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The building blocks of aerospace began with research and now has an important role to play in the future of the industry. In September 2021, Queen’s became a member of the , a collaborative group that brings together academics, industry, key organizations, and government stakeholders to advance Canada’s global aerospace industry leadership.

“The past few years have seen significant growth for DAIR,” says Phil Arthurs, Director of Operations of DAIR. “Our vision is to become a world-leading aerospace innovation hub and one of the ways we see that happening is by providing a platform for industry, academia, and government to come together, through DAIR, to foster and advance research and development partnerships.”

Queen’s membership in DAIR will provide more opportunities for industry-academic collaborations in areas such as design optimization, acoustics, control and robotics, fluid mechanics, and advanced materials.

On June 16, 2022, Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) hosted Phil Arthurs, DAIR Director of Operations and Ethan Taylor, DAIR Research Assistant, to showcase some of the innovative research and facilities available at the university.

“We wanted to host DAIR to help them get to know us better,” says Shoma Sinha, Partnerships Development Officer with QPI. “Enabling DAIR to meet some of our faculty and to see first-hand the aerospace-related and aerospace-adjacent research happening at the university can create opportunities for researchers to connect with industry partners and further developments in the field.”

The day with DAIR started off-campus, with the group visiting , an open-access lab where academics and industry can develop prototypes using micro- and nano-fabrication technologies.

From there, DAIR was hosted by , where they had the opportunity to meet with Ramzi Asfour, Associate Director of Ingenuity Labs as well as professors Dr. Amy Wu, Dr. Matthew Pan, and Dr. Matthew Robertson. Their tour of the Ingenuity Labs with Kate Cowperthwaite further demonstrated the unique collaborative space, equipment and multi-disciplinary research being conducted.

With as much ground to cover as possible in a short period of time, the DAIR team toured the ePOWER labs and met with Dr. Majid Pahlevani, in Walter Light Hall, and also met with the graduate student team in Jackson Hall.

Next on the agenda was a visit to MacLaughlin Hall.

Following an insightful tour through the , DAIR met with Dr. Chris Mechefske in the System Dynamics Research Lab and Dr. Gabby Ciccarelli’s Explosion Physics and Prevention Laboratory. To round out the day, Dr. Ugo Piomelli hosted DAIR for a presentation overview of the .

“It was really great to be able to see the facilities in person and speak with the researchers,” says Taylor. “The information we collected and the connections we made will be excellent in enhancing collaboration opportunities for Queen’s aerospace research and development.”