My research interests lie in U-space and UTM, particularly in how future drone operations can be coordinated safely and efficiently in VLL airspace. I am interested in airspace capacity optimization, strategic deconfliction, flight-plan recovery, multi-agent systems, auction-based allocation mechanisms, deep reinforcement learning, and optimization methods for intelligent air transportation systems.
My research interests lie in U-space and UTM, particularly in how future drone operations can be coordinated safely and efficiently in VLL airspace.
I am interested in airspace capacity optimization, strategic deconfliction, flight-plan recovery, multi-agent systems, auction-based allocation mechanisms, deep reinforcement learning, and optimization methods for intelligent air transportation systems.
My research has resulted in peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers in the field of U-space, strategic deconfliction, and VLL airspace capacity management. As first author, I have published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies and Drones, and presented conference papers at EUROSIM 2023, ICRAT 2024, and SESAR Innovation Days 2025. These works contribute to the development of scalable decision-support methods for safe, efficient, and conflict-free drone operations in future U-space scenarios.
I have been involved in research activities connected to the practical development of U-space and UTM decision-support tools, particularly through simulation-based validation of strategic deconfliction and airspace capacity management methods.
My work uses realistic urban drone-operation scenarios and U-space service concepts to support the transfer of optimization, re-accommodation, and negotiation-based methodologies from academic research to applied air traffic management contexts.
My teaching interests lie in U-space/UTM, air traffic management, supply chain management, simulation modelling, optimization, and intelligent decision-making for transportation systems.
I am particularly interested in teaching topics related to drone traffic management, logistics and supply chain operations, strategic deconfliction, multi-agent systems, and the application of artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning to real-world transportation and airspace management problems.
Zhiqiang Liu
Zhiqiang.liu@uab.cat
ORCID: 0009-0006-8034-0364