I am a researcher and lecturer in UAB, within the Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Group, based at Drone Laboratories. I earned my Ph.D. in Aerospace Science and Technology from the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC BarcelonaTech) in 2023, where I was a member of the Intelligent Communications and Avionics for Robust Unmanned Aerial Systems (ICARUS) research group. My doctoral thesis specialized in the development of advanced counter-drone strategies utilizing deep reinforcement learning. In addition to my doctoral research, I also contributed to the EUROCONTROL coordinated EU project, CORUS-XUAM, focusing on the safe integration of unmanned systems into controlled European airspaces.

Autonomous Systems: Researching Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) and Multi-Agent DRL for end-to-end flight control and cooperative, decentralized multi agent systems capable of autonomous flight and obstacle avoidance in uncertain and dynamic environments.

Swarm Intelligence: Investigating coordination and collective behavior in drone swarms for distributed sensing and tactical operations.

Counter-UAS (C-UAS): Developing autonomous “interceptor” drone agents using DRL to detect, track, and neutralize non-cooperative drones.

Navigation & Control: Researching advanced Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) and Flight Guidance systems.

Next-Gen Aviation Infrastructure: Developing Multi-Agent DRL frameworks for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and the safe integration of autonomous systems into the U-space ecosystem.

AI-Powered Autonomy: Development of autonomous drones using neural networks for real-time, onboard decision-making.

Counter-Drone (C-UAS) Systems: Development of AI-driven autonomous interception and mitigation strategies using multi-agent DRL to secure airspace against non-cooperative drones.

Urban Air Mobility (UAM): Creating scalable solutions for the integration of drones into urban environments and designing multi-agent systems to safely manage high-density drone traffic through autonomous flight guidance.

High-Fidelity Modeling: Building robust Modelling & Simulation environments to validate DRL agents against non-linear flight dynamics.

AI-Powered Autonomy: Development of autonomous drones using neural networks for real-time, onboard decision-making.

Counter-Drone (C-UAS) Systems: Development of AI-driven autonomous interception and mitigation strategies using multi-agent DRL to secure airspace against non-cooperative drones.

Urban Air Mobility (UAM): Creating scalable solutions for the integration of drones into urban environments and designing multi-agent systems to safely manage high-density drone traffic through autonomous flight guidance.

High-Fidelity Modeling: Building robust Modelling & Simulation environments to validate DRL agents against non-linear flight dynamics.

Link to main research outcomes

UAS & Counter-UAS Prototyping – (Simulation to Reality):Translate trained DRL models from simulation environments into physical flight hardware within the Drone Laboratories

Hardware-in-the-Loop: Implement DRL models on physical drone platforms for real-world validation.

C-UAS Tactical Validation: Deploy autonomous “interceptor” drone agents in real environments to evaluate the performance of DRL models, specifically targeting detection, tracking, and mitigation strategies against non-cooperative drones.

Industry Integration: Advancing AI-driven aviation standards to support the future of autonomous air transportation and airspace protection.

Artificial Intelligence: Fundamentals and advanced artificial intelligence /Machine Learning concepts specializing in Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Modelling & Simulation: Development of simulation environments and AI models.

Programming & Tools: Python, C/C++, C#, MATLAB/ Simulink, and simulators such as AirSim, BlueSky, and X-Plane flight simulator

UAS Build & Design: The engineering, assembly, and systems integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and drones.

Flight Dynamics & Control: Covering the core principles of aircraft motion, flight physics, stability analysis, and the design and implementation of both classical and modern control laws for autonomous flight control systems.

Link to main research outcomes

ender.cetin@uab.cat
Office: S/262
C/ dels Emprius nº 2
Campus de la UAB · 08202 Sabadell
Barcelona · Spain