This research  group in CTAE focuses on preliminary design and analysis of innovative and sustainable concepts for the aerospace and mobility sector. Based on our in-house experience and our close collaboration with the university, we are able to provide extensive support to local initiatives during their early conceptualisation stages. Research interests include design and implementation of manned and unmanned vehicles for civil applications, lightweight aircrafts, new composite materials and advanced composite manufacturing techniques for aeronautics, application of alternative energy sources and propulsion systems, human factors and user interfaces in aviation operations, models for evaluating passenger comfort on commercial flights as well as the influence of new materials on the passenger’s flight experience.

Areas of expertise:

• Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) design and development.
• Aerodynamics load calculations and optimization using CFD.
• Structural elements calculations using FE Analysis.
• Ergonomics design and analysis including user interfaces.
• Aircraft Interiors comfort evaluation modelling.
• Numerical methods research and application.
• Technical consulting and feasibility studies.

Project Examples:

• LIFT – Design and Implementation of a high payload unmanned aerial system.
• SAAO - Human factors and display considerations related to situational awareness in aviation operations.
• EsticBe – Evaluation and modelling of integrated passenger comfort considerations using soft computing methods.
• Multi.Materia – The influence of new materials in transportation on passenger experience and comfort.