From Classroom to Field: IUS Professors and Students Join NATO Ai4CUAV Project Experiments in Rome

Professors and students from the IUS Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) participated in the Ai4CUAV project meeting and field experiments held in Rome on October 23–24, 2025.

IUS was represented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özge Büyükdağlı, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanita Karaduzović-Hadžiabdić, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tarik Namas, together with Software Engineering (SE) students Kayra Yılmaz and Ismet Ozan Karabinar. The active participation of students at this stage of the project demonstrates IUS’s commitment to integrating education, research, and practical experience.

The Ai4CUAV project (“Innovative AI-framework to enable the detection, classification and tracking of killer-drones”) is supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme. The project unites universities, research teams, and operational experts to tackle emerging security challenges through the use of artificial intelligence and multi-sensor data integration.

IUS leads one of the project’s key work packages - the development of the AI framework. This component focuses on creating an intelligent, data-driven decision support system capable of detecting, classifying, and tracking drones in real time by combining inputs from multiple sensors.

During the first day in Rome, the team conducted intensive field trials, collecting synchronized multi-sensor data to further expand the project dataset. On the second day, preliminary AI framework results were presented to end users and domain experts, who provided positive feedback confirming the importance and potential real-world impact of IUS’s work.

The project team will continue to refine the models, expand the dataset, and work toward developing a reliable, field-ready AI-based decision support system.

Ai4CUAV, conducted under the NATO SPS Programme, aims to deliver practical, security-oriented solutions through advanced research, implementation, and testing.