They fly again: 11th network meeting of the UAM Initiative Ingolstadt

The UAM network meeting took place on the premises of Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. As host, THI President Professor Walter Schober welcomed the participants and pointed out the university's tasks in teaching, research, and transfer. He described UAM as an important pillar of this. Professor Georg Rosenfeld, Ingolstadt's Head of Economic Affairs, emphasized the importance of the network and the role of the city of Ingolstadt as a driving force. Science promotion is preparatory economic promotion and is therefore supported by the city, whereby the research activities in the UAM area are partly financed by third-party funds and partly by industry. As a committed supporter of Urban Air Mobility, Dr Reinhard Brandl, a member of the German Bundestag, welcomed all those present via video message and emphasized the importance of such an initiative for technology development in Germany. 

The network meeting in Ingolstadt offered exciting insights into current research topics relating to UAM and used a practical demonstration outdoors to show how a coordinated and autonomously flying swarm of drones can search for and find a missing person. The renowned Fraunhofer lighthouse project ALBACOPTER® was presented with its 6 sub-projects. The ALBACOPTER® 0.5 with a wingspan of 7 metres was exhibited on-site and attracted numerous interested students as well as network members.  "We are delighted to have the opportunity to present the results of our lead project to such a broad specialist audience and are taking away valuable ideas for our future activities from the discussions," reports Henri Meeß, Group Leader at the Fraunhofer IVI. 

The initiative welcomes six new national and international members. Advantec GmbH, Vocus GmbH, Connected Ops, Munich Aerospace e. V., SBI mbH, and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) have joined the network. All new partners had the opportunity to present themselves to the network in pitches.

After the internal part, the network meeting opened up to the public with a keynote speech by Dr. Klaus Kittmann (Airbus) on the topic of "Digital twins as data providers and an important link between theoretical and practical research". Where practical tests are not yet possible and theoretical research has already been completed, digital twins of a city could enable virtual sightseeing flights in a building-specific environment. This would provide valuable insights for the further development of the AAM ecosystem and its practical applicability at a specific location.