SESAR SWIM Master Class winners announced
The winners, which were announced during a Best-in-Class ceremony at Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels (above), were among 39 SWIM-enabled ATM information solutions that were submitted to the Master Class jury for nomination in three categories: services, applications and technical infrastructure. The ceremony also demonstrated live some 20 services and applications, illustrating that SWIM is quickly becoming a reality within the global ATM system.
The ceremony brought to a close the third edition of the SESAR SWIM Master Class, which took place between June and November 2014 and welcomed 81 international teams actively developing and demonstrating their SWIM-enabled applications, services and technical infrastructure.
SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) was set up to modernise and harmonise ATM systems through the definition, development and deployment of innovative technological and operational solutions. SWIM represents a complete paradigm change in how information is managed along its full lifecycle and across the whole European ATM system. Building on the best practices from different information communities, the aim of SWIM is to provide information users with relevant and commonly understandable information. This means making the right air traffic management information available at the right time to aircraft, airports, air traffic controllers, and air navigation service providers, airline operation centres, military operation centres, ground vehicles, flow management centres, and weather service providers.
Held annually, the Master Class is a chance for Air Traffic Management (ATM) stakeholders to share their experiences and best practices in implementing the concept of SWIM. In doing so, the Master Class has become an important global platform through which to build a critical mass of knowledge and excellence about SWIM and to translate the concept into real solutions.
In the Services category, the Best-in-Class award went to the Geodetic Calculation Services (GCS), submitted by SOLITEC, an Austrian-based software solutions company. The winning module offers services based on geodetic or distance calculations, such as the length of route segments, which are then visualised on a map. GCS validates these calculations against the data provided in an AIXMBasicMessage. “For an SME like SOLITEC, the SESAR SWIM Master Class offers an excellent opportunity for receiving feedback, to validate the use cases for potential SWIM compliant solutions and to share experiences gained throughout its development with other participants and the SWIM community as a whole,” said Wolfgang Scheucher, Executive Business Development, SOLITEC Software Solutions GesmbH.
A second-place award was handed out to FlightAware, a US-based company, for providing a live feed of Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) flight position data on some 100,000 aircraft per day. This service was used by several other proposals in this SESAR SWIM Master Class.
“SESAR SWIM Master Class 2014 has been a great avenue for FlightAware to collaborate with SWIM providers, developers, and consumers to create innovative ATM solutions. It is refreshing to see such an open forum for information and idea sharing and we look forward to manifesting our participation in future iterations of the Master Class event,” said Daniel Baker, Chief Executive Officer, FlightAware.
Meanwhile, the Best-in-Class award in the Applications category went to the Collaborative Airspace Provision Application, submitted by Airbus Defence and Space, together with Luciad. The application shows how the use of reserved and shared airspace can be optimised through the sharing of flight plan data and airspace data following SESAR SWIM definitions, concepts and standards (AIXM, FIXXM, WXXM). “We very much regard the sharing of knowledge on SWIM and associated services as THE enabler to boost ATM in Europe in the future. Airbus Defence and Space and Luciad are highly honoured that our solution is recognized as a great achievement amongst European partners. We will strive to continue as competent partners in the SESAR initiative to further develop the abilities of SWIM,” said Edwin Pittomvils, Head of Integrated Systems, Airbus Defence and Space.
A runner-up prize was awarded to Luciad, Vito and Flight Plus for their platform on Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems Very Low Level Operation Coordination (RPAS VLLOC). “Flight Plus, Luciad and VITO are very pleased with the recognition by the SESAR SWIM team of the RPAS VLLOC submission. The SESAR SWIM Master Class demonstrates to be an enabler to network and cooperate with other companies and organizations. It also shows to be a great opportunity to be able to work on SWIM technology,” Frank Suykens, Chief Technology Officer, Luciad.
Finally, the Best-in-Class award in the Technical Infrastructure category was won by Selex ES for its SWIM Box Platform, which aims to ease the interoperability of the different systems currently in use in different areas of airspace. No runner-up was awarded in this category. “Selex ES participated in the SWIM Master Class since its first edition. We consider it a unique opportunity to promote our efforts on SWIM and discover opportunities to collaborate with other participants. So far, we have won two awards last year and one this year. We hope to continue with this successful trend!,” said Dario Di Cresenzo, Programme Manager, Selex ES.
“I would like to congratulate the winning entries as well as the finalists of this year’s edition of the SESAR SWIM Master Class, whose innovations clearly illustrate what can be achieved in such little time and with few resources. Without a doubt, thanks to the SESAR SWIM Master Class, the level of engagement in SWIM is increasing year by year, as is the quality of the applications and services proposed by ATM stakeholders,” said Peter Hotham, Deputy Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, who closed the awards ceremony.
