Purdue Hosts PEGASAS Kick-Off
| Event Date: | November 29, 2012 |
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As one of the lead institutions for the new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Transportation Center of Excellence for general aviation, Purdue hosted the kick-off meeting on November 6-7, 2012 for Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS).
PEGASAS will focus research and testing efforts on safety, accessibility and sustainability to enhance the future of general aviation and will engage both graduate-level and undergraduate students in its research activities.
Purdue's participation involves the Schools of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, and the Department of Aviation Technology. The Purdue team is led by Purdue professor of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the PEGASAS center William Crossley. He will be supported by Karen Marais, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics who will work on effective communication among the researchers, and John Young, a professor of aviation technology, who will organize PEGASAS education and technology transfer activities.
The kick-off meeting was the first opportunity for the representatives of the core universities in PEGASAS to meet with their FAA colleagues to coordinate capabilities, understand the FAA’s expectations and processes, and to further relationships between the researchers and FAA counterparts. John Wiley, Aviation Research Division Manager at the FAA and primary research sponsor of the PEGASAS Center of Excellence, briefed the meeting on the FAA’s commitment to general aviation and its unique and challenging research needs. Following Mr. Wiley’s comments, each of the six core universities described their facilities and research activities, a kickoff ceremony was held, and participants toured facilities in both Engineering and Technology which enabled them to observe capability available at Purdue to support the FAA’s research needs for General Aviation.
The PEGASAS research and development efforts will cover a broad spectrum of general aviation issues, including airport technology, propulsion and structures, airworthiness, flight safety, fire safety, human factors, system safety management and weather.
Leading PEGASAS along with Purdue will be Ohio State University and Georgia Institute of Technology. The core team also will include Florida Institute of Technology and Iowa State and Texas A&M universities. Affiliate members include Arizona State, Florida A&M, Hampton, Kent State, North Carolina A&T State, Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois (Carbondale), Tufts, and Western Michigan universities and University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Additionally, several industry and organizational partners have indicated their desire to be a partner along with the university members of PEGASAS; these partners cover a broad range of general aviation activities and include the following:
PEGASAS Industry and Organizational Partners:
Industry
Airframe – Cessna, Cirrus, Embraer, Gulfstream, Piper
Propulsion - GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce,
Operators - Jet Aviva, NetJets Inc.
Aircraft/Aviation Systems - Guardian Mobility, Harris Corporation, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, Woolpert
Research/Consulting - Battelle Memorial Institute, Flight Safety Foundation, NextGen Aerosciences, Nelson Consulting, The Spectrum Group
Airports
Columbus Regional Airports, South Bend Airport, Fort Wayne Airport
Government Agencies
Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Iowa Departments of Transportation; NASA Flight Deck Display Research Laboratory
Stakeholder Organizations
Take Flight Solutions, National Business Aviation Association, National Intercollegiate Flying Association, Ohio Aerospace Institute
These non-federal affiliates will collaborate with PEGASAS in many ways, including providing matching contributions to leverage the FAA’s investment.
PEGASAS Kickoff meeting participants
Peter Sparacino, FAA, COE Program Manager
Pat Watts, FAA, Director of COEs
John Wiley, FAA, GA COE Sponsor
Steve Cusick, FIT Chair, Graduate Programs
Tristan Fiedler, FIT, Associate VP for Research
Ken Stackpoole, FIT, VP Aviation Programs and Dean College of Aeronautics
Hernando Jimenez, Georgia Tech, Research Engineer, Aerospace Engineering
Dmitri Mavris, Georgia Tech, Boeing Professor of Advanced Aerospace Systems Analysis
Stephen Holland, Iowa State, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering
Hui Hu, Iowa State, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering
Julienne Krennrich, Iowa State, Assistant Director of Research Initiatives
Shashi Nambisan, Iowa State, Professor of Civil Engineering
Rich Wlezien, Iowa State, Professor and Vance and Arlene Coffman Endowed Department Chair in Aerospace Engineering
Randy Moses, OSU, Assoc Dean for Research
Shawn Pruchnicki, OSU, Faculty member, Department of Aviation
Seth Young, OSU, Director of The Ohio State University's Center for Aviation Studies
Gary Bertoline, Purdue, Dean, College of Technology
Brent Bowen, Purdue, Head of Aviation Technology
Melba Crawford, Purdue, Associate Dean for Research
Bill Crossley, Purdue, Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Frank Dooley, Purdue, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs
Ned Howell, Purdue, Center Launch Manager, OVPR
Mary Johnson, Purdue, Associate Professor, Aviation Technology
Denver Lopp, Purdue, Professor, Aviation Technology
Chien Lu, Purdue, Associate Professor, Aviation Technology
Karen Marais, Purdue, Assistant Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics
John Young, Purdue, Professor, Aviation Technology
Jon Rogers, Texas A&M, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering