COCHRAN:  SELECTION OF MSU TO HOST AIR FORCE CONFERENCE
IS CREDIT TO REGION’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIONAL DEFENSE

MSU, Golden Triangle Touted by Cochran as Air Force Considered Sites for April Confab

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today said advances by Mississippi State University, Columbus Air Force Base and the Golden Triangle Region weighed heavily in the Air Force’s selection of the school to host its 2010 Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Conference in April.

Cochran, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Defense Subcommittee, in early December strongly advocated MSU and the Golden Triangle Region to host the conference in a letter to General Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff.  The conference is scheduled for April 7-8 at MSU. 

“This conference will give Mississippi State University, Columbus Air Force Base and the whole Golden Triangle Region a chance to shine as a hub in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles and remote piloted aircraft,” Cochran said.  “For the Air Force, I believe it will find that the cooperative support among Mississippi’s military, educational and business communities will contribute to a world-class conference.”

About 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, which will focus on identifying academic and technological needs in order to accelerate the development of remotely piloted systems.

In advocating the Golden Triangle to the Air Force, Cochran highlighted the region’s growing expertise in RPA research, development and design, as well as its manufacturing capabilities.  He also stressed the cooperation between MSU and industry with Columbus AFB, which hosts one of the Air Force’s largest training missions.

MSU has established RPA-related, collaborative relationships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the Pentagon’s Director of Defense Research and Engineering.  The University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, computer modeling and virtual reality capabilities are all applied toward research and innovation in the RPA field.

Cochran also stressed the industrial focus at the Golden Triangle Airport on RPA technologies and companies.

“I believe Mississippi, and the Golden Triangle Region specifically, has made significant advancements in the RPA field and is a wonderful place to nurture innovation and collaboration in this field,” Cochran wrote Schwartz.