RAeS Hamburg Lecture in Cooperation with HAW Hamburg, DGLR, VDI & ZAL

The BSI, as a federal cybersecurity authority, has for several years been playing an increasingly larger role in the national network of air safety. It acts as a cooperative partner with the different organizations of aviation. 

2018 – 2020 MSSc in International Security and Law at University of Southern Denmark

2020 started working for BSI in the area of critical Infrastructure in the Transport sector

Since 2023 Head of Division Cybersecurity at Airports

Lecture in English

RAeS Hamburg lecture in cooperation with HAW Hamburg, DGLR, VDI & ZAL

The aviation sector has set ambitious targets to achieve net zero flight by 2050, there are several legislative, operational and technological pathways that will contribute towards this. Some of the greatest challenges are faced in developing solutions that will directly reduce the emissions of the aircraft.

This presentation will provide some insights into what technologies are being explored for future propulsion systems based on new and alternative fuels such as battery, hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels. It will explain how the incumbent primes are adopting different approaches to decarbonisation, while emerging companies are seeking to carve out niches with their disruptive technologies and business models.

James has over 25 years of experience in applied research in industry and academia, specializing in materials and manufacturing. After a decade in the UK steel industry, he joined the University of Sheffield to advance metals processing, including additive manufacturing and electron beam welding.

As Future Propulsion Lead at AMRC, he works with industrial partners on zero-emission transport technologies. He authored a report on hydrogen storage for the ATI's FlyZero programme and collaborates with ATI’s Hydrogen Capability Network on hydrogen aircraft adoption.

RAeS Hamburg Lecture in Cooperation with HAW Hamburg, DGLR, VDI & ZAL

Die Luftfahrtbefindet sich sowohl im zivilen als auch im militärischen Bereich in einem  technologischen Umbruch, wie es ihn seit der Einführung von Fly-by-wire oder dem Autopiloten nicht mehr gegeben hat. Fortschritte im Bereich der Datenverarbeitung, des Maschinellen Lernens und der Robotik ermöglichen zahlreiche neue Anwendungsfälle und enorme operative Mehrwerte.

Eine entscheidende Rolle spielt hierbei der Beitrag moderner Software sowie der zugehörigen Infrastruktur: Applikationen, die mithilfe von datenverarbeitenden, lernenden Methodenerstellt wurden, sind in der Lage, zunehmend große Datenmengen zu analysieren und damit menschliche Operateure bei der Durchführung von zuvor manuellen Tätigkeiten als auch der Entscheidungsfindung zu entlasten.

Ebenfalls werdender zeit technologische Anwendungen erschlossen, welche entscheidend sind zur Entwicklung weg weisender KI-Fähigkeiten für autonome Luftkampfsysteme. In diesem Vortrag werden ausgewählte Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze für den Einsatz vonKI-Algorithmen in der Luftfahrt vorgestellt. Hierbei soll auf technologische Gesichtspunkte sowie auch industrielle und regulatorische Erfolgsfaktoreneingegangen werden.

Helsing ist ein Schlüsseltechnologie- und Softwareunternehmen der neuesten Generation. Im Fokus: entscheidende KI-Fähigkeiten für den Sicherheits- und Verteidigungsbereich. Helsing wurde als inhabergeführtes Technologie-Unternehmen gegründet, um den ausschließlichen Geschäftszweck der Entwicklung und Einführung vonKI-Fähigkeiten im Sicherheitssektor zu verfolgen. Es ist Helsings Anspruch, als europäischer Technologievorreiter demokratische Gesellschaften zu befähigen, souveräne Entscheidungen zu treffen und eigene ethische Standards durchsetzen zu können.

Aviation is undergoing a technological transformation in both the civil and military sectors, comparable to the introduction of fly-by-wire or autopilot. Advances in data processing, machine learning, and robotics enable numerous new applications and significant operational benefits. Modern software and associated infrastructure play a crucial role.

Applications created using data-processing and learning methods can analyze increasingly large amounts of data, relieving human operators of previously manual tasks and decision-making. Technological applications are also being developed that are crucial for the development of ground breaking AI capabilities for autonomous air combat systems.

This presentation will highlight selected challenges and solutions for the use of AI algorithms in aviation, focusing on technological aspects as well as industrial and regulatory success factors.

Helsing is a key technology and software company of the latest generation, focusing on critical AI capabilities for the security and defense sector.

RAeS Hamburg Lecture in Cooperation with HAW Hamburg, DGLR, VDI & ZAL

Recent years have seen an explosion in aeronautical creativity, driven in part by the advent of cheap, powerful electric drive systems and efficient batteries. According to their many proponents, electric-powered aircraft that are capable of vertical takeoff and landing (aka. eVTOL aircraft) promise a future of quiet, efficient urban transport in which travel by air will be seen to be as commonplace and simple as hailing a taxi.

The aerodynamics of these vehicles is very complex, however. The wakes generated by their multiple rotors in the process of generating lift or thrust interact with each other to cause vibration and control problems, transitioning from vertical to horizontal flight is not a simple process, and, particularly when landing or taking off, a range of aerodynamic, structural dynamic and acoustic issues threaten to materialise. To what extent can, and has, the aerodynamic development of these vehicles benefited from past experience with helicopters and other historical VTOL aircraft, and to what extent have and will they require new knowledge to be derived and new design principles to be developed? To what extent do these vehicles pose new challenges that will need to be addressed in novel and creative ways? Perhaps more importantly, what can the study of this new class of vehicles add to the body of aeronautical knowledge as a whole?

Dr Richard Brown is an internationally respected authority on rotorcraft aerodynamics, with over thirty five years of experience in the field. After a long academic career, he now co-directs Sophrodyne Aerospace, an aerodynamics consultancy based in Glasgow. He was recently awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society's Bronze Medal for his contributions over the last decades to our understanding of rotorcraft aerodynamics, and also the Vertical Flight Society's award for extraordinary contributions to vertical flight, specifically for some of his work on eVTOL aerodynamics.

This event will take place on Tuesday, 2 December 2025 at the Anglo-German Club, Harvestehuder Weg 44, 20149 Hamburg. 

Reception at 18:15

Dinner at 19:00