Next Generation Sky System Research Unit

The sky is a strategic domain for Japan, and viewed globally, aviation industries that use the sky (aircraft manufacturers and air transportation services) are important sectors in national policy, in terms of civil aviation agreements on air routes, airport infrastructure, safety and reliability certification, development of advanced technologies, and international economic relations. Japan’s aviation industry in particular is at a crossroads and needs to overcome a number of challenges to ensure independent private-aircraft development, such as establishing a safety-certification system for increasingly complex systems, deciding and systematizing future research and development goals, and building a regional aviation network. At the same time, aviation is experiencing a surge in creative growth, with rapid developments in small unmanned aircrafts (drones), small personal aircrafts (flying cars), and even space tourism collectively signifying a revolution in air transportation. This newly expanding frontier will demand new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, along with efforts to assess their risks, certify their safety, and develop international standards. This unit aims to be the hub for next-generation sky-system research at the University of Tokyo.

Specific areas of activity are:

1. Building methods for assessing the risks of complex systems, developing systems for certifying their safety and reliability, organizing relations with the parts and materials industries, and promulgating international standards.
2. Pioneering new uses for aviation and air-traffic control systems, new environmental rules, and performing social-benefit analyses.
3. Cultivating talent that will lay out a roadmap for advanced technologies that exploit advantages in materials and environmental technologies.
4. Cultivating talent that will facilitate innovation and risk management as components in a common platform.

We will perform synergistic studies that start from these various perspectives, to conduct research on the next generation of sky systems.