Collaboration with Embraer wins von Kármán Award for International Cooperation in Aeronautics

The Aeroelastic Tailoring project brings together a diverse group of international recognised partners with expertise in a wide range of disciplines in aircraft design in a unique type of collaboration. The project is headed by Pedro Higino Cabral, the principal R&D engineer at Embraer. What makes the project unique is that is brings together fundamental and applied research in the field of aeroelastics in composite aircraft wing design. The project has 13 international partners – covering many aspects of aeronautical science and technology. They have conducted cutting-edge research, leveraging innovative methodologies and tools for Aeroelastic Tailoring.

Associate Professor Aerospace Structures and Materials at TU Delft, Roeland De Breuker, is one of the partners in the project. He currently teams up with Saullo Castro, Mohamed Elafly and Hauke Maathuis at TU Delft. Their contribution is the development of state-of-the-art Bayesian optimisation methods and nonlinear structural modelling methods. Light-weight composite wing designs can be generated using these methods, which reduces energy consumption in flight and hence contributes to the greening of aviation. De Breuker: “We are incredibly grateful that we can show together with the consortium that university research can positively impact groundbreaking developments in the aircraft industry. We are moving again a step closer to the clear sky revolution!”.

The von Karman award was founded in 1980 in memory of Theodore von Karman, a leading figure in the foundation of ICAS and an outstanding proponent of international collaboration in the aeronautical sciences. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge exceptional achievement in international cooperation in the field of aeronautics. In 2022 the award was won by Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking. There’s a list of previous winners on the ICAS-website.