The 2nd Annual Cycle of SC2C.Aero has run June 2018 to June 2019, a year where the objectives of SC2C.Aero has been spread towards dozens of important players of the triple helix. For this cycle, the convergence center has conquered an important funding to run for the next 18 months. In the following section, the main activities realized during the 2018-2019 are briefly explained.
The 2nd Annual Cycle was fulfilled with interesting meetings, detailed below.
In May, the coordination of SC2C.Aero was at FAPESC to present the initiative for the new president of the institution, Fabio Z. Holthausen. The reunion was also attended by the Amandio J. Silva, adjunt scretary at Sustainable and Economic Development/SC and Laercio A. Silva, business superintendent of CERTI Foundation. The opportunity was also a moment to show for players of the govern of Santa Catarina some initiatives in the aeronautical sector and cooperate with them to continuously strengthen the segment in the state.
COMDEFESA/SINOVA
In the end of the first semester, COMDEFESA had articulated with the armed forces the organization of the event Conexão Defesa in Santa Catarina. The Secretary of Innovation of UFSC (SINOVA) and SC2C.Aero were invited to support this initiative and coordinate the participation of the university. Unfortunately that event was cancelled, however a good relationship evolved from these meetings, resulting in exchange of information among the participants impacted positively in the participation of UFSC at SC EXPO DEFENSE.
COMDEFESA-Part 1
Due to the interaction with COMDEFESA (Committee of Defense Industry of Santa Catarina) in the SC Expo Defense, SC2C.Aero was invited to participate of a meeting at FIESC. In the same meeting there were dozens of industries, representative of govern and militaries to watch a lecture of General Sergio L. G. Duarte (Coordinator of SisDIA) about the project SISFRON (Monitoring System of Borders) and opportunities for industries of Santa Catarina. Demanding since primary products as food, clothes till satellites, SISFRON is an opportunity for SC2C.Aero promote its technical groups and be a supportive link for industries interested in develop new technologies within this context.
Representatives of SISFRON
As a result of the previous meeting with COMDEFESA, SC2C.Aero invited the General Adhemar C. M. Filho and Coronel Silon C. Stumm, both involved in the SISFRON project, to know the center of convergence and some some facilities of UFSC. The meeting had the presence of Prof. Edson R. De Pieri (director of CTC/UFSC) and Prof. Sergio Gargioni (head of EMC/UFSC), as well as the coordination of SC2C.Aero, occasion where the laboratories of UFSC were promoted for the army. The discussion included ways that ISTs could be involved in the SISFRON project and the necessity to involve them in such opportunity that demand national players for R&D&I.
COMDEFESA-Part 2
For the second time in a month, SC2C.Aero had a meeting at FIESC to discuss opportunities of cooperation among the industry, military and ISTs of Santa Catarina. The reunion had the participation of Coronel Luiz S. Alves and Luciane Camiloti (advisor of COMDEFESA), occasion that was discussed some possibilities that SC2C.Aero should participate and future demands of the military forces. Throught this close relationship with COMDEFESA, the convergence aims that companies and other players with technological demands recognize the importance of ISTs of Santa Catarina and find in them the technical capacity to be a partner for development of competitive products.
Aiming to update the technical groups of SC2C.Aero about the future activities and discuss the operation of the center, individual meetings were executed with them. One valuable item mentioned by various members is the necessity to filter information about the sector, format and send them for the leaders because their lack of time. Another element that SC2C.Aero should pay attention is the monitoring of funding sources, feature that in many cases is the key aspect to sing a contract of R&D&I with relevant companies of the aerospace industry
SC2C.Aero has attracted one more important group to compose the convergence center: Innovation Institute for Embedded Systems – SENAI. Located in Florianópolis/SC, EM-ISI/SENAI is in constant contact with industries demanding skilled competences and already has in its portfolio interactions with aerospace projects, as for example VCUB-1, the first private nanosatellite. Together with SpaceLab from UFSC, SC2C.Aero already has the two main initiatives regarding the development of satellites in SC as technical groups.
Due to the pandemic of COVID-19, the Annual Cycle of SC2C.Aero in the period of 2019 to 2022 did not occur in the typical way, however new forms of interaction with industry and government took place. Therefore, this period was considered as second phase the 2nd Annual Cycle. Below a timeline of the actions taken along the cycle ca be seen.
In terms of demand, some presential meetings were scheduled right after the lockdown started. However, they were carried out in virtual sessions, as follow.
Parque Tecnológico de São José dos Campos-PqTec
In March, the first virtual meeting between SC2C.Aero and PqTec took place and since then several others interactions happened with both players. PqTec has a great expertise with the industry and holds most of the aerospace industry of Brazil, while SC2C.Aero concentrates high technical groups from institutes and universities of Santa Catarina. The cooperation of mutual parts aims to fill gaps and find opportunities to support the sector.
Studies about a Graduate Program in Aerospace Engineering in SC
SC2C.Aero and its partner ISI-SENAI have developed preliminary studies about the creation of a graduate program in Santa Catarina focused in aerospace. The project was introduced to FAPESC, which comprehend the importance of the project, and suggested to bring into the discussion other strategic partners of the SC’s govern, as for example the secretaries of innovation, economy, and development.
Frente Parlamentar Mista para o Programa Espacial Brasileiro-FPMPEB
Following the security protocol of meetings, SC2C.Aero hold a meeting, in Santa Catarina, with representatives FPMPEB and Brazilian Space Agency (AEB, in portuguese). The deputy Daniel Freitas (leader of FPMPEB), Cristiano A. Trein (Director of the Space Policy and Strategic Investments of AEB) and Cecilia Parente (technical advisor at AEB) were introduced to the SC2C.Aero mission and visited UFSC, CERTI and members of SC2C.Aero. This interaction aims to promote the capability of Santa Catarina to cooperate with the agenda of govern in the aerospace segment. Further details of the meeting are found here.
Meeting with comitive of the Brazilian Space Agency and deputy Carlos Chiodini
As result from the above action, SC2C.Aero organized in Santa Catarina a meeting with Carlos Moura (President of Braziliain Space Agency-AEB), the deputy Carlos Chiodini, Cristiano A. Trein (Director of the Space Policy and Strategic Investments of AEB), Paulo Barros (Director of Satellite, Applications and Development of AEB) and Cecilia Parente (technical advisor at AEB). In the occasion, SC2C.Aero was introduced to the AEB as a new player in Brazil to support the development of technological solutions, in the country, for the aerospace sector. Other details about the visit you can find here.
Virtual meetings with the industry
A series of diverse online meetings took place with the industry to find opportunities of cooperation. In 2020, SC2C.Aero met with Sputnix, CRON, Visiona, FibraForte and Abimaq. In the meantime, SC2C.Aero participated of two meetings with Civil Defense of SC to prevent weather disaster with satellites and was the chair of Industry in the IV IAA Latin American CubeSat Workshop.
Webinars and Aerospace Innovation week
From 2019 to 2022 SC2C.Aero and PqTec (Parque Tecnológico de São José dos Campos) has organized three webinars in themes of interest for the aerospace field, that were:
Furthermore, SC2C.Aero organized online workshops with painelists form industry, academy, and governmental agencies. They were:
You can check the 2nd SC2C.Aero Workshop over here.