Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation builds an ecosystem for the development of the drone sector and urban air mobility

An international event “Urban Air Mobility. Way forward. How to get ready for the drone revolution?” organized by Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation is behind us. The goal of the Institute as the organizer was to lay the foundations for building an ecosystem for the development of the drone sector and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Polish and foreign UAM industry trends, new business models, scenarios and recommendations to be implemented for UAV development in cities in the areas of technology, legal regulations, economy and social acceptance were shown.

On April 18, 2023, Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation hosted 200 representatives of the drone sector from all over Poland and Europe, as well as entities involved in creating regulations and the ecosystem, including the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Metropolis of GZM.

The Urban Air Mobility industry, and within it the UAV sector, is developing very dynamically and requires the cooperation of many different entities. Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation creates not only the technologies of the future for the drone sector, but also an ecosystem within which the exchange of knowledge and experience is possible.

The event integrating the drone industry was organized by Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation in synergy with the ASSURED-UAM project and the “Clean and Smart Mobility” Industry Contact Point. It was also an opportunity to present the Institute’s offer for the drone sector: UAV certification, SORA, drone design, 3D printing, aerodynamics, propulsions, “silent drones” noise reduction, testing drones in flight and simulator, remote sensing services for many business sectors from agriculture to energy.

The conference consisted of four modules:

1. Recommendations for the implementation of urban air mobility during which the results of the European research project ASSURED-UAM were presented.
2. What does the UAV market look like in Poland and what can we do to support its development? This module shows the vision and development strategy of the industry from the perspective of Unmanned Technology Center at Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation, international partnerships, the “Clean and Smart Mobility” Industry Contact Point  and from the point of view of the drone market analyzed in reports since 2014 by MikroMakro Institute Foundation (“Raport Burza”). The Institute showed here what it can do to support the development of the drone market, from the legal aspect of certification and obtaining permits for UAV operations, to design technologies, 3D printing, aerodynamics, reduction of acoustics, selection of propulsions and creating services of the future through remote sensing.
3. Matchmaking organized by the “Clean and Smart Mobility” Industry Contact Point provided information on R&D funding in the UAM and UAV sectors under the Horizon Europe program and as part of international partnerships in this program. A group of over 60 entities discussed in four thematic tables: Smart Urban Air Mobility, Sustainable Urban Air Mobility, Hybrid Electric and H2 Propulsion and Free topic.
4. Award ceremony for 10 leaders of the Polish drone market in 2023 hosted by the MikroMakro Institute Foundation.

Top 10 leaders of the drone sector presented during the conference “Urban Air Mobility. Way forward. How to get ready for the drone revolution”:

1. Farada Group
2. SoftBlue
3. uAvionics Technologies
4. Flytronic S.A.
5. Creotech Instruments S.A.
6. Advanced Protection Systems S.A.
7. EUROTECH Sp. z o.o.
8. BZB UAS Sp. z o.o.
9. SkySnaps Sp. z o.o.
10. Flyfocus Sp. z o.o.

– The conference was widely heard in the drone industry, we received many positive comments. Thank you to all participants. We hope that together we will create an ecosystem for the dynamic development of the drone sector in Poland – concludes Elżbieta Mrozek, conference coordinator from Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation.

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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 provides attractive, complete and competitive technological solutions. It offers a unique system of “challenging” to business, thanks to which a group of 4,500 scientists in no more than 15 working days accepts the business challenge and proposes the entrepreneur to develop an effective implementation solution. At the same time, it involves the highest competences of scientists in Poland and a scientific apparatus unique in Poland. What is most important – the entrepreneur does not bear any costs related to the development of an idea for research work. Łukasiewicz meets the expectations of business in a convenient way. The entrepreneur may decide to contact us not only through the form at https://lukasiewicz.gov.pl/biznes/ but also in more than 50 locations: the Łukasiewicz Institutes and their branches throughout Poland. They will receive the same – high quality – product or service everywhere. The Łukasiewicz potential is focused around such research areas as: health, intelligent mobility, digital transformation and sustainable economy and energy.