I’m incredibly honoured to be invited to speak at the upcoming Aircraft Icing Forum, a recurring monthly forum that brings together experts from research, industry, and regulatory bodies to discuss aircraft icing technologies, certification, and operational challenges – hosted by the FAA and NASA.
The Aircraft Icing Forum plays a unique role in the icing community by providing a continuous space for open technical exchange—something that is increasingly important as aviation expands into new operational domains. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to these discussions with a focus on UAVs and emerging aircraft concepts.
Why “new frontiers” of aircraft icing?
Unmanned aerial systems (UAVs), eVTOL platforms, urban air mobility concepts, and zero-emission aircraft are rapidly expanding aviation into a new future. Along with new capabilities and mission profiles, these aircraft introduce a new frontier of icing challenges.
Unlike conventional aircraft, many emerging platforms:
- Operate with very limited power and mass margins,
- Rely heavily on electrification and autonomy,
- Feature non-traditional configurations (distributed propulsion, small propellers, novel airframes), and
- Fly in operational environments where icing exposure cannot always be avoided.
These factors fundamentally change how icing affects performance, safety, and system design—and they demand new technical solutions rather than direct adaptations of legacy approaches.
What I’ll cover in the talk
My presentation, titled “New Frontiers of Aircraft Icing: UAVs and Beyond”, will provide a broad introduction to how icing manifests on UAVs, eVTOLs, and emerging aircraft, and why established icing paradigms must be re-examined for these platforms.
Using UAV icing as a central example, the talk will highlight:
- How icing physics, aerodynamics, and system impacts differ for small, electrically powered, and highly autonomous aircraft
- Why new modelling, detection, and protection technologies are required to meet safety and operational needs
- Recent advances in UAV icing research, including experimental methods and system-level approaches
- Ongoing international initiatives and key open questions that must be addressed to enable safe and scalable operations across this rapidly evolving landscape
The goal is not only to share recent progress, but also to stimulate discussion around where the community should focus next, particularly at the intersection of technology development, certification, and operations.
UAV Icing Lab 