Timo Helfers

My name is Timo Helfers. I am a PhD student at the Institute of Production Management at Leibniz Universität Hannover. My research topic is the planning of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for aircraft at existing airports.

I am working on how to minimise the number of hydrogen refuelling trucks and hydrogen refuelling stations needed at airports without causing delays in flight schedules.

I like to model complex problems from reality and provide solutions that are impossible to achieve by hand. Especially when those solutions help make green alternatives competitive by guaranteeing better profit margins than before.

If hydrogen-powered aircraft are to be used in aviation, the issue of refuelling them is very important. Low refuelling rates are a problem, resulting in a large number of refuelling trucks and refuelling stations. To be an alternative to kerosene, we need to minimise the cost of this infrastructure without causing problems with flight schedules.

To hear not only from economists, but also from engineers. For me, who studied engineering and economics, it's very interesting to hear about new technical achievements. This can change the assumptions I make in my models, leading to more realistic solutions.