise working larger scale aircraft certification programs, presumably increasing the ease with which Volocopter will be able to see their aircraft through flight testing and certification under the purview of multiple regulatory agencies.
Source // Volocopter Press Release
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