Wed, Jun 17, 2009
Contest Addresses Airport Issues And Needs
The FAA recently
selected winners for its 3rd annual Design Competition for
Universities. Binghamton University - State University of New York,
The Ohio State University, and the University of Southern
California captured first place awards; nine other submissions also
received awards.
The FAA created this competition to engage individual students
or teams of students at U.S. universities working under the
guidance of a faculty mentor to address airport operations and
infrastructure issues and needs. Students were presented with a
number of technical challenges relating to airport operations and
maintenance, runway safety, airport environmental interactions, and
airport management and planning. The technical challenges embraced
many engineering and science disciplines and were often used as
part of a capstone design course. The Competition requires students
to reach out to airport operators and industry experts to advise
them in their proposals and to help them assess the efficacy of
their proposed designs/solutions. It provides a framework and
incentives for quality educational experiences for college students
and raises student awareness of airports as a vital and interesting
area for engineering and technology careers.
A student team from the Computer Science Department at the
University of Southern California won the first place award for
Runway Safety. Dr. Michael Crowley was the team’s advisor.
The students designed a Controller Intent Monitoring Interface
(CIMI) that would ensure that all high-speed operations conducted
on runways are executed in a safe manner that is consistent with
FAA regulations.
The Department of Aviation at The Ohio State University
garnered the top prize for the Airport Management and Planning
Challenge. A student team advised by Dr. Seth Young for its
submission on “Developing an integrated web-based tool to
enhance Safety Management System (SMS) planning and management for
airports,” focused on engaging employees in implementation of
the System and inclusion of a customer service focus.
The Computer Science Department at Binghamton University - State
University of New York captured the top prizes for the Airport
Environmental Interactions and Airport Operation and Maintenance
challenges. Professor William Ziegler advised the student teams.
The submission, titled “Using a High Vacuum Evaporator to
Treat Anti-icing and Deicing Byproducts,” won the first place
award for the Airport Environmental Interactions challenge and was
recognized for its imminently practical and technically feasible
idea. The Submission titled, “Radiant Heating of Airport
Aprons” secured the top prize for the Airport Operation and
Maintenance challenges category and provided an innovative solution
to snow and ice removal on airport aprons.
Panels of FAA, industry and academic experts selected the
winning proposals. Students from winning teams will equally divide
prizes as follows: $2500 for first place, $1500 for second place,
$1000 for third place and $500 for an honorable mention. The first
place teams will receive their awards from the FAA and presented
their work at the American Association of Airport Executives annual
meeting in Philadelphia on June 16.
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