Board of Trustees
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Dr. iur. Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann
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Colonel Dr. Andres Kunz
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Colonel GS Hans-Peter Erni
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PROF. DR. ANDREAS GERBER-GROTE
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Martin Gerber
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Prof. Dr. Christian Hildebrand
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Hanspeter Keel
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Dr. Martin Risch
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Joachim Schoss
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Dr. Stephanie Schoss
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Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Stark
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Prof. Dr. Tanja Zimmermann
Dr. iur. Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann
(president of the board of trustees)
“per aspera ad astra”
Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann is lawyer and public notary with a specialisation in aviation and space law. He studied at the University of St.Gallen, where he completed his doctorate on the legal proceedings following an aircraft accident and on Just Culture. Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann is fellow of the HSG Center for Aviation and Space Competence (HSG-CFAC) and member of the board of the Foundation for Aviation Competence (FFAC). Besides this, he holds various mandates in the aviation industry and works as flight instructor and freelance pilot on a PC12.
Contact: raphael.widmer@unisg.ch
Colonel Dr. Andres Kunz
Colonel Dr. med. Andres Kunz has been leading the Aeromedical Institute of the Air Force (FAI) as Director and Chief FAI since 2010. In this role, he holds overall operational and professional responsibility for the FAI and is ultimately responsible for all aeromedical and aviation psychological matters and decisions of the Swiss Military Aviation. As a direct subordinate of the Air Force Commander, he is a member of the Commander's report, the Flight Safety Board, and other leadership and expert committees of the Air Force. In addition to the operational and professional development of the FAI, Dr. Kunz's work focuses on addressing special issues in aviation, research, and the flight physiological training of flying and parachuting personnel. A particularly fascinating aspect is the hypoxia training for pilots, parachute scouts, and other specialist groups, whether hypobaric in the FAI's decompression chamber or normobaric in the Air Force simulators. Given that hypoxia and unexplained physiological events are more relevant than ever in both military and civilian aviation, they form a special research focus for Colonel Kunz along with other topics on human performance. For Andres "Andi" Kunz, interdisciplinarity, utilizing and creating new opportunities, as well as passion and enthusiasm, are not only keys to success but also the daily lived culture of the FAI, the Air Force, and the Center for Space and Aviation.
Contact: Andres.Kunz@vtg.admin.ch
Hans-Peter Erni
Mr. Erni was born in Volketswil, Switzerland, and graduated in 1979 at the University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil, holding a bachelor degree as electronics engineer in control engineering, computer science, digital computers and peripherals. He worked several years as project manager for Zellweger Uster and developed process data monitoring systems for the textile industry in Europe and the USA (National Spinning, North Carolina).
In 1988 he became Head of Marketing / Technical Director at Staefa Control System, Business Unit Switzerland. In 1989 he achieved a degree as Bachelor of Business Administration and completed the training for his Executive Master of Business Administration in 1993 at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Zuerich.
In the meantime, he founded his own company, developed and merchandised a management information system for all the air transport units of the Swiss Air Force. Mr. Erni left the private sector and joined the Swiss Air Force in 1997. He became Air Base Commander of Duebendorf. Later, when the fighter jets were relocated from Duebendorf to Meiringen, he took over the function as chief of staff, air operations Swiss Air Force.
He then graduated in 2009 at the Cranfield University, UK, holding a Master of Science in Global Security. In addition, since 2011, he was responsible as Senior Duty Officer for the operational management of the Air Force until his last working day before retirement.
In Switzerland's conscription system, Colonel GS Erni served as Air Base Commander in Interlaken and became Commander of the fourth air transport regiment.
After retiring from the Air Force, he used his knowledge as an electrical engineer and returned to the private sector. As a project manager with Kyburz Switzerland, he developed a delivery vehicle with hybrid drive for the Deutsche Post.
Ultimately, in January 2025, he was appointed as chairman of the board of TopMotion AG, the fixed base operator for non-military ground handling at the military airfield in Dübendorf.
Colonel GS Hans-Peter Erni as Senior Duty Officer in the Air Operation Center of the Swiss Air Force
Contact: h-p.erni@bluewin.ch
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gerber-Grote
Andreas is dean of ZHAW School of Health Sciences and vice-rector at ZHAW. Furthermore, he is in charge of research and development at ZHAW. At University of Zurich, he holds the position of an associate professor in epidemiology and serves as co-head of the PhD-program “Care and Rehabilitation Sciences” since 2018.
