Aviation research at IKON

Air traffic is indispensable in order to meet today’s mobility demands of a global society. The increase in global air traffic on one hand and environmental responsibility on the other, poses a great challenge for aviation. Aviation research must therefore aim to create an efficient, safe and environmentally friendly aviation.

IKON aviation research is particularly concerned with reducing or avoiding pollutant emissions from the aircraft as well as reducing aircraft noise. Furthermore, aviation must be digitised throughout.
For this purpose, IKON aviation research draws on the interdisciplinary work of its seven institutes, especially the Institute of Aviation Drive Systems. These institutes jointly develop innovative technological approaches for the future aviation, and thus propose a sustainable aviation system. Only an integrated research approach across the individual disciplines offers the opportunity to achieve the ambitious climate protection goals and thus a environmentally friendly aviation. The aim is to continue and implement key technologies within the framework of national guiding concepts and international programs in cooperation with industrial partners.

IKON is researching innovative, low-emission and more electrified drive systems for civil transport aircrafts.

The focus is on alternative aircraft engines based on hydrogen, which could complement or replace conventional aircraft engines. Due to a significantly higher system complexity of hydrogen engines, high technical requirements have to be met. Their advantage, however, would be that they are significantly quieter and more climate-friendly than conventional aircraft engines.

Research will also be carried out on new materials to develop more efficient batteries and fuel cells. Quantum computer technology can be used for this purpose.

For such innovative drive concepts, it is not only important to develop sophisticated control systems that guarantee efficient and safe operations, but also to develop appropriate certification rules in cooperation with partners and the responsible authorities in order to meet international aviation requirements.