Australian infrastructure company Skyportz is offering its Aeroberm vertipad intellectual property at no charge to participants in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Enhanced Industry Partnership Program (EIPP).
The initiative follows the selection of eight U.S. projects for the EIPP, a program designed to accelerate the safe integration of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft into national airspace and urban centers. By providing access to its patented technology, Skyportz aims to support real-world Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) trials across the United States.
The Aeroberm modular vertipad system was specifically developed to address three primary “showstoppers” for urban AAM operations: rotor downwash and outwash, fire safety risks associated with electric aircraft, and noise impacts on surrounding communities. The landing platform is engineered to ameliorate rotor outwash, reducing hazardous wind effects while providing acoustic mitigation and fire extinguishing capabilities.
Skyportz CEO Clem Newton-Brown, commented, “Advanced Air Mobility will only scale in cities if we solve the major infrastructure barriers. The Aeroberm was designed specifically to tackle those challenges. We are offering our Aeroberm IP at no charge to EIPP participants so they can test it in real-world conditions in the United States. With our product, cities will be able to fast track new urban vertiports on smaller footprints, more safely.”
Development of the Aeroberm prototype is being conducted in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology. Current testing indicates significant improvements in mitigating the wind effects of aircraft compared to conventional vertipad designs. These research breakthroughs are scheduled to be presented in Florida this May at the Vertical Flight Society’s Forum 82.
Newton-Brown added, “Our research is demonstrating that vertiport design can dramatically improve safety and community acceptance for AAM operations. We look forward to sharing the results with the global vertical flight community in Florida.”
Skyportz plans to engage directly with EIPP project teams and industry stakeholders during and after the Florida conference to facilitate the implementation of these infrastructure solutions.
