EASA's Scientific Committee (SciComm)

The EASA’s Scientific Committee (SciComm) has been established to provide advice to the EASA Executive Director on scientific issues that may influence the future development of the EASA expertise in scientific and technical domains linked to research, innovation, and disruptive technologies. Furthermore, the group will advise the Executive Director as regards processes in aviation that may impact Aviation Safety, Environmental Protection, Security, and Aviation Health Safety.

Advice from the SciComm will help EASA to adapt its strategic competence and business model development needs to accompany societal, environmental, and technological transformations.

The Committee may additionally provide the scientific related support for the preparation of EASA Webinars on innovative/disruptive technologies and other events linked to innovative/disruptive concepts.

Members of the SciComm

The SciComm Members are appointed by the EASA Executive Director based on the list of independent external experts maintained by EASA as a result of Call(s) for Expression of Interest EASA.2019.CEI.14. Members were chosen for their expertise, being mostly of academic nature, with direct access to universities, Academia and PhD networks.

EASA evaluated their competences to ensure commitment to the furthering of safety, environmental protection, security, research, innovation and aviation health safety activities through an adequate coverage and balance in terms of:

  • Academic and/or Industrial expertise;
  • Range of views and competencies within the scientific community (i.e. coverage of the most relevant scientific fields linked to the needs of the EASA activities);
  • Experience in a range of relevant research and innovation activities with publications and/or public appearances, or PhD schemes

In December 2021, EASA appointed the following chairman and members for the Committee for a duration of three years in their personal capacity:

Prof. Dr. Peter Hecker,
Chairman of SciComm
Vice President TU Braunschweig
Dr. Nicholas Asher
As director of the Artificial and natural Intelligence Toulouse Institutes.
Prof. Frances Brazier
Professor at TU Delft in Intelligent systems
Prof. Marianna Jacyna
Dean of Warsaw Faculty Transport
Prof. Martin Kaltschmitt
Head of the Institute of Environmental technology and Energy economics
Prof. Christiane Schmidt
Senior Associate Professor in the Academic Excellence in ATM and UTM Research Group, Communications and Transport Systems division, Department of Science and Technology (ITN) at Linköping University
Prof. Nicole Viola
Associate Professor of Aerospace Systems at Politecnico di Torino and Post-Graduate master programs with ISAE-Supaero and Leicester University
Prof. Marco Lovera
Leading the research laboratory of the Aerospace Systems and Control Laboratory at the University Politecnico di Milano advanced systems
Dr. Torben Hovald
Analysis and Monitoring Unit Team Leader, European Union Agency for Railways

 

Work programme and reporting

The SciComm Chairperson is coordinating the yearly work programme and activities with the EASA Chief Engineer.

Work programme 2022

Three themes have been selected by EASA for the SciComm work programme in 2022:

  1. Artificial Intelligence: provide advice on development of AI Level 2 guidance.
  2. Trends regarding weather-related hazards: provide advice on the impact of climate change on weather-related hazards for commercial aeroplanes.
  3. Support the launch of EASA PhD Scheme and contribute to the assessment of abstracts as well as to the organisation of the related public event.

Reporting

A collective report on the SciComm inputs and advices will be provided to the EASA Executive Director on an annual basis.