The announcement took place in London at the Farnborough International Airshow
LONDON, July 23, 2024 – MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport is pleased to announce the creation of the LIA – Living Lab for Innovation in Aerospace. In line with its promise to reinvent the airport model, MET today unveils its innovation strategy. “The MET project is much more than the construction of a new passenger terminal; it is also the ambition to actively contribute to the development of aerospace technologies and the green transition of our industry. With the LIA, we aim to offer the airport as a research platform to the entire innovation ecosystem. This commitment to integrating research and experimentation into our daily airport operations is one of our core pillars of engagement,” said Mr. Yanic Roy, President and CEO of MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport. From the first flights in 2025, MET will be propelled among the most important airports in Canada, making it a vast and promising interdisciplinary study ground for academic research and technological development. Living Lab is the internationally used term to describe a real-life environment available for research where actors go beyond being study subjects to becoming contributors. Although there is no literal translation in French for Living Lab, these are defined as open innovation research laboratories. The LIA will have three main missions:
- Provide access to a unique study environment, including our infrastructures, facilities, and workforce, thus enabling the realization of projects in a real-world setting.
- Facilitate the execution of projects by involving our experts and teams, fostering partnerships, and offering project support.
- Create and animate a multidisciplinary community of practice composed of international experts to share knowledge and promote innovation in the airport environment.
To launch the LIA’s activities, we can count on the leadership and expertise of Professor Mehran Ebrahimi, who has managed to gather support from the greatest experts in Canada and the world to form the advisory and scientific committees of the LIA. Notable collaborations include the Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux (INP), the French Association for Artificial Intelligence (AFIA), Bombardier, the Aerospace Technology Center (CTA), the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Aéro Montréal, the University of Sherbrooke (UdeS), the International Expertise Center of Montreal in Artificial Intelligence (CEIMIA), the Quebec Aerospace Research and Innovation Consortium (CRIAQ), the University of Montréal (UdeM) and Air France-KLM.
“To address the colossal challenges of the aviation and aerospace sector, we must transcend past paradigms. It is in this spirit that we envision the airport as the nerve center for mobilizing and articulating academic, industrial, and civil society knowledge and expertise. A true crossroads where ideas and knowledge circulate as freely as airplanes and passengers. The LIA – Living Lab for Innovation in Aerospace will position itself as a major player in this innovative vision, where research, innovation, and collaboration will combine to shape the future of aeronautics,” said Mr. Mehran Ebrahimi, Full Professor at ESG-UQAM and Director of the International Observatory of Aeronautics and Civil Aviation.
Citation from the Minister of Transport of Canada
“This initiative will play a leading role for the aerospace industry in Canada by providing a unique study environment and facilitating the realization of innovative projects. The LIA strengthens the aerospace innovation zone and will shine a spotlight on Longueuil internationally,” said Mr. Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport of Canada.
Citation from the Mayor of Longueuil
“The designation of Espace Aéro has highlighted the strong territorial synergy within the Quebec aerospace industry. A project like the LIA – Living Lab for Innovation in Aerospace is the perfect example of a collaboration where companies, researchers, and academic institutions can both develop and test new technologies within a single platform. It is in perfect harmony with the two priority axes of Espace Aéro, which are decarbonization and autonomy. I congratulate MET – Aéroport métropolitain de Montréal for establishing the LIA,” emphasized Catherine Fournier, Mayor of Longueuil.
