Executive Board
Leading the Way into the Stratosphere
The HAPS Alliance Board is comprised of thought leaders in their respective fields. They have in-depth knowledge and extensive experience in their areas of specialization, including telecom, aerospace, communication technologies as well as emerging applications of Internet of Things (IoT), regulatory policy development, and more. To learn more about our executive team and directors, please access their bios below.
To learn more about our executive team and directors, please access their bios below.
Executive Board and Officers
President
Russ Van Der Werff serves as VP Stratospheric Solutions at Aerostar. Prior to this role he managed the Stratospheric Platform Design Team. Aerostar has been in the stratosphere since their founding in 1956, building systems for NASA, the US military, and commercial enterprises such as Loon. Aerostar balloons have logged over a million hours in the stratosphere over the last five years.
With over fifteen years of engineering and leadership experience, Russ helped grow the Aerostar engineering team from a couple dozen to more than one hundred engineers, designers, and technicians. He also serves as stratospheric ambassador, spreading the Gospel of Ballooning, and recently presented a HAPS-related TED talk
Prior to Aerostar, Russ was Director of Product Management for Sencore, a private company building video transcoders and satellite modulators for broadcast applications.
Russ holds Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics, as well as a Master's degree in Business Administration.
Vice President
Jeff Smith serves as the Head of Mobile Connectivity, EU and APAC, at AALTO HAPS and is a Board Officer of the HAPS Alliance. He has been leading the connectivity strategy and business development activities in the Airbus Zephyr program. Jeff brings together strategist, marketer, and business development expertise with more than twenty-five years of experience spanning customer service, technical management, product development, marketing, MIS, business development, and senior strategic leadership roles across APAC, EMEA, and North America.
Treasurer
Léonard Bouygues is the Director of Aviation Strategy for Sceye, a lighter-than-air High Altitude Platform System (HAPS) company providing connectivity and real-time Earth monitoring services. In this role, he focuses on the future of airspace integration and aviation regulations to safely integrate and operate large-scale, highly automated systems in the airspace.
Previously, Léonard worked as an independent regulatory consultant for three years, specializing in the integration of highly automated aviation systems across low-altitude drones, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), and high-altitude platforms. He contracted for the FAA, working with NextGen program managers to help build their new Higher Airspace Traffic Management (ETM). His work with the FAA included the development of ETM CONOPs 2.0, refining the concept of Cooperative Areas, and working on technical ETM implementation such as Traffic Flow Management (TFM) and Aircraft ID deliverables. In a separate consulting capacity, he also advised sUAS and higher airspace companies aiming for very large-scale deployment.
Prior to his consulting work, Léonard was the Director of Safety for the eVTOL company Kittyhawk. Before that, he served as the Head of Aviation Regulatory Strategy and Head of Mission Operations for Google Loon, where he developed Mission Control Centers and CONOPs. Loon was a network of high-altitude platforms that delivered internet connectivity to underserved areas, operating with 2 million flight hours and flying over more than 100 countries.
Léonard has been working on the airspace integration of new entrants in higher airspace since 2018, collaborating closely with NASA and regulators on early concept development. In 2019, he presented the first industry concept at ICAO Drone Enable. He is a leading expert on the integration of highly automated operations operated at a very large scale.
Secretary
Advisory Board
Gregory Ewert serves as the Chief Commercial Officer & Managing Director, North America, at Stratospheric Platforms, Ltd., and as a Board Advisor for the HAPS Alliance. He is responsible for orchestrating global strategic partnerships and distribution across enterprises, military/government, and MNOs. Mr. Ewert has decades of experience in mobility, satellite, and traditional telecom applications. Prior executive experience spans international, MNOs and mobile satellites where he held various positions at Sprint, GlobalOne, BCE (Bell Canada), Iridium, Inmarsat, and Intelsat, most recently as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development.