Aeroji – Team Introduction Dimitri Martel

We would like to introduce you to the Aeroji team members in more detail. We start this series with our Co-Founder and Managing Director Dimitri Martel.

What is your background and how come you joined Aeroji?

I studied aerospace engineering with a focus on aero engine development. During the last 10 years at Rolls-Royce Germany I had the chance to experience process management within an international multi-site company and to gain knowledge about technical product life cycle. This included cross capability understanding of the product (thermodynamics, aerodynamics, structural integrity, engine control), design space understanding, requirements management and the V process (validation and verification) throughout the life cycle.

As a development engineer it was a great experience supporting engine design activities from preliminary design, test and validation up to engine certification. I worked together with people from various disciplines and developed my enthusiasm for cross functional teamwork. And this is where my passion for analysis of complex problems and determined solving of such systems come from. In the last couple of years data science and ML got my attention and interest. I started to develop interests in entrepreneurship and tech side of things in parallel, as I saw the potential to accelerate efficiency improvements in all areas and bring solutions into production very quickly.

What is your best characteristic (personality trait)?

All of them, of course :-)!

Well, let us assume for the moment that my own perception is correct. I would say my biggest strength is my calm and balance. I tend to take my time to think about emerging situations, changes and challenges in order to analyze it properly and thereby to develop some action plans afterwards. To be in a balance with my environment is very important to me. And I guess, where there is a strength, a weakness is not too far away! To be fair, the same trait could also be a weakness in some situations, where some instant impulses would be required.

I see life as a continuous learning process. There is always something new to learn, something new to discover. I know that term is quite used up already, but I believe in the 'best version of oneself' being out there and it needs to be found. Some principles and core values are very important for me, e.g.

• ethical behaviour
• no judgements
• there are no errors, only experiences to learn from
• the will to share
• believe in positive intention and collaboration

All of them are supported by the way my brain is functioning. I am quite an analytical human being. Understanding dependencies, correlations and causations is a key driver for me. This is why I intuitively selected my engineering background probably. Thinking in systems, understanding requirements and interfaces is the other strength, I believe. Because it is the way our material world is functioning, right? I am quite an observer, I guess.

What is the most wise insight you did receive in your lifetime so far?

I used to think in categories for a long time in my life. There was often only black and white. I think this has changed during the last years and I believe it is one of such insights. I tend to describe everything as a palette of color scales now. This brings me more peace and allows not to judge a lot. There is room for all kind of scales in life. You do not need to have the same understanding, but we need to understand the right of these things to exist.

The second insight might sound lifted off, but I like to think that the whole world is connected somehow. Not in the way the 'Butterfly Effect' would describe it. More in the way that we are part of the whole ecosystem on this planet, including the planet itself. I lost this superior feeling of humans about themselves. Not that it was very strong previously. And still a lot of times human beings tend to believe in their uniqueness. And that's true, we are. But not on the same scale as everything else, therefore we cannot compare ourselves and our needs with the needs of others and identify the priority. So, because everything is connected, I believe in principles like sharing, transparency, free access to knowledge and collaboration.

What is your biggest dream?

Ok, this is a broad one. I believe in a sustainable future and in the potential of mankind to achieve it. To get there I believe in aspects like collaboration, sharing, teamwork, honesty, integrity and passion. My belief is that on the way to this future the organizational aspects needs to be accompanied by personal development.

I hope that at some point in life I can see all resources we have on this planet to be equally distributed between the nations, communities and individuals. In general working toward the UN SDGs seems like a good path for me. As soon as we fully understand and feel how we are connected, we can easily act in the interest of the whole ecosystem planet Earth. We tend to forget that all aspects that drive our development as a nation, region or community were chosen at some point in time for specific reasons and that we have the possibility and the responsibility to adjust them anytime. All the societal institutions with the rights and obligations are just tools we should use. And dismiss them if we see that they do not work. Find new ways. And it doesn't matter if it is economy, science, community structures or infrastructure related.

What has been the most disappointing experience in your professional activities so far?

I guess the answer to this question will be quite short. In my opinion a lot of people are not choosing professional opportunities based on passion and strengths. On top the current educational and economic systems tend to strengthen the competitive thinking within all of us. And these beliefs and habits produce a lot of friction of the professional relationships between people. This results in dominance, politics and cunning in the professional world. Because of these things colleagues, customers and service providers do not see the joint goal for their activities. Experiencing all this was very disappointing and frustrating. But we have the potential to change it and things start to change.

What is 'Teamwork' for you? How would you define the perfect relationship between a service provider/ a product and the customer?

Teamwork is the most important aspect for success in any collaboration project with multiple stakeholders involved. All team members need to understand the joint goal for a project and develop a passion for it. These two aspects help to backup team members in difficult and stressful times. Success is when the complete team feels this joy and satisfaction as soon as the final product is launched.

In simple words you can win a game by outstanding individual performance and dedication, but not a tournament. For that you need a well organized and functioning team.

I see a perfect relationship between customers and service providers very similarly. Acting as a team towards a joint goal helps to overcome trust and culture challenges that are well known when it comes to customer relationships. I believe in servant leadership and therefore also in servant service providing. Mutual benefits can only be developed with trust, transparency, honesty and integrity.

Where do you see Aeroji in 3-5 years?

Aeroji is the most valuable platform for aircraft engine trading and asset management worldwide. It is characterized by reliability, outstanding user experience and up to date information. We digitized the entire engine trading and leasing process and became well-known innovators within the aviation industry. A strong network and our independent status reinforces our market position.

In a nutshell: We contributed to a world where the aviation industry meets at eye level and does business as easy as booking a flight.

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We wish you a relaxing and safe weekend.

Your Aeroji Team