On June 26, 2025, a ceremony was held in Warsaw to sign a research collaboration agreement between Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), one of the most important research universities in the USA. The document was signed by the acting director of the Institute, ILOT professor Cezary Szczepański, Ph.D., and the president of the University of Nevada, Brian Sandoval in the presence of representatives of UNR, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation.
The collaboration with UNR will allow Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation to enrich its experience in the development of breakthrough aerospace technologies and to expand its competence in the commercialization of the Institute’s research work on an international scale. Elements of this cooperation will include scientific internships and joint publications in the field of aviation and space, but not only. Indeed, collaboration with UNR will allow a significant expansion of the scope and scale of research collaboration between the Polish and the US sides. UNR is one of the universities with the highest research profile (classification R1 – highest research activity) which means that the university carries out interdisciplinary scientific research and commercializes the results of this research, which are considered significant for economic and civilization development.
“The agreement signed today with the University of Nevada in Reno is an important step toward our close research cooperation with the best research universities in the US. It will give us the opportunity to internationalize our research, and Polish scientists will be able to pursue ambitious research goals at the highest level”, says ILOT professor Cezary Szczepański, Ph.D., acting director of Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation.
“The University of Nevada, Reno has a long-standing history of collaborative research agreements with Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation. This most recent agreement signed on June 25 will greatly enhance both institutions efforts in the development of leading-edge research in aerospace technologies. The partnership illustrates shared strengths that both institutions have in fostering innovation, training, and research in this key sector. Today’s agreement opens doors for our faculty, students and staff to immerse themselves even more in broadening the Wolf Pack Impact through international research in one of the world’s most rapidly evolving sectors. We are proud to be partnering yet again with Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation”, said Brian Sandoval, president of the University of Nevada.
Collaboration with research institutions in Nevada
The establishment of the current cooperation with UNR is a continuation of long-standing collaboration and good relations with research institutions in Nevada. Support for these activities was declared by the then governor of the state of Nevada and now UNR president, Brian Sandoval.
Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation’s collaboration with American institutions was also the result of efforts on the Polish side. Professor Joanna Cygler, who initiated these contacts and successfully recruited the University of Nevada to become a significant partner of the Institute and the entire Łukasiewicz Research Network, was involved in maintaining excellent relations with Nevada research institutions for many years.
As an example of previous collaborations with Nevada research institutions, the Institute’s 2017 agreement with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) resulted in a number of tests using drone technology. These included:
- tests at the Reno Stead Airport – a combination of unmanned and manned systems traffic and testing of BSP airspace management systems for out-of-sight autonomous flight – BVLOS,
- in the Reno urban area – testing and development of swarming technologies between UAVs.
The aforementioned tests involved NASA researchers and scientists, among others. Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation was the only institution from Poland and Europe, whose representatives actively participated in the preparation and execution of tests of drones in the urban area.
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The Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation is one of the most modern research facilities in Europe, with traditions dating back to 1926. The Institute closely cooperates with global tycoons of the aviation industry, such as: Boeing, GE, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, and institutions from the space industry, including the European Space Agency. Strategic research areas of the Institute are aviation, space and unmanned technologies. It also provides research and services for domestic and foreign industries in the field of materials, composite, additive, remote sensing, energy and oil&gas technologies. More: ilot.lukasiewicz.gov.pl/en/
The Łukasiewicz Research Network offers businesses attractive, broad and competitive technological solutions. Łukasiewicz provides a unique “challenge system” powered by a group of 4,500 scientists, who take up a business challenge and present the entrepreneur with potential solutions. At the same time, it provides access to cutting-edge capabilities and unique scientific infrastructure in the country. Most importantly – the entrepreneur does not bear the cost of preparing the conception of the research works. Łukasiewicz conveniently meets the expectations of the business. The entrepreneur can contact Łukasiewicz through an online form on our website https://lukasiewicz.gov.pl/en/business/ but also directly in over 50 locations of Łukasiewicz Institutes and their branches throughout Poland. Each site provides the same, high quality, product or service. Łukasiewicz focused on research areas such as: Health, Smart and Clean Mobility, Digital Transformation and Green and Low-emission Economy.
