Complex Systems Engineering Department (DISC)

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At ISAE-SUPAERO, the Design and Operation of Aerospace Vehicles Department (DCAS) develops methods, simulation tools and experimental platforms for the design and operation of aerospace vehicles.

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The “Theory, Modeling and Systems Engineering” (ThéMIS) scientific group is dedicated to the study and development of advanced methods for the design, modeling and validation of complex systems.

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At ISAE-SUPAERO, we conduct cutting-edge research in the service of innovation, technological sovereignty and the ecological transition of the aerospace sector, thereby affirming our role as a leading player in the scientific and industrial community.

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The “Applied Mathematics” (AM) scientific group covers a wide range of topics: stochastic processes (especially Markov processes), numerical optimization (especially multidisciplinary optimization) and parallel computing, stabilization, control and numerical solution of partial differential equations, and financial engineering.

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The “Communication and Information Theory” (ComiT) scientific group is involved in the disciplines of digital communications, radar, and channel access techniques. Its fields of application include space systems, civil and military aviation, terrestrial cellular networks and the Internet of Things (IoT).

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Paolo has completed his thesis in the Complex Systems Engineering Department (DISC). His thesis is entitled: Navigation based on autonomous vision and shape reconstruction of an unknown asteroid during the approach phase. It is attached to the AA - Aéronautique Astronautique doctoral school. ISAE-SUPAERO hosts its doctoral students in six teams at ISAE-SUPAERO, ONERA and the Clément Ader Institute, covering a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines related to aeronautics and space: aerodynamics and propulsion, structures and materials, embedded systems, networks and telecommunications, systems control and operation, human factors, electronics and signals. ISAE-SUPAERO offers a rich and diversified doctoral training program, leading to the doctorate, the highest level diploma awarded by the institute, and recognized internationally. Link to his thesis: http://www.theses.fr/s253653

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Awarded a prize by the Académie des Sciences in 2020, Sylvestre Maurice #astrophysicist at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP) in Toulouse witnessed the landing of the #Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18, 2021. A historic moment for this enthusiast, who is also the scientific manager of the onboard SuperCam instrument. A 1990 graduate of ISAE-SUPAERO, Sylvestre Maurice tells us about his career.

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The Clément Ader Institute (UMR CNRS 5312) is the solid mechanics research laboratory for Toulouse and its region, under the aegis of the CNRS. It brings together research teams from four institutions and three ministries: the University of Toulouse III Paul Sabatier (National Education), INSA (National Education), ISAE-SUPAERO (Defense), and the École des Mines d'Albi (Industry). These institutions are located in three cities in Midi-Pyrénées: Toulouse, Albi, and Tarbes.

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Located 80 meters from the rover at the moment of take-off, the small helicopter rose to 5 meters above the ground before covering a distance of 133 meters before returning to land where it had taken off from. SuperCam's scientific microphone, developed by ISAE-SUPAERO, recorded the sound emitted by the rotation of the Martian drone's blades during its flight. This sound has a characteristic frequency of 84 Hz, equivalent to the low “E” of a piano or the bass voice of a human being. “This is a big surprise for the whole scientific team,” says Naomi Murdoch, a researcher at ISAE-SUPAERO who is studying the data from the microphone. "Tests carried out in a Martian atmosphere simulator to design this instrument, and our theories of sound propagation, indicated that the microphone would have great difficulty picking up the sounds of the helicopter. Indeed, Mars' thin atmosphere strongly attenuates sound transmission. We needed a bit of luck to record the helicopter from such a distance. We're very pleased to have succeeded in obtaining this recording, which is proving to be a goldmine for our understanding of the Martian atmosphere". Developed jointly by ISAE-SUPAERO and a consortium of CNRS laboratories and its partners, coordinated by CNES, SuperCam's microphone is derived from a consumer model adapted to withstand the Martian environment. It pursues 3 substantial scientific and technical objectives of the Mars 2020 mission: Study the sound associated with laser impacts on Martian rocks, to gain a better understanding of their mechanical properties. Improving our understanding of atmospheric phenomena (wind turbulence, dust eddies, wind interactions with the rover, and now with the helicopter). Understanding the sound signature of the rover's various movements (robotic arm and mast operations, driving on normal or uneven ground, pump monitoring, etc.). The microphone was first switched on a few hours after Perseverance landed. It recorded the first Martian sounds generated by turbulence in the atmosphere. It is used daily in conjunction with laser rock ablation for chemical analysis of Mars. ABOUT THE MARS 2020 MISSION: NASA is relying on Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the development of the Mars 2020 mission. SuperCam was developed jointly by LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA) and a consortium of laboratories attached to the CNRS, French universities and research establishments. Several Spanish universities, led by the University of Valladolid, are also contributing to the instrument. CNES is responsible to NASA for the French contribution to SuperCam. The instrument is operated alternately from LANL and the French Operations Center for Science and Exploration (FOCSE) at CNES in Toulouse.

