Between May 27th – 30th the European Aeronautics days (Aerodays), the leading continental event in aviation research and innovation was organized for the first time under a synergic concept that brought together resources from Romania and Germany for a comprehensive perspective over the strategic developments in aeronautics and air transport across the European Union. Supported by the European Commission within its current Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, the two events are hosted and organized by the National Institute for Aerospace Research “Elie Carafoli” (INCAS) and by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), on the Romanian side, and by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI).
Under the headline “Europe’s Technological Achievements for a Sustainable Future of Aviation”, the first of these two events broughts together prominent academic, research and industrial representatives from the aerospace community for three days of specialized plenary and technical sessions hosted by the Romanian Palace of Parliament. Complementing the conference sessions, Aerodays 2019 also featured an exhibition that included several Romanian companies and research entities, like MAHEPA – many of them making their first appearance at an Aerodays exhibition, and major international corporations and organizations.
Based on the innovative concept TandemAEROdays19.20 that assumes for Romania and Germany distinct roles as regional and continental leaders in the development of aeronautics, the event focused on specific issues, like the different infrastructure context in Central and Eastern Europe as the base to develop customized short-range transport solutions, small aircraft and dedicated airport, thus enabling regional development. Furthermore, it encourages Eastern European entities involved in aerospace education, research and production to take full advantage of the opportunities fueled by the enlargement of the EU, highlighting the fact that the twin Aerodays events reflect the Romanian and German mandate at the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Bucharest Aerodays 2019 adopted a bottom-up research approach and has focused on medium-level TRL (Technology Readiness Level), while the event scheduled to take place in May 2020 in Germany – complementing the International Air Show ILA 2020 and the Berlin Aviation Summit – intends to apply a top-down approach and to charge high-scale strategic and political topics aligned with international trends and developments, promoting also matured results and solutions.
Both events aim at providing a full-scale TRL map of projects with potential impact on the future of aeronautics. Bucharest Aerodays 2019 serves not only as a platform to reaffirm its contributions to the world of aeronautics, but also offers the opportunity to promote its current achievements and potential within the European joint effort to provide sustainable, efficient and competitive solutions that respond to the needs and expectations of its citizens.
