A review article, “Public perception of advanced aviation technologies: A review and roadmap to acceptance,” published in the prestigious journal examines the advancements made toward the adoption of advanced aviation technologies such as drones and air taxis. The review, authored by , (ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research), and , is only the fourth article published in the journal by a Canadian-led team since 2018. With the increasing popularity of drones among the public, the topic of public perception about them has come to the attention of both industry and government. This article quantifies trends in recent studies and provides a critical analysis of drone applications that are more favourable to the public. The authors also explore how the support for air taxis has grown over time and current estimates suggest that nearly half of individuals would be willing to fly on one of these vehicles.

Since completing his Ph.D. at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ in 2021, Dr. Tepylo’s research has focused on the public perception of drones and how these platforms can be better integrated into society. As a pilot and aircraft systems engineer, Dr. Tepylo is both cautious and optimistic about the future uses of these technologies and how the current air traffic management system will accommodate these vehicles. While most new technologies are adopted due to their perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, the integration of air taxis will be based primarily on society’s trust in the technology. That trust will take time to develop and will require members of the public to experience the safe operation of autonomous air or ground vehicles in one form or another.

In 2022, Dr. Tepylo led a study on the level of acceptance of drones in Canada and found that the results are similar to other Western countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, but fall behind technology-based economies such as Singapore. Drone missions for the public good, such as search and rescue, climate monitoring, and firefighting, receive the highest levels of support, while applications that benefit corporations, such as newsgathering and package delivery, are viewed the least favourably. Privacy is the number one concern of the public, and Tepylo and Laliberte have begun a new project looking at how drones have the potential to invade one’s privacy and implementing a privacy-by-design framework to mitigate the risk of a data breach.  Professor Jeremy LalibertĂ© leads a research group of 22 research personnel at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, primarily focused on the innovative use of drones and advanced air mobility. He also serves on Transport Canada’s and is an associate editor of the journal.

Tepylo and Laliberté partnered with Dr. Anna Straubinger, a transport economist at the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim, Germany. She is an internationally recognized expert on the economics of urban air mobility, specifically on use cases, sustainability, and influences of urban air mobility on citizens and the urban fabric. Together, the team discussed the current state of public perception and presented a roadmap that both industry and governments can take to ensure the successful adoption of advanced aviation technologies.

The full publication can be found here: .

A few weeks later, Tepylo and Laliberté received news that another paper they authored, “Public perception of remotely piloted aircraft systems in Canada“, this time with Co-op student would be published in the journal . This article explores the public perception of drones in Canada and is the first major study of its kind in Canada since 2014. The authors performed a nation-wide survey and found that Canadians are more supportive of drones now than ever before. With their increase in popularity as a consumer product, the term “drone” is viewed more favourably than others, such as “unmanned aerial vehicle.” Surprisingly, the study found that older individuals are more supportive of drones when their use case is explained in comparison with younger individuals. This finding and others described in the article suggest that educating the public is the key to widespread acceptance of such technologies.

To read about all of the findings from their study, the full article is available here:

This webinar will be presented by Dr. Nick Tepylo on Friday, October 28th at 12:00 PM ET.

Bio: Dr. Nick Tepylo is Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. He earned his PhD in 2021 from ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University and Institut National des Sciences AppliquĂ©es de Toulouse (INSA-Toulouse) in France. Nick also holds a B.Eng. and M.A.Sc. from ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University and his research efforts are focused in the areas of design and societal integration of advanced aviation technologies, ice protection system development, coating design and evaluation, additive manufacturing technologies, and human factors engineering. Nick became interested in aviation at a young age which led him to obtain a pilot’s license and become an aviation instructor. He aspires to become a professor of aerospace engineering whose research will improve safety in the aviation industry. When Nick is not working, he likes to spend time outdoors enjoying running, cycling, and hiking.

Click to register for Dr. Tepylo’s webinar.

The modern aviation field has seen a lot of change since its beginning approximately 120 years ago. Advancements such as transatlantic flight and the development of avionics technologies and composite materials have changed how we think about aviation and how we envision its limits. Advanced aviation technologies such as remotely piloted aircraft systems (i.e., “drones”) and urban air mobility may be the next big shift in the aviation industry. While those with experience in aviation and STEM generally have a positive outlook towards advanced aviation technologies, the views of the general public are less understood. The objective of Dr. Tepylo’s work is to investigate how the public views emerging technologies such as drones and urban air mobility and to evaluate how their perception may be influenced by external sources of information such as the perceived risk-benefit ratio of a particular application or even how technologies are portrayed by the media. Their research team has generated a survey aiming to collect information on the Canadian public’s perception of new aviation technologies, particularly, their awareness, concerns, anticipated uses, and level of support.

On Friday, April 22nd, 2022, Dr. Tepylo’s talk presented the idea that public perception of technology is a greater barrier to overcome than the development of the technology itself and apply this idea to remotely piloted aircraft systems and urban air mobility. The key topics addressed are the perception of commercial aviation and flight behaviours, feelings toward autonomous technologies in different applications, evaluation of risk through different environmental and security factors, and lastly, an exploration of the transportation needs of members of the public and how they would plan to incorporate urban air mobility into their lives. Finally, a framework for disseminating survey results was presented.

Bio: Dr. Nick Tepylo is Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. He earned his PhD in 2021 from ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University and Institut National des Sciences AppliquĂ©es de Toulouse (INSA-Toulouse) in France. Nick also holds a B.Eng. and M.A.Sc. from ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University and his research efforts are focused in the areas of design and societal integration of advanced aviation technologies, ice protection system development, coating design and evaluation, additive manufacturing technologies, and human factors engineering. Nick became interested in aviation at a young age which led him to obtain a pilot’s license and become an aviation instructor. He aspires to become a professor of aerospace engineering whose research will improve safety in the aviation industry. When Nick is not working, he likes to spend time outdoors enjoying running, cycling, and hiking.

Visit the Aerial Evolution Association of Canada website for the !

With over 14,000 students on six campuses in Ireland’s Midwest and Midlands, TUS is Ireland’s newest most unique Technological University. Through applied learning and fresh thinking, their focus is on meeting the evolving needs of society and industry, within their region and beyond.

With principal campuses at Limerick and Athlone, they benefit from an already strong and vibrant history of education and learning in the wider region, and look forward to playing their part in sustaining and enhancing this identity for generations to come.

We at the UTILI Program look forward to our continued collaboration with our old and new partners at TUS as they move into this new chapter of growth.

“Drones are our eyes in the sky, and they give us novel ways of understanding what’s happening on the ground. Drone-mounted sensors and cameras can help identify hot spots that can cause potential forest fires, inspect aging infrastructure, and identify the impact of climate change and extreme weather events. And they take a pretty decent picture too.

But drones are an emerging technology, and their full potential is far from being realized. ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ is working with 12 industry partners to get graduate students hands-on, industry experience that will help them develop the next generation of drone applications.”