Swedish-Brazilian aeronautics collaboration receives international award

24 September 2026

Caroline Holm

The long-standing Swedish-Brazilian collaboration in aeronautics has been awarded the ICAS von Kármán Award for International Cooperation in Aeronautics. The award recognises international collaborations that have contributed to technical or scientific advances in aeronautics.

En grupp människor som står bredvid varandra på en scen. — Per Marklund, CTO at Saab Aeronautics, Mario Reis, Embraer, Klas Molin, Swedish Ambassador to Australia, Marcos Arbizu de Souza Campos, Consul General of Brazil in Sydney, Emilia Villani, Professor at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), and Petter Krus, Professor at Linköping University.

The award was presented in connection with this year’s International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) Congress, held in Sydney, Australia, from 13 to 18 September.

The collaboration between Sweden and Brazil in aeronautics gained momentum following Brazil’s decision to purchase Gripen aircraft from Saab in 2013. Since then, the collaboration has developed into broader research cooperation between universities, research organisations and industry in the two countries.

Två personer som står vid ett talarstativ framför en skärm. — Emilia Villani and Petter Krus at the ICAS conference in Sydney.

Petter Krus, Professor at the Division for Fluid and Mechatronic Systems at Linköping University, has been involved in the collaboration since its early years. In 2015, he became, together with professors from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology, the holder of an endowed chair at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) in Brazil. The contacts between the Swedish professors and Brazil also laid the foundation for what later developed into the Swedish Aerospace Research Center, SARC.

“The collaboration has over the years developed far beyond the original contacts in aeronautics. It has created long-term relationships between researchers and universities in Sweden and Brazil, and it is very rewarding to see this work recognised with an award like this,” says Petter Krus.

Long-term research cooperation

SARC is a strategic collaboration between Swedish universities and research organisations in aeronautics, with Linköping University as one of its partners. Among other things, the centre aims to strengthen research collaborations in aeronautics and create new links between academia and industry.

The collaboration between Sweden and Brazil has resulted in joint research projects, workshops, and researcher and student exchanges. SARC and the Brazilian research network BARINet also regularly organise joint workshops.

“One of the great strengths is that we have been able to build relationships over time. When researchers have the opportunity to meet, work together and get to know each other, new collaborations can emerge and continue even after individual projects have ended,” says Petter Krus.

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