Lilium has selected London as the base for its software engineering team as the company works to develop an on-demand air taxi service using its eVTOL Lilium Jet.
The company said that the creation of its digital platform — which will include both a ride-hailing smartphone app and sophisticated fleet management software — will create hundreds of high-end software engineering roles in the city over the next five years. Roles will also be added at Lilium’s headquarters in Munich and existing hub in Zurich.
To lead the development of its software engineering team, Lilium has appointed Carlos Morgado, former chief technology officer at Just Eat, as VP Digital Technology.
“Delivering Lilium’s vision of an on-demand air taxi service that customers can order directly from their smartphone will require software, and a team, that is almost unparalleled in its sophistication,” Morgado stated in a press release.
“We’ll be scheduling flights, moving aircraft around to match changing demand, and managing maintenance, all in three dimensions, with the added complexity of having to integrate with existing air traffic control regulations and systems.”
Lilium said that London’s “rich talent pool” will help the company build “one of the world’s most innovative and high-performing software engineering teams.”
In addition to Morgado, Lilium has announced two other senior hires. Anja Maassen van den Brink has been appointed chief people officer, joining the company from VodafoneZiggo, where she served as chief human resources officer and a member of the executive board. Luca Benassi has been named chief development engineer, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the aerospace sector, having worked at NASA, Boeing and, most recently, Airbus, where he was a senior expert and head of acoustics and vibration.
According to CEO Daniel Wiegand, Lilium is “one of very few companies in our sector that wants to both produce air taxis and then operate them day-to-day. [The] recruitment of these three new leaders underlines our continuous efforts to build the very best team in air mobility. We are hiring the best of the best from a global talent base, forming the basis for achieving our target of becoming the leading air mobility company.”
Lilium has set a target of being fully operational in several cities around the world by 2025.
Condivido i valori, mi fa piacere che ci sia un ingegnere capo italiano (che potrà capire la professionalità di un collega, dal sito internet) e mi piacerebbe far parte del progetto.
Il futuro è per me una scelta di vita, da anni, e in pratica. Sono stato tra i primi a installare pannelli ftv, acquistare auto elettriche, adottare la vela per spostamenti in acqua e in volo (brevetto aliante da 25 anni) pur conoscendo e utilizzando i motori termici come tutti. Non programmo software ma ne “valido la conformità” alle Direttive Ue di sicurezza prodotto, per varie aziende e multinazionali.
Spero in un gradito riscontro, complimenti, cordiali saluti