On May 15-16 2013, UTIAS hosted the first National Colloquium on Sustainable Aviation. Academics from eight universities and engineers from Canada’s two largest aerospace firms, Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney, gathered for a two-day conference on the technical advances necessary to reduce the environmental impact of commercial aviation. The Colloquium was organised by the Centre for Research in Sustainable Aviation (CRSA), a UTIAS initiative that aims to link academics in a range of fields with industrial end users to catalyse research activity that will lead to greener flight.
“The design and manufacture of environmentally friendly aircraft integrates aerodynamics, propulsion, structures and controls. Many people working in these fields do not think of themselves as working on sustainable aviation, but we need their contributions to realise the goal of minimising the impact of commercial air travel. This Colloquium was intended to link researchers who ordinarily would not see themselves as doing work on sustainable aviation,” says Prof Craig Steeves, Associate Director of the CRSA.