On the 24-26th of September, the 10th IFAR Summit was held in Amsterdam. This year, the venue and the hosting institution was NLR – Netherlands Aerospace Center, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019. Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation was represented by the general director, Paweł Stężycki, coordinator for the development of international cooperation – Agata Wierzbińska and senior UAV systems engineer – Anna Mazur.
International Forum on Aviation Research (IFAR) is a network of aviation research centers aimed at connecting research organizations around the world, enabling the exchange of information and communication in the field of aviation research activities, and developing among its members a common understanding of the challenges faced by the global research community with regard to aviation. The main areas of focus are emissions, noise, safety, efficient operations and steps taken to reduce the footprint of aviation on the climate and environment.
The leading theme of the Summit was “Zero emissions in 2050”. Special guests invited to the event from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Water and Clean Sky JU presented their views and projects tackling the reduction of emissions by airborne and ground means of transport.
During the event, a series of interactive discussions were conducted covering critical issues in the area of Zero emissions. All IFAR members were involved in the discussions on, inter alia, energy, noise and design of flying vehicles and their role in reducing of harmful emissions by 2050. Anna Mazur, along with the NASA representative moderated the session dedicated to innovative design. The conclusions of each session were then presented to all participants.
IFAR Summit was also an occasion to present the ongoing activities and achievements of numerous IFAR working groups, including, e.g ECN (Early Career Network) group, IFAR X Challenge – a group composed of young researchers from IFAR (including Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation), which is working on the development of the interdisciplinary design of a new generation aircraft.
The Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation is currently running the IFAR working group on the Electric-Hybrid Propulsion. The presentation on its activity was given by Agata Wierzbińska – EHP group coordinator.
During the Summit, the winners of a special award, which is granted jointly by the two most important aviation organizations in the world – IFAR and ICAS (International Council on Aeronautical Sciences) were announced. The objective of the award is to acknowledge and honor young researchers that have brought a significant contribution to Aeronautical Science within their doctoral theses.
This year, the 3rd place within ICAS-IFAR Award 2020 contest went to a young researcher from the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation: dr inż. Adam Okniński.
Last but not least – upon the decision by the Principals Board of IFAR, Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation was approved as the host of the 12th IFAR Summit to be held in 2021.
