Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft

Two experts discuss the design and construction of Ascendance Flight Technologies’ new green VTOL aircraft project.

This episode of The Engineering Roundtable is brought to you by Dassault Systèmes.

Few developments in aviation have been as difficult to achieve as emissions-free flight. Combining green propulsion with vertical takeoff and landing, along with fixed wing speed and range used to be impossible, but Ascendance Flight Technologies has developed an electric aircraft that and not only fills all three performance requirements, but can do so as a commercially viable proposition. It’s a significant achievement, made possible by new generation of advanced design tools that incorporate high-level simulation, the Virtual Twin and cloud connectivity.

Joining engineering.com at the Engineering Roundtable to discuss these new state-of-the-art technologies are:

Panelists:

Benoît Ferran, Co-Founder and CTO, Ascendance Flight Technologies:

Entrepreneur and aeronautical engineer, Benoît Ferran work on the development of more sustainable aeronautical technologies. A graduate from ISAE-SUPAERO, he has 12 years of experience in electric and hybrid aviation where he took part in 2 of the very first all electric aircraft in the world in a Brazilian SME and at Airbus working on the E-FAN program. Benoît then co-founded Ascendance Flight Technologies in 2018 with 3 other former members of the E-FAN team to develop ATEA: a VTOL hybrid aircraft as a more sustainable alternative to helicopters as well as STERNA, its hybrid propulsion chain, that will be offered to other aircraft manufacturers to support the decarbonisation of the entire aviation industry. 

Roberto Licata, Aerospace & Defense Industry Solution Experience Director, Dassault Systèmes:

Roberto has over a decade of experience at Dassault and specializes in model-based systems engineering, design and simulation and since 2018, is responsible for the New Space, urban air mobility and startup innovation companies moving into these sectors.