February 1, 2023

DLRWS: "DLR Woman Scientist" of the Month of February 2023

The DLR Women Scientists' Network has been awarding the Woman Scientist of the Month since November 2022. Alexandra Filip-Dhaubhadel, a staff member of the Institute of Communications and Navigation, is female scientist of the month February 2023. She was appointed group leader of the "Aeronautical Communications" research group in January 2023.

Alexandra is an electrical engineer originally from Romania. She joined the Institute of Communications and Navigation in Oberpfaffenhofen in 2013 to work on the LDACS-based surveillance application. LDACS (L-Band Digital Aeronautical Communication System) is the future communication standard for air traffic management. Developed at the Institute of Communications and Navigation in cooperation with partners, LDACS is currently undergoing the ICAO standardization. In her research work, which she also used to obtain a PhD degree, Alexandra studied the feasibility of using the LDACS aeronautical communication signals as ‚‚signals of opportunity‘‘ for passive non-cooperative surveillance purposes. The motivation for this work is the need to provide accurate backup surveillance services for critical civil aviation scenarios when the aircraft transponders are malfunctioning or intentionally switched off. She is currently working on extending this work to also include a passive non-cooperative situational awareness in the air component as well as a passive cooperative surveillance capability.

Starting January 2023, Alexandra was appointed as the group leader of the Aeronautical Communications research group. In addition to the LDACS communications and surveillance research topics, this group also addresses the design and implementation of dedicated data links for unmanned remotely controlled aircraft as well as for autonomously flying drones. In her free time, Alexandra enjoys reading and travelling with her family.

About the DLR Women Scientists' Network (DLRWS)
In February 2022, the "DLR Women Scientists' Network" was founded upon the initiative of two DLR women scientists. The aims of the network are to increase the proportion of women scientists at DLR, to make women experts visible and promote them for scientific conferences and, as the voice of DLR’s women scientists, to work out the levers at DLR so that DLR is seen as an attractive employer, especially for women. More than 360 women scientists have already joined the network. 

KN Women Scientists
As early as 2020, the KN Women Scientists group was established at the Institute of Communications and Navigation to enable female scientists at the institute (~15% of DLR-KN staff) to network with each other and share common work experiences. The group reports regularly to the institute management and enjoys their full support in their projects. More information >>