The kick-off meeting was held at ÉTS on August 9, 2023. The meeting was attended by Dr. Fethi Chebil (CEO and founder of VPorts), Prof. Hany Moustapha (director of SDG Innovation Network), as well as 16 students and 8 professors from Concordia University, UQAM, Polytechnique Montréal, and ÉTS. Representatives from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Mitacs, and the Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie (MEIE) also attended the meeting.

 

A dozen research and development pilot projects in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) have been identified with a focus on ground infrastructure, air traffic management, simulation, digital twins, supply chain, urban integration, social and economic acceptability, and societal impacts. Mitacs, VPorts, MEIE, and the SDG Innovation Network are funding these projects with a total of 5 million dollars.

 

The projects are expected to start in September 2023.