AEROSPACE CONTROL EDUCATION
Paolo Castaldi
Abstract
This plenary talk presents a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of control education for aerospace engineering, drawing on the key outcomes from the first two IFAC Workshops on Aerospace Control Education, held in 2021 and 2024. The 2021 edition was organized by Prof. Marco Lovera (NOC Chair) and Prof. Paolo Castaldi (Co-NOC), while the 2024 edition was chaired by Prof. Paolo Castaldi. Sponsored by IFAC Technical Committee 7.3 (Aerospace) and co-sponsored by TC 9.4 (Control Education), these events attracted significant international engagement and featured a total of 70 accepted papers, underscoring the growing importance and visibility of this emerging educational domain.
For the first time in the literature, this plenary talk provides a structured and critical survey of the approaches, tools, and pedagogical practices used in teaching control systems within aerospace engineering curricula. Synthesising insights from both workshops and recent scholarly work, the talk is organised around the following key thematic areas:
- Tools, Testbeds, and Laboratories: Presentations showcased a broad array of physical and virtual environments that enhance experiential learning in aerospace control, reinforcing theory through hands-on implementation.
- AI and Digital Technologies: The integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital twin technologies into aerospace control education is rapidly transforming course content, delivery methods, and student engagement.
- Emerging Technologies and Simulation Tools: The use of virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR), simulators and real-time platforms is expanding the boundaries of traditional control education and improving accessibility.
- Drones as Educational Platforms: UAVs and quadrotors have become increasingly popular for teaching real-time control, navigation, and system integration, providing a low-cost, high-impact platform for project-based learning.
- Project-Based Learning (PBL): PBL strategies were widely reported as effective in promoting deep learning, teamwork, and problem-solving skills among aerospace engineering students.
- Innovative Pedagogies and Learning Experiences: Case studies presented diverse and innovative instructional approaches, including curriculum redesigns, classrooms
organization, industrial contributions and novel assessment frameworks tailored specifically to aerospace control topics.
Key takeaways of this plenary lecture for the aerospace control education community include: - Broad recognition of the value of interdisciplinary, hands-on, and experiential learning approaches. - Clear trends toward the integration of cutting-edge technologies into aerospace control instruction. - A shared call for increased international collaboration, open educational resources, and knowledge exchange. - The formation of a growing global network committed to advancing control education in the aerospace domain. By the conclusion of the talk, participants will have gained a rich perspective on current best practices, innovative methods, and future directions in control education for aerospace engineering, informing curriculum development and instructional strategies across undergraduate, graduate, and professional training programs.
Biography
Prof. Paolo Castaldi received the Master Degree cum laude in Electronic Engineering and the Ph.D in System Engineering from UNIBO. He is currently an Associate Professor at Department of Electric, Electronic and Information Engineering of the University of Bologna “Guglielmo Marconi” and has the Italian Scientific Habilitation as Full Professor. Paolo Castaldi published a research book, several book chapters and more than 220 refereed and indexed journal and conference papers.
He has been a plenary speaker for two congresses and NOC and IPC of several congresses. In 2024 he was the NOC of the second edition of the IFAC workshop on “Aerospace Control Education”. He has been a coordinator and member of several research and industrial projects involving experimental aircraft. He is chair of the IFAC TC 7.3 on Aerospace (previously vice-chair for Education), Member of IEEE TC on Aerospace, Chair of IFAC Task Force on Coordination of Educational Activities with IEEE and Other Organisations and member of IFAC TC 9.4 on Education. Since 2015, he is Associated Editor of Control Engineering, Practice, Journal of Franklin Institute, Aerospace Engineering Journal (Wiley) and since 2022 of Frontiers in Control Engineering. He was awarded with prizes issued by IFAC, Mathworks and KK-Electronics in 2012 and 2014 at the international competition on fault detection and fault tolerant control of wind turbine. He published in 2025 on Nature. He has the license as Private Pilot (PPL) and for piloting drones till 24 kg and has been coordinator of several Permit to Fly procedures. He currently teaches the course “Advanced Guidance and Control for Aircraft and Spacecraft” for the Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include: Aerospace Control Education; Intelligent Control for Aircraft, Spacecraft and Marine Vehicles; Fault Diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Control, Nonlinear Geometric Approach Theory, Fractional System Control, Adaptive Filtering, Neural Network, and System Identification.
These techniques have been applied to UAVs, experimental FW aircraft, marine vehicle industrial processes, power plants and renewable energy conversion systems.
