After a two-year hiatus, 400 of Europe’s leading researchers in the air traffic management (ATM) and aviation domains gathered in Budapest for the SESAR Innovation Days to take stock and exchange on a wide variety of topics, from artificial intelligence and energy-efficient flying to meteorology and drone traffic management. Results stemming from the showcased research have the potential to push the boundaries of ATM, making it smarter and more sustainable in the coming years, the participants heard.
Now in its twelfth edition, the SESAR Innovation Days, a flagship event in the aviation research calendar, showcased some of the breakthrough concepts from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking’s exploratory research portfolio, as well as novel outcomes from the broader ATM research community.
Altogether, the conference brought together 400 participants, and featured some 37 posters and 51 papers, covering data-driven methods for safety and resilience prediction, climate-optimised trajectories, drone traffic management, airport operations, among other research areas. Special plenary sessions looked at the important topics of U-space, the enabling framework for drone integration, the environment and artificial intelligence.
Much of the research presented during the conference stems from the 41 exploratory research projects and the SESAR knowledge transfer network, Engage, which ran from 2020 to 2022, bringing together academic and industry partners, such as universities, SMEs, research centres, airlines, manufacturers, and air navigation service providers from across the European Union and EU Associated Countries.
Speaking at the conference, Andreas Boschen, Executive Director of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking underlined the importance of collaboration and providing researchers with the right conditions to yield fresh ideas that take us beyond the current horizon of research and innovation. “This not a pursuit of knowledge for the sake of it; but rather a harnessing of the latest advances in technology to support aviation’s sustainable transition, deliver much needed efficiency gains, while enabling the continued growth and diversification of air travel, as new types of vehicles such as drones take to the sky,” he added.
Echoing that sentiment, Rosalinde Van Der Vlies, Director for Clean Planet, at the European Commission’s Research and Innovation Director te General, said: “Aviation has always been at the forefront of innovation - I'm fully convinced that Europe will succeed in delivering an efficient, safe, and green #digital transportation system - your pioneering work is and will be valuable and irreplaceable part of this mission.”
In his keynote, László Tóth, CEO, HungaroControl, emphasised the potential of new technologies to transform ATM. "Digitalisation and data sciences hold real promise for ATM, offering benefits in terms of greater efficiency and increased flexibility - The SESAR 3 JU offers a pragmatic platform for collaboration and advancing these technologies," he told participants.
Fittingly, the conference closed with the SESAR Young Scientist Award ceremony, celebrating the next generation of aviation and ATM researchers in two categories, students and PhD. The top prize among the students went to Marie-Christine Nevir, Technische Universität Dresden, who developed and initially validated a new workload model for sector-less airspace (i.e. flight centric air traffic control). The jury praised Nevir for the very high level of innovation demonstrated in her work for tackling controller organisation in light of this this relatively new operational concept.
Omar Garcia Crespillo, German Aerospace Center (DLR) & Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), received first prize in the PhD category for his work on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS) Kalman filter integrity monitoring with uncertain time-correlated error processes. The jury praised him for a very well structured and written thesis, which demonstrated excellent scientific rigour and innovation in terms of the simulation approaches
It was announced that the next SESAR Innovation Days will take place in Seville, Spain, from 27 to 30 November 2023.
More about SESAR Innovation Days
More about the Young Scientist Award
