The rapid evolution of the aviation industry and its growing ecological responsibilities have intensified the need for system-level analysis tools. While airlines are often the primary focus of aviation research, aircraft manufacturers play an equally decisive role in shaping long-term technological pathways, investment cycles and emission outcomes. Their business strategies substantially influence which aircraft concepts enter the market and how quickly sustainable technologies diffuse.
Despite their importance, the competitive mechanisms and strategic interaction patterns among manufacturers remain only partially understood. Key questions—such as how manufacturers respond to competitors’ product launches or how they position themselves under regulatory pressure—have not yet been sufficiently formalized. In this context, there is a strong need for an exploratory modeling approach that can represent heterogeneous manufacturers and their strategic decisions in a dynamic environment.
Given the complexity of these issues, an agent-based modeling (ABM) approach is particularly suitable. The aim of this master’s thesis is to develop an initial ABM that simulates aircraft manufacturers as strategic agents and explores their interactions under different market and policy scenarios. This includes defining decision rules, modeling competition mechanisms and analyzing emergent system behavior.
Note: Programming experience in MATLAB or Python is recommended. This thesis is to be completed exclusively in English.
If you are interested, please contact Hongfeng Gao