Purdue University will host the Federal Aviation Administration’s newest Center of Excellence focused on General Aviation. Purdue is one of three core universities leading the center. The other two institutions are The Ohio State University and Georgia Institute of Technology.
The Center of Excellence Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS) will focus research and testing efforts on safety, accessibility and sustainability to enhance the future of general aviation. The Department of Aviation Technology within the College of Technology will play an essential role in research for the NextGen General Aviation safety.
General aviation issues, under FAA Federal Aviation Regulation Part 91, affect non-commercial, non-scheduled aviation activities, which includes corporate aviation, flight training, maintenance reliability, airport systesm and others.
The Center of Excellence aims to reduce general aviation accidents and fatalities. PEGASAS will focus on eight areas, all of which will benefit from expertise within the Department of Aviation Technology and other collaborative researchers:
- airport technology
- propulsion and structures
- airworthiness
- flight safety
- fire safety
- human factors
- system safety management
- weather
“The FAA wants to cover most sides of general aviation issues,” said Chien-Tsung Lu, associate professor of aviation technology and one of the researchers for PEGASAS in the department. “There are many affiliated universities and companies – this is a big team. In addition to utilizing aviation faculty and students, the center will use a number of our facilities, such as the flight simulators, our fleet, flight data, airport and more.”
The heart of the research will be aviation safety, Lu said.
“The center will incorporate synergy from collegiate peers, government agencies, industry, and trade organizations to conduct and complete critical GA research projects,” he said. “The anticipated research outcomes could also lead to more FAA research grants in this area.”
Read the full Purdue News Service release.