Hyundai enters flying car race

Hyundai Motor Group is the latest car-maker to announce plans to enter the emerging world of flying cars – with a little help from NASA.

The Korean car manufacturer has launched a new Urban Air Mobility Division, with which it plans to take on a range of companies already promising to tackle urban congestion in the world’s growing number of mega-cities by transporting commuters in the air.

These include Toyota, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Geely, plus a range of others including Airbus, Google and Uber, which has promised to operate robotaxis in Melbourne from 2020.

The idea behind vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) electric vehicles is to cut travel times in built-up areas as well as to reduce ground-level congestion and air pollution – all while operating autonomously.

Renowned aeronautics engineer Dr Jaiwon Shin has been appointed Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai’s flying car project. He has three decades of NASA experience behind him working on airframes, engines, air traffic management and more.

No details have been announced, but Hyundai says the new business unit will develop core technologies and innovative solutions for safe and efficient airborne travel as it enters the fast-growing urban air mobility sector.

Dr Shin said he’s excited and humbled by the opportunity to shape the urban air mobility strategy at Hyundai.

“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,” he said.

“The new team at Hyundai will develop core technologies that will establish the company as a driving force in urban air mobility, a sector that is expected to grow into a market worth $US1.5 trillion within the next 20 years."

Dr Shin most recently led the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA, where he shaped the agency’s aeronautics R&D strategy for over 11 years, during which time he oversaw a $US725 million program to lead aeronautics research initiatives such as supersonic X-plane, aircraft electrification, UAS traffic management and Urban Air Mobility.

In addition to his work with NASA, Dr Shin co-chaired the White House National Science and Technology Council’s Aeronautics Science and Technology Subcommittee, which wrote the first US presidential policy for aeronautics R&D.

He was also co-chair of the USAF/NASA Executive Research Committee, which facilitated the highest level of coordination of common research needs between United States Air Force and NASA Aeronautics.

He is internationally recognised as a leader in the aviation research community and was elected to the Chair of the International Forum for Aviation Research (IFAR) for a two-year term in 2014. Dr Shin has also been awarded the Presidential Rank Award twice (in 2008 and 2016), the highest accolade presented to public officials in the US federal government.

Dr Shin received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. His bachelor’s degree is in mechanical engineering from Yonsei University in Korea and his master’s degree is in mechanical engineering from the California State University, Long Beach.

A graduate of the Senior Executive Fellowship Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Dr Shin has authored and co-authored more than 20 technical and journal papers, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Aeronautical Society.