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The “Space Systems for Planetology and Applications” (SSPA) scientific group focuses on one main area of research: the development of missions and associated technologies for geophysical exploration of the solar system.

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To strengthen the links between industry and research, more than 10 industrial R&D engineers have been made available to ISAE-SUPAERO as part of the France Relance plan! Cyril Geneste, research engineer at Latecoere, is one of them. Together with Miguel Charlotte, Associate Professor at the Institute, he looks back on this fruitful two-year collaboration. Their work, carried out in the ISAE-SUPAERO laboratories, focused on the behavior of aircraft door seals, which ensure cabin airtightness. Thanks to the Institute's cutting-edge equipment and academic expertise, Cyril Geneste was able in particular to carry out numerical modeling of seals in order to test their behavior. Students in their 3rdᵉ year of engineering studies were also involved in this work.

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Our Institute operates at the heart of a leading academic, scientific, and technological ecosystem. Driven by the strength of the ISAE-SUPAERO ENSICA Alumni Association network, supported by the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation, and enriched by EUROSAE's expertise in continuing education, our actions are part of a collective dynamic within the University of Toulouse and the ISAE Group. Committed to the major challenges of tomorrow, we are developing major initiatives within the Institute for Sustainable Aviation for sustainable aviation and the Defense Space Academy to meet the strategic challenges of space.

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Yves Gourinat is a professor of structural physics in the Structural Mechanics and Materials Department (DMSM) at ISAE-SUPAERO. Already a corresponding member since 2019, he has just been elected a full member of the French Academy of Aeronautics and Space.

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Several DMSM researchers received the best poster award at the 14ᵉ EASN (European Aeronautic Science Network) conference dedicated this year to the theme “Innovation in Aviation & Sace towards sustainability today & tomorrow”!

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The Design and Operation of Aeronautical and Space Vehicles Department (DCAS) is part of the Lasbordes Air Operations Center (COAL), located on an airfield a few kilometers from the ISAE-SUPAERO campus. As part of its aeronautical training and research activities, COAL operates a fleet of 9 light aircraft.

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The “Design and Analysis of Critical Systems” (CASC) scientific group focuses on methods, processes and tools to support System Engineering and Systems Engineering.

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Noémie Martin, an ISAE-SUPAERO (ENSICA) engineer who graduated in 2018, was awarded a prize by the Lopez-Loreta Foundation in November 2024 for her project FASTE: Fabrication Additive des Structures performantes multi maTériaux pour utilisation en Environnement sévère.

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The “Integrated Image Sensors” (CIMI) scientific group, develops and characterizes active-pixel image sensors (CMOS Image Sensors (CIS)) on silicon for visible and infrared radiation.

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At ISAE SUPAERO, the Aerodynamics, Energetics, and Propulsion Department has a staff of 62, 30 research projects including 5 on a European scale, an exceptional fleet of test facilities for teaching and research purposes, and three research groups contributing to a growth strategy focused on 4 themes of current scientific and social-economic challenge, supported by 2 structuring projects: the SAA wind tunnel and the IC3 large-scale simulation code.

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ESA's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission to explore Mars will carry a unique instrument for recording sound and atmospheric data from the planet. The Institute has been selected by ESA and CNES for this major scientific collaboration.

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From February 24 to 26, forty-five students will explore three topical issues involving Artificial Intelligence (AI) during a three-day hackathon. The student teams involved will attempt to meet the challenges posed by three industrial partners on the themes of the environment, industrialization and digitization technology. ISAE-SUPAERO confirms its commitment to training in data science and artificial intelligence through its Decision and Data Sciences (DDS) course.

