On the slender wings of the tiny Pipistrel Velis Electro ride some of the greatest the hopes of the aviation industry — and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA).
On the slender wings of the tiny Pipistrel Velis Electro ride some of the greatest the hopes of the aviation industry — and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA). That’s because as the Canadian and global aviation sectors emerge from a three-year pandemic battering, they must change — slashing their climate-change-driving emissions while finding the new pilots, controllers and maintenance engineers they need to meet the urgent demands of new growth.
WISA was created to help the sector do all this, and experts from every University of Waterloo faculty are working hard to find new technologies, strategies and innovations to make aviation — as the institute’s name signals — sustainable. And backing up these experts is Waterloo’s impressive and inspirational technological infrastructure.
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is one of the most exciting examples of this. Not only is it the only type-certified electric plane in the world, but it is also the only one of its kind in Canada. Far from being a novelty or even a potential precursor to cleaner technology down the runway, the Pipistrel could quickly become a significant player in reducing aviation industry emissions by becoming a go-to trainer for student pilots in the place of conventional, internal-combustion powered airplanes.
Read more at University of Waterloo
Photo Credit: Frantisek_Krejci via Pixabay
