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.
Officers
President
Principal Architect
Nokia of America Corporation.
Ken Riordan is Principal Architect, Nokia Federal Solutions. Prior to joining Nokia, Riordan was Head of Product Management, Connectivity Solutions at Loon LLC (an Alphabet company). Loon was a pioneer in HAPS technology, having launched the first ever commercial HAPS networks. While with Loon, Riordan helped to form the HAPS Alliance and served as the Alliance’s first President.
Throughout his career, Riordan has developed products focused on mobile devices and network equipment and worked to launch networks that span the full history of cellular communications standards, including AMPS, GSM, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE and 5G. Riordan served on the Executive Board of the Small Cell Forum and as Technical Committee Chair and Forum Vice-chair for the Wireless Innovation Forum (formerly SDR Forum). He has been a contributor to 3GPP and has supported regulatory and export control policy development for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Commerce (DOC). Riordan holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vice President / Treasurer
Intelsat
Gregory Ewert shapes and executes Intelsat’s global business development strategy across the company’s network, mobility, media, and government business units. He is also responsible for structuring Intelsat’s strategic roadmap and forging partnerships that will advance its technology and service platforms, particularly for emerging applications such as land mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT). Mr. Ewert has decades of experience in the broadband and mobility sectors, with expertise in IoT and land-mobility applications. Prior executive experience spans international, MNO’s and mobile satellite where he held various positions at Sprint, GlobalOne, BCE (Bell Canada), Iridium and Inmarsat most recently as President of Connected Car & Intelligent Transportation Systems and President of its Enterprise business unit.
Secretary
Airbus Defence and Space – Intelligence
Roser Roca-Toha is an aviation industry professional with more than 15 years of experience in the aerospace sector. She has occupied a variety of roles from engineering, programme management, business development and Sales & Marketing. Roser has operated internationally and lived in 5 different countries. Roser was appointed Head of UAS Product Marketing in Jun 2019, based in Munich, Germany. In this role, Roser and her team are in charge of analyzing the UAS market requirements, ensuring UAS products development aligns with the market and customer needs.
Ken Riordan is Principal Architect, Nokia Federal Solutions. Prior to joining Nokia, Riordan was Head of Product Management, Connectivity Solutions at Loon LLC (an Alphabet company). Loon was a pioneer in HAPS technology, having launched the first ever commercial HAPS networks. While with Loon, Riordan helped to form the HAPS Alliance and served as the Alliance’s first President.
Throughout his career, Riordan has developed products focused on mobile devices and network equipment and worked to launch networks that span the full history of cellular communications standards, including AMPS, GSM, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE and 5G. Riordan served on the Executive Board of the Small Cell Forum and as Technical Committee Chair and Forum Vice-chair for the Wireless Innovation Forum (formerly SDR Forum). He has been a contributor to 3GPP and has supported regulatory and export control policy development for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Commerce (DOC). Riordan holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Gregory Ewert shapes and executes Intelsat’s global business development strategy across the company’s network, mobility, media, and government business units. He is also responsible for structuring Intelsat’s strategic roadmap and forging partnerships that will advance its technology and service platforms, particularly for emerging applications such as land mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT). Mr. Ewert has decades of experience in the broadband and mobility sectors, with expertise in IoT and land-mobility applications. Prior executive experience spans international, MNO’s and mobile satellite where he held various positions at Sprint, GlobalOne, BCE (Bell Canada), Iridium and Inmarsat most recently as President of Connected Car & Intelligent Transportation Systems and President of its Enterprise business unit.
Roser Roca-Toha is an aviation industry professional with more than 15 years of experience in the aerospace sector. She has occupied a variety of roles from engineering, programme management, business development and Sales & Marketing. Roser has operated internationally and lived in 5 different countries. Roser was appointed Head of UAS Product Marketing in Jun 2019, based in Munich, Germany. In this role, Roser and her team are in charge of analyzing the UAS market requirements, ensuring UAS products development aligns with the market and customer needs.
Executive Board of Directors
AeroVironment Inc.
