Dear Colleagues,

For planning purposes, I am writing to let you know that The FAA’s Design Competition for Universities will again be offered for the 2012 – 2013 academic year! The Competition has been significantly expanded.  New topics have been added to the 2012 Design Challenge areas. In addition, two new Design Challenge areas have been added: Innovative Application of FAA Data and Electric/Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Technology.

The new Innovative Application of FAA Data design challenge challenges students to use FAA, industry, travel and airport-relevant data to develop a mobile application for use for by smart phones and tables that is innovative and commercially viable.

The new Electric/Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technology design challenge asks students to design a regional transport aircraft that will use electric or hybrid electric propulsion and to consider the impact on airports.  This is the first aircraft design challenge for the FAA design competition.

Other brand new topics by Design Challenge area are:

Airport Operation and Maintenance:  Improved methods for ground traffic flow scheduling.

Airport Environmental Interactions:  System level methodologies for strategic assessment of environmental interactions beginning at the airport planning phase.

Runway Safety:  Safety Assessment Tools:
·        Mobile tools to support assessment conducted by runway safety action teams that aid in compliance evaluation as well as hazard identification and correction.

·        Systems analysis to determine areas of greatest risk for runway incursion and excursion in the National Airspace and proposing corrective action plans.

Airport Management and Planning:  Methods for aircraft/runway interface that address issues caused by new energy efficient lighting not being visible to heat sensing, enhance flight vision systems.

All 2012 design topics are also included in the new 2013 Competition guidelines.  The Competition guidelines and many resources will be posted at the Competition
website no later than August 13th:

 http://FAADesignCompetition.odu.edu


The Competition’s broad challenge categories embrace many engineering, science, information technology, psychology, and management disciplines.  The new Innovative Application of Aviation Data challenge particularly encourages designs from interdisciplinary teams.

The Competition is again open to individual and student teams at U.S. colleges and universities (both undergraduate and graduate) working under the mentorship of a faculty advisor.  Winners can earn cash awards and first place winners have the opportunity and travel funds to present their design at FAA Headquarters summer 2013.  A notice of intent is strongly encouraged. Design submissions are due April 19, 2013.

We hope you will participate in the Competition and make colleagues and students aware of this as well.

Please feel free to contact me or Debbie Ross (dross@odu.edu) if you have
any questions.

Mary                    

Mary Sandy
Director
Virginia Space Grant Consortium
600 Butler Farm Road, Suite 2200
Hampton, Virginia 23666
757 766-5210