By training Andreas is physician and Protestant theologian with a venia legendi in health economics and health services research originally awarded from University of Cologne. His expertise is complemented by an MSc in Health Economics.
Currently, his research focuses on unconscious bias in health care and ethics in health technology assessment. Before joining ZHAW he was head of the health economics unit at the Institute of Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), researcher at the Institute of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology (IGKE) at University of Cologne, and pediatrician in residence at hospitals in Hamburg and Hannover.
Contact: andreas.gerber-grote@zhaw.ch
Martin Gerber
“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord Kelvin, 1895)
Martin is a passionate pilot, engineer, and project manager with extensive experience across both military and civil aviation. He has been an airline pilot since more than ten years, including five years as a technical pilot on the Airbus A320 fleet with Swiss International Air Lines. His military aviation career began in 1999 with the Swiss Air Force, where he currently serves as a reservist flying the Super Puma helicopter. In 2016, Martin co-founded Swiss SkyLab, an organisation dedicated to aerospace research and flight testing. As a project manager and solution architect, he works on different national and international applied research projects. These include the development of pilot assistance functions for improved aircraft energy management, novel air traffic management solutions and advancements in aviation weather technology. Martin also shares his expertise as a guest lecturer on aircraft performance at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Before his current endeavours, Martin served as a research helicopter pilot at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), where he conducted scientific flight tests. From 2007 to 2012, he held a senior project management
role at Thales, responsible for the development and delivery of two full-flight helicopter simulators for the Swiss Air Force. Martin holds a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich and has accumulated over 6,500 flying hours on more than 25 different types of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
Contact: martin.gerber@skylab-aerospace.com
Prof. Dr. Christian Hildebrand
Christian Hildebrand is Full Professor of Marketing Analytics and Director of the Institute of Behavioral Science and Technology (IBT) at the University of St. Gallen. He had doctoral and post-doctoral visits at Stanford University, Duke University, and the University of Michigan.
His work is at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and consumer decision making, and explores how new technologies change how people think, act, and make decisions. His research focuses on understanding and optimizing consumer-firm interfaces with an emphasis on digital voice assistants, chatbots, and mobile devices. His research combines classic and novel methodologies from large-scale field experiments to feature-extraction from voice, image, and text data.
His research has been published in leading academic and practitioner-oriented journals at the intersection of marketing and information systems such as Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Marketing Letters, and Harvard Business Review. His work received various research awards including the “Rigor and Relevance Award” of the Swiss Academy of Marketing Science, has been funded by major public and private institutions, and made accessible for the general public through practitioner-oriented special issues such as “The Machine Age of Marketing” of the NIM Marketing Intelligence Review.
He teaches courses at the Master, PhD, and Executive level, specializing in Machine Learning for Marketers, Web Data & Digital Analytics, Smart Data for Executives, and Computational Implementation of Experiments. He is frequently working with corporations across industries from online retail and consumer electronics to automotive and the financial industry.
As an avid trail runner, climber, and ski mountaineer, you can find Christian ascending one of Switzerland’s many peaks in the summer or searching for fresh powder in the winter.
Contact: christian.hildebrand@unisg.ch
Hanspeter Keel
Hanspeter Keel has been Professor of Product Development at the OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences since 2020 and heads the Space@OST initiative. He studied mechanical engineering and later completed a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Management, Technology and Economics at ETH Zurich.
Before joining OST, he held leadership positions in various industrial and technology companies, including serving as Senior Business Unit Director at Altran. For many years, he has been actively engaged at the intersection of industry, the space sector, innovation, and security technologies.
Hanspeter Keel is also an expert for Innosuisse, where he evaluates innovation projects based on their technological maturity, market potential, and feasibility. In the security domain, he serves as an officer assigned to the Swiss Army's Space Division, where he focuses on the strategic and technological interplay between the space domain, security architecture, and critical infrastructure.
In addition, he is a co-director and lecturer for the CAS Space Applications certificate program.
Contact: hanspeter.keel@ost.ch
Dr. Martin Risch
“There's no such thing as can't. We are here to find solutions."
