The Polytechnic University of Valencia is co-organizing this technical meeting with ENAIRE and the Benidorm City Council, bringing together students from the Master’s Degree in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Related Technologies with the sector’s leading regulators and operators.
The city of Benidorm hosted a workshop focused on the use of drones and airspace management within the digital ecosystem U-space. The event, sponsored and co-organized by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), ENAIRE (national air navigation service provider) and the Benidorm City Council, featured a notable turnout of students from the Master’s Degree in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Related Technologies (MUSANTTA), an official degree offered at the Higher Technical School of Design Engineering (ETSIADI)
Training in Advanced Technologies and Industry Connections
The Master’s Degree MUSANTTA It is designed to prepare its students to lead a rapidly expanding sector by applying state-of-the-art technologies in key areas such as land management, agriculture, security, and emergency response, among other industrial fields. Participation in this forum has given ETSIADI students the opportunity to see firsthand how actual drone operations are coordinated with airspace regulations.
The technical program brought together experts from institutions and industry. Among the notable presentations was that of Israel Quintanilla, director of the UPV’s Official Drone Commission and professor in the graduate program, who, along with Daniel García-Monteavaro (ENAIRE) discussed the simulation of operations and the impact of U-space on unmanned aircraft operators. The panel was rounded out by presentations from Norberto Vera (EUROCONTROL) on the U-space project; Mariña Álvarez (Head of the Airspace Policy Division at the DGAC) on the PANDU+ National Action Plan; Juan José Cortés (Director General of Innovation for the Valencian Regional Government); and Toni Pérez (Mayor of Benidorm)
Benidorm as a testing environment and the UPV’s applied approach
During the meeting, Benidorm’s status as an urban laboratory was highlighted (living lab) for the deployment of this technology in controlled airspace. Pioneering initiatives coordinated by the UPV were highlighted, such as the first European test of simultaneous flight by an air taxi (the EHang EH216 model) and multiple drones in a real urban environment with skyscrapers, conducted as part of the European project U-ELCOME.
For ETSIADI graduate students, the event facilitated the exchange of knowledge with service providers, policymakers, and law enforcement and emergency response agencies that use unmanned systems as a critical tool in their operations.
Through these types of activities, the ETSIADI and the UPV reinforce the practical and innovative nature of the MUSANTTA, training professionals capable of transforming multiple sectors through the integrated use of unmanned aircraft and related technologies