Professor David Yu is a professor of practice in finance at New York University Shanghai and Stern School and is a recognized expert and thought leader in cross border investing, financing, valuation, real assets and aviation. He is also Chairman of China Aviation Valuation Advisors (CAVA) and Asia Aviation Valuation Advisors (AAVA) the only professional aviation valuation and advisory company in China and Asia. He is the only Senior ISTAT (International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading) Certified Aviation Appraiser in China and N. Asia and one of ~20 globally. He has experience as an entrepreneur, PE investor, lessor, banker and appraiser. He also acts as a board director or advisor of companies and funds including an airline.
He writes as a contributing writer or editor and is quoted by many industry publications including Forbes, Nikkei Asian Review, FT, WSJ, NY Times, Airfinance Journal, etc. and a business commentator for other media. His book titled, “Aircraft Valuation: Airplane Investments As An Asset Class” was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan and has been featured by Wall Street Journal among others. He previously was a senior instructor for IATA.
Prof. Yu is a CFA Charterholder and Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has a double major B.A. (full honors) and an M.S. from Johns Hopkins University. He also has an M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School of Business. He has a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Nottingham Business School and studied at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management and the National University of Singapore’s School of Business. He is an Editorial Board member for the Journal Of Structured Finance and a fellow of The Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Economics, Global Health And The Study Of Business Enterprise Institute. He is a member of ISTAT, RAeS, and CFA Institute and is a frequently invited speaker at investment and financing conferences and an industry thought leader.

The first Singaporean designated for this key role, Kevin has been the Country Director and CEO of Thales in Singapore since February 2016, responsible for driving Thales’ growth across all of its five markets:
Aerospace, Space, Ground Transportation, Digital Identity & Security and Defence & Security. Thales currently employs 2000 people in Singapore, in roles such as Research & Technology, Innovation, Strategy, Business Development, Sales & Marketing, Bids & Projects Management, Product and Project Engineering, Manufacturing, Repair & Overhaul, and Shared Services (Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Communications etc.)

Kevin has served as a Board Member of the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore since April 2016, working to connect the people & economies of France and Singapore. Given his passion for education and developing talent, Kevin also currently serves on the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Advisory Board
for 2 Aerospace Bachelor Programs.

Prior to his current role at Thales, Kevin was with Singapore Technologies (ST) Aerospace, a global MRO company with more than S$2 billion revenue and 8000 employees worldwide. From 2014 to 2016, Mr Chow was the Vice-President/ General Manager of ST Aerospace Resources Pte Ltd, spearheading the company’s foray into the mid- to end-of-life aircraft leasing business. He was also Vice President, Strategic Plans and Business Development for ST Aerospace from 2010 to 2014, overseeing ST Aerospace’s strategy, alliances, partnerships and Mergers & Acquisitions activities.

Prior to ST, Kevin had also worked for the Singapore government from 2001 to 2010, based in the Economic Development Board’s Singapore and Europe offices. Notably, in 2010, he held 3 concurrent appointments: Deputy Director (Transport Engineering), Deputy Director (Precision Engineering) and
Deputy Director (Europe Desk). In that role, he was part of the management team that oversaw EDB’s initiatives in the following sectors: aerospace, marine, land transport, oil & gas equipment and services, machinery and systems, and precision modules & components.

Awarded a Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship by the Singapore government, Kevin concurrently obtained both his degrees in Masters of Science in Aerospace Vehicle Design from Cranfield University, UK and Diplome d’Ingénieur (Masters Degree in Engineering) from Ecole Nationale d’Aviation Civile,
Toulouse, France in 1999.