People

Dr. Richard Hann is the director of the UAV Icing Lab. Richard got his degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He completed his PhD on the topic of icing on UAVs at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2020. Today, Richard is leading the research at the UAV Icing Lab to generate knowledge and solutions that will unlock the potential of unmanned aircraft in icing conditions. Visit Richard’s personal blog.

Prof. Tor Arne Johansen is the co-director and a professor at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics. He has an MSc and a PhD in Engineering Cybernetics from NTNU. Professor Johansen is also a key scientist at the Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (AMOS) and has laid the foundation for UAV icing research at NTNU. Visit Tor Arne’s research profile.

Nicolas Carlo Müller is an industrial PhD candidate at NTNU and UBIQ Aerospace on the topic of icing on propellers of UAVs. He graduated in 2020 from the University of Stuttgart as an aerospace engineer. He gained experience with computational fluid dynamics during his bachelor thesis on the numerical calculations of component temperatures and did apply those in a year developing aerodynamic simulations for the Formula Student team “Greenteam”, of the University of Stuttgart. While studying, he did also work for 3 years in the aerodynamics department of an automotive company in Germany.  His master thesis was about the numerical calculation of ice accretion on propellers of UAVs. Now, his PhD project is working on the issue of icing on the propeller of UAVs, where he is researching the hazards of ice accretion and developing an Icing protection system for the propeller of UAVs. He is also working as an aerospace engineer at UBIQ Aerospace.

Joachim Wallisch is a PhD student at the UAV Icing Lab. His research focuses on the optimization of de-icing systems on UAVs. Joachim graduated as an aerospace engineer from the University of Stuttgart in Germany. The topic of his Master thesis was to design an icing wind tunnel for UAVs. Joachim also holds a position as an aerospace engineer at UBIQ Aerospace. In both positions, he applies his skill set and his interest in aerodynamics and thermodynamics to predict performance penalties due to icing and to improve the performance of ice protection systems.

Michael Cheung graduated with a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering (Meng) from the University of Sheffield and a master’s degree in Cybernetics (MsC) from NTNU. He is currently a PhD student at the UAV Icing Lab at NTNU. His master thesis topic was developing an energy consumption model to an existing UAV path planning algorithm. This included the energy consumption due to performance degradation of aerodynamic surfaces and the consumption of the Icing Protection System to remove icing from these surfaces. His PhD continues this topic by aiming to develop a path planning toolbox for commercial use, which requires increased robustness of models used in the algorithm.

Bogdan Løw Hansen graduated with a master’s in Cybernetics and Robotics (M.Sc.) at NTNU in June 2021. Throughout his degree, he was involved in several student projects, such as Ascend NTNU and KTH FS, which broadened his skill base and helped define his current research direction. His research interests revolve around system identification, sensor data analysis, and implementation of automation algorithms with tools like ROS(2). The goal of his master’s thesis was to develop a real-time algorithm for electrothermal ice-shedding detection to be used on fixed-wing UAVs. The focus of his Ph.D. is a broadening and continuation of that work, with the objective to develop methods for safe operation of UAVs in icing conditions. In particular, this means development of performance-based and machine-learning-based ice detection algorithms.

Markus Lindner is a PhD student at the UAV Icing Lab. He graduated in 2021 from the University of Stuttgart as an aerospace engineer. First experiences with computational fluid dynamics were gained during his bachelor and master thesis and an internship at Airbus Defence and Space. He obtained experience in conducting experiments as a student assistant at the erosion test-bed at the Institute for Aircraft Propulsion of the University of Stuttgart. The research of his PhD project focuses on the ice accretion and performance degradation of UAVs by using numerical and experimental methods.

Mauro Ghirardelli is a PhD student at the University of Bergen (UiB) at the Geophysical Institute. Mauro is working on developing drones for meteorological applications.