What role does HBK play in the aerospace test and development sector?
"It is our responsibility to help our customers to solve some of their biggest technical challenges. As their platforms continue to increase in complexity, they need their supply chain to help them to innovate their products or processes. Bring their products to market or optimise the assets or process when launched. Speed and cost remain central to how they select their partners, and – of course – the need for precision, being able to trust what we test or measure. Being the physics experts, HBK’s solutions support applications including aircraft structural testing, durability validation, propulsion systems, electrification and flight testing throughout their product development lifecycle.”

What will the company be showcasing on its stand at this year's show?
"HBK will showcase ‘Smart Testing for Aerospace’. We will demonstrate how virtual simulation, physical testing, and real-time insight can help the customer to innovate faster – and at a lower cost – in one interconnected workflow. The cost of developing the next generation of aircraft, be it single aisle, regional or wide bodies, will be critical. The cost is largely impacted by the development cycle time. The OEMs are seeking innovative ways to halve the time to market, without compromising safety. The integration of simulation for testing and validation testing has a big role to play in fulfilling this ambition.

HBK has launched the next generation of DAQ – Fusion MX – which, coupled with AI-supported Advantage Connect and Advantage Analytics, HBK is able to help the customers innovate. When coupled with our integrated portfolio of advanced sensing, data acquisition, analysis and simulation technologies, HBK can provide turnkey solutions that the customer can trust. At the show we will present this capability in a way that our customers can see the solutions and suggest ways in which we can support their needs."

What key trends are shaping demand for your products/services?
"Aerospace programmes have always been complex in their very nature. Flying at 40k ft at mach 0.9 with 350 customers, while ensuring safety, is increasingly complex. At the same time, engineering teams face the pressure to shorten validation and certification cycles without increasing programme risk or cost. We all know that developing aircraft is exceptionally expensive. Whilst the advent of new technology – especially electrification, hybrid propulsion and sustainable aviation – is creating new challenges for the engineers to overcome.

At the same time, simulation and physical testing are creating immense volumes of engineering test data, that need to be synced through connected workflows. The challenges are increasing demand for integrated testing approaches – ones where partners can collaborate in an ecosystem, that improve data confidence, reduce late-stage errors and support faster, certification-ready decisions."

What can visitors expect to see or experience at your stand this year?
"Visitors to stand 608 will learn how a 90-year-old engineering company, with a huge wealth of capability and knowledge, is adjusting to serve its customers. They will be able to experience Smart Testing in action through an integrated and interactive workflow combining virtual simulation, physical testing and real-time decision support. The demonstration will use relevant aerospace applications – including structural testing, propulsion and electrification – to show how precision simulation and measurement, plus connected testing data, can accelerate validation to achieve the mission statement for the programme.

“Our aim is for visitors to understand, not only the individual technologies and our domain expertise, but how the complete HBK ecosystem offers solutions to meet their needs. But most importantly, they can meet our exceptional team, who love to listen and help understand our customers' challenges – and think through how to help them meet their aims."

Why is the AT&D Show an important event for HBK to be part of?
"The Aerospace Test & Development Show is HBK's flagship aerospace event for 2026 and an important European platform for the test, validation and R&D engineering community. Being in Toulouse it is at the heart of the industry and the key stakeholders. It brings together aerospace OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, engineering leaders, validation managers and programme decision-makers. For HBK, it provides an opportunity to engage directly with these stakeholders under one roof, in an efficient manner, to understand their evolving challenges. As always, it's good to network across the industry to see how others are working to meet the market trends or needs."

Looking ahead, what's next for HBK?
"Building on our Smart Testing vision we will continue to be highly innovative. You can expect to see more solution offerings – be it HiL systems, simulation software, DAQ, precision sensors, data management or service offerings – we intend to stay on the forefront of our customers' minds, with technology to help them. We recently acquired Sentech, a sensor company with aerospace positioning and speed sensing capabilities. As we integrate them, we will be looking for other ways to build our solution offerings, that are both complementary and aligned with the key growth trends in our industries."

Is there anything else you would like to add?
"There is no challenge that you cannot give the HBK team. We are here to collaborate across the industry to ‘Empower the Innovators’. Aerospace innovation depends on engineering teams being able to validate complex systems quickly and confidently. HBK aspires to be the trusted Smart Testing partner that connects virtual and physical worlds, through closed loop innovation cycles. We look forward to welcoming visitors to stand 608 and demonstrating how this approach can help them validate faster, reduce programme cost and risk, whilst being able to develop world class products."

Don't miss:

HBK’s Nils Röttger, Head of Architecture & Platform DAQ Solutions, is hosting a session on ‘Smart Aerospace Testing’ in the Testing Forum on 29 September 2026.