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Studying the formation and origin of Mars' moons and bringing back samples: this is the extraordinary, ambitious international mission led by JAXA, in which ISAE-SUPAERO is participating alongside CNES.

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At ISAE-SUPAERO, Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez heads SaCLaB, a research laboratory focusing on future space systems. A professor of space systems engineering, she has just been elected to the French Air and Space Academy.

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Stanford University recently published an updated list of the world's most influential scientists, which includes eight ISAE-Supaero faculty members.

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ISAE-SUPAERO is one of the signatories of the National Charter of Ethics for Research Professions, adopted in January 2015 by the Conference of University Presidents (CPU) and all national research organizations, and incorporated into the Institute's internal regulations.

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The scientific dynamic of the “Connected Systems” (SysCo) scientific group focuses primarily on network-related issues in aerospace applications, i.e. space communications, embedded networks and certain types of connected systems.

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ISAE-SUPAERO continues to contribute to the open science movement and has created a new open archive platform called OPEN SCIENCE ISAE-SUPAERO. It provides everyone with access to our theses, publications, scientific instruments and technological platforms.

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At the Languages, Arts, Cultures, and Societies Department (LACS), we teach languages, interculturality, geopolitics, general culture, economics, sports, etc. Multidimensional skills that bring out knowledge, interpersonal skills, know-how and interpersonal skills.

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Anthéa completed her thesis in the Complex Systems Engineering Department (DISC). Her thesis is entitled “Vision-based autonomous rendezvous with non-cooperative targets”. Anthéa is attached to the AA - Aéronautique Astronautique doctoral school. Her thesis, carried out in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space, is part of the CIFRE* program ISAE-SUPAERO hosts its doctoral students in six teams at ISAE-SUPAERO, ONERA and the Clément Ader Institute, covering a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines related to aeronautics and space: aerodynamics and propulsion, structures and materials, onboard systems, networks and telecommunications, systems control and operation, human factors, electronics, signals. ISAE-SUPAERO offers a rich and diversified doctoral training program, leading to the doctorate, the highest level diploma awarded by the institute, and recognized internationally. *Since 1981, the CIFRE scheme - Conventions Industrielles de Formation par la REcherche (Industrial Conventions for Training through Research) - has enabled companies to benefit from financial assistance to recruit a young doctoral student whose research, supervised by a public research laboratory, will lead to the completion of a thesis in three years. CIFREs are fully funded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, which has entrusted ANRT (Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie) with their implementation.

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The Mechanics of Structures and Materials Department is responsible for organizing and supervising all teaching activities in deformable solid mechanics for ISAE-SUPAERO training courses, in synergy with upstream and applied research activities on aeronautical materials and structures. This strong interaction between teaching and research is the foundation of our department's organization.

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Dr Naomi Murdoch, researcher in space instrumentation and planetary science, and Dr Alexander Stott, post-doctoral fellow, tell us more about the physical characteristics of Mars' atmosphere, in particular the speed of sound and its attenuation. These analyses were published in Nature on April 1, 2022 by an international team led by a teacher-researcher from Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University, and including scientists from CNRS and ISAE-SUPAERO.

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A team of DEOS researchers has achieved a significant milestone in the use of infrasound data captured by stratospheric balloons to understand seismic signals. This breakthrough, published in Earth Planets Space*, opens up new perspectives for the study of earthquakes, both on Earth and on other planets.

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Created in 2021 on the initiative of internationally renowned academic institutions with longstanding academic expertise in aeronautics and air transport, the ISA is an institute dedicated to the challenges of aviation's transition to sustainability.

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Six researchers from ISAE-SUPAERO, EPFL and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have been awarded the AIAA Best Scientific Paper Award for their paper “DeepGeo: Deep Geometric Mapping for Automated and Effective Parameterization in Aerodynamic Shape Optimization”.

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The “Photonics Antenna Microwave PlasmaA” (PAMPA) scientific group is interested in electromagnetism in the fields of microwaves and photonics, as well as wave-plasma interactions.

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ISAE-SUPAERO has been integrating quantum physics into its training and research activities uninterruptedly since 1980, and for the past two decades has been offering courses linked to the second quantum revolution.

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The “Navigation, Radar and Remonte Sensing” (NAVIR² eS) scientific group is interested in the theoretical study of information sources and hybridization approaches for autonomous vehicle navigation applications.