Ricardo Rocha
Operations Research & ATM Intern @ SWISS | MSc Aerospace Engineering Student - Control & Operations @ TU Delft
I like figuring out smarter ways to deal with complex problems in aviation. Most of my work/studies is around operations research and AI, especially in airline operations and air traffic management. I’ve also been involved in flight operations and open-science projects, since I enjoy creating solutions that are useful beyond my own work.
- Location
- Zurich, Switzerland
- rmoraisdarocha@outlook.com
- Phone
- +41 77 978 51 30
- Website
- https://ricardoamrocha.com
- Ricardo Rocha
Experience
– present
Operations Research & Air Traffic Management Intern at Swiss International Air Lines
Part of the Operations Research & ATM team at SWISS, which develops PoCs and solutions to improve the sustainability, efficiency, and punctuality of flight operations.
Highlights
- Contributing to the CICONIA project: optimizing flight trajectories to avoid areas prone to persistent contrail formation, reducing climate impact.
– present
Teaching Assistant at Delft University of Technology
Contributing to an open-source auralization toolbox for aircraft noise as part of Open Your Ears project, improving simulation accuracy and usability in Python and MATLAB; supporting research in sustainability and open science.
Highlights
- Developing and testing features in an aircraft-noise auralization toolbox;
- Supporting research with code, documentation, and experiments.
–
Part-Time Student Worker at Subway
Store operations including food prep, customer service, and closing duties (cash counts and inventory checks).
Highlights
- Improved teamwork and time management; learned basic Dutch to interact with customers.
–
Head of Avionics Department at ATLAS — Systems & Aeronautics
ATLAS — Systems & Aeronautics is a student project at Instituto Superior Técnico dedicated to designing, building, and operating autonomous UAVs for competitions and applications such as wildfire detection, a major problem in Portugal.
Highlights
- Led the Avionics Department, coordinating 20+ students across Flight Systems, Computer Vision, and Flight Control;
- Oversaw flight operations planning and integration of subsystems;
- Ensured compliance with aviation safety standards and managed external relations;
- Represented ATLAS at industry and academic events.
–
Flight Systems Team Lead at ATLAS — Systems & Aeronautics
Led the Flight Systems team in developing avionics and propulsion subsystems for ATLAS UAVs, including preparation for the 2024 Air Cargo Challenge.
Highlights
- Developed a ground control system for real-time UAV operations;
- Coordinated design, testing, and competition standards;
- Placed 6th out of 30+ teams in the 2024 Air Cargo Challenge.
–
Flight Systems Engineer at ATLAS — Systems & Aeronautics
Worked on avionics integration and flight-data analysis to support autonomous UAV operations within ATLAS.
Highlights
- Analyzed flight data to improve range and UAV efficiency (energy consumption);
- Built a model to estimate aerodynamic coefficients from autonomous flight tests;
- Integrated avionics, sensors, and telemetry into UAV prototypes.
Education
–
Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering (Operations and Environment) from Delft University of Technology with GPA of 8.8/10
Courses
- Air Traffic Management
- Airline Planning and Optimization
- Operations Optimization
- Airport and Cargo Operations
–
Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico with GPA of 8.6/10
Courses
- Final Project: UAV Conceptual Design for NFC (Grade: 9/10)
Languages
- Portuguese
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Fluency: Native
- English
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Fluency: Proficient
- Spanish
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Fluency: Advanced
Skills
- Technical
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Keywords:
- Soft Skills
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Keywords:
