DOT 141-03
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Thursday, December 18, 2003
FAA Creates Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials
Agency Teams with University of Washington and Wichita State Universities
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
has created a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Advanced
Materials. The center, awarded jointly to the University of Washington and
Wichita State University, will conduct research, engineering and prototype
development toward the safe and reliable use of advanced materials and
composites in large commercial aircraft.
"One hundred years after the first flight, this nation remains committed to
leading the world in aviation technology research and development," said U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. "This new center will help lead
America into its second century of aviation excellence."
The new center’s work will focus primarily on the safety and certification of
existing and emerging applications of composites and advanced materials in
commercial transport aircraft. Specific projects will include evaluating data
from past applications, performing basic and applied research and deriving
standard engineering practices.
“As a world-class partnership of academia, industry and government, the center
will support the FAA in developing policies, standards and training for advanced
materials,” said FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. “The center also will play
an important role in technology transfer and continued training and education in
advanced materials for the aviation industry and other government agencies.”
Other academic institutions participating in the new center are Washington State
University, Northwestern University, Oregon State University, Purdue University,
Tuskegee University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of
Delaware, and Edmonds Community College, Washington.
The FAA’s share in the cost of the center will span 3 to 10 years and will total
$300,000 to $500,000 each for the University of Washington and Wichita State
University in the first year, with a minimum of $300,000 annually over the next
two years. Matching funds also are provided to the center by the private sector.
Congress authorized the Air Transportation Centers of Excellence in the Federal
Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act
of 1990. This legislation enables the FAA to partner with universities and
industry to conduct research towards improving aviation safety, environmental
impact and efficiency, as well as airspace and airport planning and design.
The FAA has established six other Centers of Excellence for computational
modeling of aircraft structures, airport pavement technology, operations
research, airworthiness assurance, general aviation and aircraft noise, and
aviation emissions mitigation.
For more information about the FAA Centers of Excellence program, visit the COE
web page at www.coe.faa.gov