Denis Andrés Maigualema Quimbita, a researcher of the Air Navigation Systems (SNA) group at the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València, has been awarded the 1st Prize in the Airborne Category at the prestigious «TRA VISIONS 2026 Competition Young Researchers«, held during the Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026 in Budapest, one of the leading European events dedicated to research and innovation in transport and mobility.
The award recognises his work entitled “Resilient UAV Routes for Emergency Services Using 5G Networks”, focused on the development of resilient routes for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) applied to emergency services through the use of 5G networks.
«My research addresses innovative approaches for improving the resilience and reliability of UAV operations supporting emergency services through advanced 5G-enabled communication technologies», highlights the ITACA researcher.
This award highlights the relevance and international impact of the SNA group’s research in strategic areas such as U-space, advanced UAV operations management, and communication and surveillance technologies for the future of air transport.
The TRA VISIONS awards recognise outstanding young researchers whose work contributes to the future of transport, mobility, sustainability and technological innovation across Europe. The competition is one of the main initiatives associated with the Transport Research Arena (TRA), promoted by the European Commission and the sector’s main stakeholders, is taking place in Budapest (Hungary) from 18 to 21 May.
The event is the largest European forum for transport research, bringing together universities, technology centers, companies, policymakers, and civil society to discuss the challenges and opportunities of future mobility.
The research awarded was conducted within the framework of the SPIRIT-UCS project (“5G-enabled CNS for UAS”), funded by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the FSE+ under grant reference PID2022-141829OB-I00.