Mike Cross is Vice President of the High Altitude Pseudo Systems (HAPS) business unit, a premier HAPS provider for commercial and military customers. HAPS business unit is located in Moorpark, California. Previously, Cross was General Manager of Astro Aerospace, a Northrop Grumman Corporation Strategic Business Unit, specializing in providing innovative space deployable hardware and unfurlable RF antennas for various military and commercial customers. Earlier, he served as Director of Northrop Grumman's Navigator Programs. He led a significant portfolio of military and commercial navigator product lines, including the modernization of military Navigators using M-Code GPS. While at Northrop Grumman, he held various engineering positions, including Functional Director and Product Line Director. Cross started his career at McDonnell Douglas Corporation, then Boeing, and had numerous engineering and program management positions concluding with Senior Manager of Systems Engineering, C-17 Program.
Cross earned a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University and a master’s degree in Systems Engineering and Architecting from the University of Southern California. He is a graduate of Boeing's Executive Business Management University and Northrop Grumman's Executive Leadership Program.
Deutsche Telekom AG
Petr Ledl studied at Czech Technical University in Prague between 1995 and 2004 and received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.
Since 2003 he has been working on different positions in Technology organizations of Deutsche Telekom AG and T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s. Currently, he holds the position of VP of Network Trials in DTAG.
His primary responsibility is to identify, prototyping, and evaluate future mobile network technologies and related concepts (mainly 5G, LTE-A/Pro, Managed connectivity and advanced QoS mechanisms).
Petr has also been recently focusing on future disaggregated RAN architectures. He is also DTAG alternate board member of the O-RAN Alliance, a global operator-led alliance defining and standardizing future flexible and programmable RAN architecture.
Ericsson AB
Per Beming is currently responsible for all standardization and industry initiatives, including open source, for the Ericsson Group.
In previous roles, Beming was responsible for Radio’s 5G program targeting 5G RAN products and demos, in addition to driving the architecture at Business Area Networks. Beming has been Director of RBS Systems at Development Unit Radio, Business Unit Networks. Beming has also held the role of Expert in Radio Access Architecture at Ericsson Research and was the head of Ericsson’s delegation to 3GPP RAN for WCDMA, HSPA and LTE standardization.
Beming joined Ericsson Research 1994 and holds an M.Sc. in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering (1994).
HAPSMobile Inc.
SoftBank Corp.
Ryuji Wakikawa received his Ph.D. in Media and Governance from Keio University, Japan, in 2004. After working as a full-time lecturer at Keio University's Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, he joined SoftBank Mobile Corp. (currently SoftBank Corp.) in 2013. He is now the Vice President of the Advanced Technology Division of SoftBank Corp. He is involved in the research, development, and commercialization of new technologies, including 5G, IoT, HAPS and Autono-MaaS. Concurrently, he serves as the Board Director at HAPSMobile Inc.
Raven Aerostar
Mr. Nelson was named Division Manager of Raven Aerostar in February 2021. Nelson joined Raven in January 2018 as Raven Aerostar’s Director of Engineering. Under his leadership, the division developed and released the HiPointer 100 solid state radar and advanced the Thunderhead stratospheric balloon system. Nelson holds bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Sioux Falls and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Capgemini
A seasoned Executive with consistent achievements in building corporate value with international successes in emerging markets and strong orientations in sales development creating effective partner ecosystems, proven team building, and multi-dimensional leadership abilities.
Rory has been with Capgemini (Altran/Aricent) for almost 5 years with a focus on the Satellite Communications Industry. Throughout his tenure, he has been able to develop new ways of engaging with companies that are looking to build new products, develop new services and platforms supporting those companies working in the GEO, MEO, LEO, HAPS space. In addition, he has provided leadership in various executive positions at companies like EDS, Unisys, and NEC, worked at startups and run his own consulting business. Putting together collaborative teams, participating in other industry forums, and being a consensus builder for the HAPS alliance is key to this growing business.
Fatema Hamdani
Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, Inc.
Fatema is a futurist, TEDx speaker and a global citizen with a passion to solve problems with technology, specifically data and intelligence and connectivity. She has a background in building global business across various verticals, including Telecommunication, financial services, defense, and enterprise SaaS offerings. As Co-Founder and CEO of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, she is focused on building a Triple Bottom Line company with equal focus on Profit, People and Planet and a vision to create connectivity and data/intelligence solutions across sea, land, air, and space using persistent non-stop aerial and high-altitude unmanned platforms.