Altair, a company engaged in the field of computational intelligence, and Manta Aircraft, theItalian startup that conceived the innovative long-range eVSTOL (verticaland short take off and landing) hybrid-electric platform “ANN,” a family of hybrid-electric aircraft that fly like airplanes but take off and land like helicopters, announced the signing of the strategic collaboration agreement at the DRIFTx event in Abu Dhabi.
The partnership lays the foundation in the Aerospace Startup Acceleration Program (ASAP), a collaborative framework that Altair has created specifically for aerospace and defense startups, aimed at accelerating design, testing, certification and entry into service of next-generation aircraft, launchers and satellites.
Designed to meet the specific needs of the aerospace industry, Altair’s Aerospace Startup Accelerator Program will provide Manta Aircraft with unlimited use of the entire simulation and data analytics platform, with all its artificial intelligence and machine learning features, as well as unlimited access to the training platform with online and customized courses. This support will accelerate Manta Aircraft’s journey, reduce risks, reduce costs, and facilitate critical decision making through data-driven analytics.
“Altair is committed to supporting those who dare to push the boundaries of engineering to innovate faster and change the world,” says Paolo Colombo, global director of strategy, aerospace and defense at Altair, in a note. “This commitment is demonstrated by Altair’s support of promising startups such as Manta Aircraft, providing an accelerator program designed to overcome the specific challenges of the aerospace industry.
The prototype within 12 months
Manta Aircraft will use these resources to finalize the design for the production of 1:1 scale prototypes of its “ANN2” platform demonstrator within the next 12 months. In addition, the Italian company will continue to design other models such as the “ANN Plus,” a versatile 6-seat multi-seater, and an autonomous configuration.
Lucas Marchesini, CEO Manta Aircraft, says, “We at Manta are very grateful to Altair for their confidence in our project and their decision to support us with the tools and specific expertise Altair has acquired over the years. We are confident that we will be able to solve the exceptional technical challenges in the various areas of the Manta project using the wide range of tools Altair has made available to us.”
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