Cristina L. Archer is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware. Dr. Archer is the Director of the Center for Research in Wind (CReW), which focuses on wind energy, in particular offshore, and its integration in the electric grid. Dr. Archer has been conducting research on wind energy since 2003 and has written over 50 peer-reviewed articles on wind turbine wakes, wind resource assessment, climate consequences of large deployment of wind turbines, grid integration of offshore wind, computational fluid dynamics for wind energy. She has been a supporter of airborne wind energy since 2009, when she organized the very first airborne wind energy conference in Chico, California, although at that time it was called “high-altiture wind power” or HAWP.

Sarah Barber, originally an aerodynamicist, is Head of the Wind Energy Innovation Division and Lecturer at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences. She is founder and president of the Swiss Wind Energy R&D Network, and Co-Operating Agent of IEA Wind Task 43 (Digitalisation). As well as this, Sarah is passionate about diversity and inclusion, and chairs the Diversity Committee at the European Academy of Wind Energy. As a qualified Business Coach, she runs leadership workshops for engineers in her spare time.

Francesco La Camera (to be confirmed) is the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) with more than thirty years of working experience in climate, sustainability, and international cooperation. Under his leadership, IRENA has forged new strategic partnerships with UN organizations, including UNDP, UNFCCC, and Green Climate Fund. He also played a crucial role in developing initiatives between Italy and multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, UNEP, UNDP, and FAO, and in implementing the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Fernando A.C.C. Fontes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto. Dr. Fontes' research interests are optimization and control theory, specifically in nonlinear and constrained problems, optimal control, model predictive control, and applying these methodologies to Airborne Wind Energy. He coordinates the research group “UP WIND – The University of Porto Airborne Wind Energy Project,” which started in 2015.

David Lecoque is the CEO of the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), the global business association for distributed renewables in emerging markets, and has led the organization to new heights. ARE provides unparalleled business development, public relations, marketing, and training services to over 200 energy corporations and investors in 50+ markets across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and LAC. The association also conceptualizes and implements impact-oriented cooperation programs with governments, leading international institutions, and philanthropic actors, focusing on delivering universal clean electrification and driving the energy transition. Before joining ARE, David worked as an energy and environment lawyer at top-tier international law firms.

Regarding careers in Airborne Wind Energy, Reinhart Paelinck has had a diverse one. After studying Product Development at the University of Antwerp with a thesis in Airborne Wind Energy, he continued working with Moritz Diehl on conceptual multi-kite systems at KU Leuven (and co-organizing AWEC 2011). After that, he became a kite designer at Flysurfer Kiteboarding, best known for developing depowerable single-skin kites. Then he founded Kiteswarms to develop collaborative multi-kite technology to solve scaling problems of rigid wings, and he continues to work on this at Fuchszeug. Fifteen years of experience working with and visiting different teams, many lessons learned.

Paul Veers is a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Senior Research Fellow and the NREL’s National Wind Technology Center Chief Engineer. He has worked in wind energy technology since 1980 and authored over 100 journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, and reports. For twelve years, he was the Chief Editor for Wind Energy, an international journal for progress and applications in wind power. Paul is the North American Wind Energy Academy’s Executive Director and a Chief Editor of the journal Wind Energy Science.