Students in Purdue Polytechnic’s aviation technology-related majors won first- and third-place awards at the Transportation Research Board’s annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.

Purdue Aviation Day will be held April 9, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Purdue University Airport. The event, which is free and open to the public, offers families the opportunity to explore aircraft from different eras, hear guest speakers and view exhibits from the aviation industry. No tickets or registration are required.

General aviation pilots will be welcome to fly their aircraft to the event and attend a “fly-in breakfast” from 9 to 11 a.m. Pilots flying in are asked to register in advance; see the link in the article.

The annual aviation celebration is planned and executed exclusively by student leaders within the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology in Purdue’s Polytechnic Institute.

John H. Mott, associate professor of aviation and transportation technology, has been named the new head of Purdue University’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.

Qilei Zhang, graduate research assistant in Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, is developing a data-driven approach to accurately quantify operations estimates for general aviation airports. His research could help airports that do not have air traffic controllers develop better ways to control noise and emissions.

Dawit Lemma, founder and CEO of Krimson Aviation and a 2002 graduate from Purdue’s aeronautical engineering technology and flight technology programs, launched the $100,000 Krimson Aviation Scholarship and the Krimson Business Opportunity Program Scholarship for students from minority groups under-represented in aviation.

Purdue’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology has created the Purdue University National Aviation Symposium – Emerging Critical Shortages of Pilots and Maintenance Technicians, a three-day symposium in the fall of 2022 to identify and mitigate challenges to creating a sufficient pool of qualified pilots and technicians. The symposium will feature Stephen Dickson, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Purdue Polytechnic’s Caroline Marete was selected by the nonprofit Eno Center for Transportation as the recipient of the 2021 Thomas J. O’Bryant Fellowship.

Three teams from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute won first place in three airport challenges at the Transportation Research Board’s annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs, a design challenge presented by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). Two additional Polytechnic teams placed second and third.

Yilin Feng, Shelby K. Hobbs, Changmin Xiong and Chuyang Yang, students in Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, won first place in the Airport Cooperative Research Program’s University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.

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.