April 24, 2024

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Hyundai Motor said Sept.30 it has hired an aeronautics expert to advance its urban air mobility business.

The carmaker has appointed Shin Jai-won, 61, as executive vice president and head of its newly established UAM Division, the company said in a statement. Shin has served at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Hyundai expects his expertise in revolutionary airframes, engines, aviation safety and air traffic management technologies to help the company take a lead in the fast-growing urban air mobility sector. The new business unit will develop core technologies and innovative solutions for safe and efficient airborne travel, the statement said.

“Having worked on cutting-edge aviation research and development at NASA for 30 years, I am very excited and humbled by the opportunity to now shape urban air mobility strategy at Hyundai Motor Group,” Shin said in the statement.

The new division will develop core technologies to establish the company as a driving force in urban air mobility, a sector that is expected to grow into a market worth $1.5 trillion within the next 20 years, he said.

Urban air mobility is expected to become a critically important part of the integrated mobility solution for the ever-growing traffic problems in big cities around the world, Hyundai said.

Shin earned a bachelor‘s degree in mechanical engineering at Yonsei University in Korea, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at California State University in Long Beach, California, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)