Dr. med. Martin Risch, born in 1971, is a citizen of both Liechtenstein and Switzerland. His career began with medical studies and a doctorate from the University of Bern, leading to various training positions in St. Gallen (IKCH), Zurich (AKI and IMM), and Lucerne (IMM), specializing in laboratory medical analytics FAMH. He also specialized in Medical Microbiology and holds a professional license to practice medicine. In 2006, he joined his family's business, Dr. Risch, where he held various leadership roles until its sale to Sonic Suisse in 2024. His role as CEO during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic brought national and international attention to the company. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Sonic Suisse, managing the Zurich and Eastern Switzerland regions, and since 2011, has been leading the central laboratory at the Kantonsspital Chur, now as Chief Medical Officer. Martin Risch was named Entrepreneur of the Year in Liechtenstein in 2017 alongside his brother Lorenz. His ongoing interests include the development of modern laboratories with new technologies, automation, measurement techniques, digitalization, and improvements in transportation and logistics, particularly in drone technology. He has been actively involved in various professional committees in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, focusing on quality, regulatory affairs, and education and mobility. His extensive contributions are reflected in numerous publications (ORCID 0000-0003-4587-5639).
Contact: martin.risch@risch.ch
Joachim Schoss
“Trust, believe, and never give up.”
Joachim Schoss, born in 1963, has been an entrepreneur for 35 years. He was the founding CEO of Scout24 and is currently a co-founder and Chairman of EarthGuard.space, and a co-founder and President of gaialogic.ai. Joachim believes that space is one of the major areas of innovation and growth in the 21st century, offering significant future prospects for the economy and humanity. Since selling Scout24, he has been increasingly active as a supervisory and administrative board member, for example, with the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, NZZ, two banks, and several startups. His heart belongs to philanthropy—such as being the founder and president of the board of trustees of EnableMe—and of course, to his wife and children. He lives in Switzerland and New Zealand.
Contact: joachim@schoss.com
Dr. Stephanie Schoss
Don’t wait for the future. Create it!
Dr. Stephanie Schoss is the Director of the Competence Center for Top Team Research at the University of St. Gallen with a research and teaching focus on leadership, teams, resilience, collaboration and conflict management, with an interdisciplinary approach between business, psychology and neuroscience. She has been responsible for building and running leadership and management programmes for political and business leaders at the University of St. Gallen that have educated Switzerland’s most senior leaders. Besides her academic life, Stephanie has been an entrepreneur for 20 years. Her latest company GaiaLogic is an European Artificial General Intelligence company that tries to solve Humanity’s biggest challenges with a holistic, reflective A.I. that reduces biases and is able to generate transformative solutions. Besides her professional life, Stephanie is a passionate private, commercial and seaplane pilot and a dedicated mother of 4 children and 4 step children and lives part of the year in New Zealand with her family which she considers the family sanctuary.
Contact: stephanie@schoss.com
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Stark
"Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility.” (Michelle Obama)
Elisabeth Stark has been Vice President for Research at the University of Zurich (UZH) since 2021. She is responsible for internal and external research funding, promoting young talent, large-scale infrastructure, and innovation, and is active in several research committees at the national (swissuniversities, SNF) and international (Una Europa, LERU, U21) levels. She has held a chair in Romance Linguistics at UZH since 2008.
Contact: estark@rom.uzh.ch
Prof. Dr. Tanja Zimmermann
Tanja Zimmermann has been Director of Empa since June 2022 and is Professor for Materials Science at ETH Zürich and EPF Lausanne. She received her PhD from the University of Hamburg in 2007. Tanja Zimmermann built up the cellulose and nanocomposites research topic at Empa as group leader and later on as head of the laboratory "Applied Wood Materials". She became a member of the Directorate of Empa in 2017, leading the department "Functional Materials" as well as the research focus area "Sustainable Construction", dealing with different materials such as concrete and asphalt, wood, ceramics, advanced polymer fibers and energy materials and components. She is deeply invested in topics related to circular economy, resource efficiency and strategies to achieve net zero. The promotion of talents and young entrepreneurs is very important to her, which she pursues not only within the ETH Domain, but also as President of the Board of Trustees of Technopark Zürich. Tanja Zimmermann is a member of various national and international bodies, scientific advisory boards and research commissions. As Director of Empa, she oversees around 1,100 employees across three locations. In this role, she has launched inter- and transdisciplinary research initiatives in areas such as sustainable built environment, energy, resources, emissions and health to develop solutions for major societal challenges. In addition, Tanja Zimmermann sees growing potential in the field of materials for space and aviation and looks forward to building on strong partnerships to drive innovation.
Contact: Tanja.Zimmermann@empa.ch
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