Manuela Battipede is Associate Professor of Flight Mechanics & Control at the Politecnico di Torino , Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS). Since 2002 she has led research and teaching in aerospace guidance, airworthiness, neural-network-based virtual sensors, and trajectory optimisation, coordinating EU H2020 and Clean Sky projects, industrial airworthiness certification contracts, and supervising PhD students in aerospace engineering. Education & Academic Career Joined Politecnico di Torino as a confirmed Associate Professor (Prof.ssa Associata Confermata). Visiting Researcher, West Virginia University, USA (April–September 2002). Research Interests Her work integrates control theory , flight mechanics , and artificial-intelligence-based sensing to enhance safety and efficiency of air and space vehicles. Key themes include: 4-D trajectory optimisation for climate-neutral aviation. Certifiable virtual air-data systems using neural networks. Flutter suppression and intelligent flight control for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Low-thrust orbital mechanics, collision avoidance, and end-of-life disposal for satellites. Lighter-than-air platforms and VTOL hybrid drones for earth-observation and fire-monitoring missions. Scientific Awards & Recognition PoCN – Proof of Concept Network (2015), AREA Science Park, Italy. Regular evaluator for SESAR Joint Undertaking, EU H2020, and European Commission programmes. Doctoral Advising & Funding Since 2011 she has served on the PhD board of the Aerospace Engineering doctorate at Politecnico di Torino, currently supervising: Giorgio Antonio Orlando (39th cycle, 2023–) Gabriele Tarascio (39th cycle, 2023–) She has been Scientific Director of >20 competitively funded projects (EU Clean Sky MIDAS, ESA, MIUR-PRIN, EASA certification contracts, etc.) and commercial consultancy contracts exceeding €3 M. Laboratories & Teams Battipede leads the Modelling, Simulation and Control of Aircraft research group at DIMEAS, managing real-time hardware-in-the-loop test rigs, CubeSat development platforms, and an integrated multi-aircraft simulation laboratory for education and industrial validation.
