Purdue University’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology scored two first place wins, both under the guidance of faculty adviser Mary Johnson, who is also a PEGASAS Site Director for Purdue University. A novel approach to using remote sensing technology to monitor snow and ice on airport runways developed by a mixed Purdue undergraduate/graduate team won first place in the Runway Safety/Runway Incursions/Runway Excursions challenge area. A team of Purdue graduate students won first place in the Airport Management and Planning challenge area for innovative revenue generation strategies for general aviation airports.
PEGASAS Summer Research Experience Student Ting Xu is a member of one of the teams. Ting is spending the summer at the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ gaining experience working directly with FAA Technical Monitors in the development of a portable engine test stand for research evaluation of multiple aviation propulsion systems . Ting will return to his graduate studies at Purdue School of Aviation and Transportation Technology in the Fall of 2017.
The ACRP is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and managed by the TRB. TRB is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The competition is managed by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium based in Hampton, Virginia. Partnering organizations include the American Association of Airport Executives, the Airport Consultants Council, the Airports Council International – North America, the National Association of State Aviation Officials, and the University Aviation Association. Partners assist in developing competition guidelines, provide expert advisers for teams, disseminate competition information to organizational members, host student presentations at professional meetings, and participate in design reviews.