Airships to the Arctic Conference VI: A Game Changer

Airships to the Arctic Conference VI: A Game Changer was held on December 5 & 6 in Seattle, WA in partnership with IsoPolar.  Lighter-than-air transport is ready to take its place in the world of logistics. Airships are expected to follow that can lift 10 to 50 tons and operate with minimal ground support. This conference examined how cargo airships will be a game changer for transportation. Shippers and suppliers came together to assess the supply and demand potential for the use of airships in frontier logistics, including Alaska and Northern Canada.  The Conference was dedicated to the Modern Founders – George Spyrou and Roger Munk.

Monday, December 5

Opening Remarks

Welcome to the Conference

Chair: Dr. Barry Prentice

Alaskan Needs for a Game Changer

Chair: Oliver Hedgepeth, Ph.D. Program Director, Reverse Logistics Management American Public University System

Dr. Paul Metz, University of Alaska, "Logistics of Mineral Exploration in Alaska"

Hardy Giesler, Business Development Director, Hybrid Air Vehicles, UK and Stephen Newton, Director, Business Development, Discovery Air Innovations, "Airships: Get ready for the future"

Brian Hall, President, Airship Ventures "Operators' Perspective on Transport Airships"

Game Changers: Buoyancy Control

Chair: Stuart Russell, VP Business Development, BBE

Alan Handley, President, Varialift Airships PLC, UK Varialift: A New Horizon

Michael Talesnikov VP Marketing & Sales, Augur Aeronautical Centre, "Innovative approaches to the logistic of remote areas"

Lunch Keynote Speaker

Matt Morrison, Executive Director, PNWER "Northern Transportation Gaps"

Game Changers: Cargo Airships

Chair: Ian Glenn, MSEE, P.Eng., Chairman and CEO, ING Engineering Inc

Dr. Robert Boyd, Hybrid Lift Portfolio Manager, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Advanced Development Programs (or Skunk Works), "P-791 Hybrid Game Changer"

Economic applications for Buoyant Air Transport

Chair: Ruth Sol, President, WESTAC

Guy Ginter, Moose Cree FN, "Ice Roads on the James Bay Coast - community and mining challenges"

Helen Kourous-Harrigan, Michigan Tech Research Institute, Ann Arbor Michigan "Mineral occurrence revenue estimation and visualization (MOREV) tool and its application in a Northern Transportation Environment with Airships."

Banquet - Museum of Flight

Conference Dedication to Modern Airship Founders: George Spyrou and Roger Munk

Tuesday December 6

Hangars and Envelopes

Chair: Peter Wallis, President and CEO, Van Horne Institute

Francis Govers, Special Missions Manager, Airship Ventures, "Airship Flight Simulator and Pilot Training"

Tim Miller, ILC LTA Principal Engineer "Manufacturing Considerations of Large Lighter Than Air Softgoods Structures"

Weather and piloting

Chair: Peter Wallis, President and CEO, Van Horne Institute

Ananthakrishna Sarma, Senior Scientist, SAIC, "Airships and Weather"

Richard Van Treuren, Author, "Airship Safety in Northern Weather Conditions"

Lunch Keynote Speaker

Dale George, Chief Technology Officer, BASI, "Airship Design Considerations for Cold Weather Operations"

Game Changer in Cargo Airship Design

Chair: Ruth Sol, President, WESTAC

Konstantin Kolpakov, Project Manager and Vladimir Ivanov, Chief Engineer, AIRSHIP GP, "All-weather airship based on the new propulsor." Russia

TBA, MAV6, "Big Traditional Airship for the North"

Micah Warren, Director Sales/Marketing, Windcrafter, "Carangifoil Vertical Airship"

What would Airships mean to the North?

Chair: Dr. Barry Prentice, President, ISO Polar

Dr. Harvey Brooks, Deputy Minister, Yukon Economic Development

Dr. Alan Weston, Director of Programs and Projects, NASA Ames Research Center

Nicholas Mastrodicasa, Project Manager, Dept. Transportation and Public Facilities, State of Alaska