Innovate Calgary is pleased to announce Cohort 2 of the Aerospace Accelerator Program (AAP), welcoming two early-stage aerospace ventures led by Calgary founders Lukas Kobler and Abdul Mohamed.
Backed by Calgary Economic Development’s Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund and Prairies Economic Development Canada—and supported by industry partners including WestJet, The Calgary Airport Authority, and Chapter AI Ventures—the AAP is designed to help early-stage aerospace startups scale. The program offers up to $200,000 in grant funding, including salary support for a founder, plus individualized mentorship, technical development resources, and access to the Aerospace Innovation Hub. The goal: to help bold startups get off the ground—and soar.
Lukas Kobler — Co-Founder & CEO, Aurora Fluid Systems
Lukas Kobler holds a degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in aerospace engineering from the University of Calgary. Prior to founding Aurora, he gained industry experience as an intern at Reaction Dynamics and led the hybrid rocket program for the Student Organization for Aerospace Research (SOAR). In his final year of undergraduate studies, he developed a liquid rocket engine for his capstone project. With five years of propulsion experience—including winning the 2024 Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) with SOAR—Lukas draws on deep technical expertise to lead Aurora’s mission of delivering streamlined and high-performance fluid controls to the global aerospace market.
Aurora Fluid Systems is developing exceptionally compact and sovereign fluid control solutions to address the critical bottleneck of high lead times in the aerospace industry. As the global space sector expands, traditional supply chains have become increasingly strained—often making the procurement of flight-ready components a primary driver of mission delays. Aurora is leveraging a simplified design philosophy to enable high-performance valves with significantly fewer components than competitors. By reducing mechanical complexity without sacrificing reliability, Aurora aims to provide domestic, flight-ready infrastructure for the next generation of space launch vehicles.
Abdul Mohamed — Co-Founder & CEO, QuantaSense
Abdul Mohamed is the Co-Founder and CEO of QuantaSense, a Calgary-based deep-tech company developing next-generation quantum-enhanced sensing and timing technologies for aerospace and defense applications. With expertise in superconducting circuit design, quantum optics, and advanced measurement systems, Abdul specializes in technologies that push the limits of weak-signal detection and high-precision synchronization across complex sensor networks. Abdul co-founded QuantaSense, where he contributed to the development of quantum-limited amplifiers and precision readout systems for quantum sensing research.
Aerospace and defense operators are facing growing challenges detecting and tracking weak signals—whether from small drones in crowded RF environments or from the rapidly increasing number of satellites and debris objects in low Earth orbit that require high-sensitivity monitoring. These issues are intensified when GNSS disruption breaks timing coherence across distributed radar networks, reducing accuracy and situational awareness in contested environments. QuantaSense is developing quantum-enhanced sensing and timing technologies that capture faint signals with greater clarity while maintaining precise synchronization across large sensor networks—strengthening weak-signal detection, improving tracking across air and space, and supporting next-generation aerospace surveillance systems.
We’re excited to support Lukas, Abdul, and their teams as they build, test, and scale through the Aerospace Accelerator Program.