Two student teams from the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology scored first place wins in the Airport Cooperative Research Program’s University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.
A novel approach to using remote sensing technology to monitor snow and ice on airport runways developed by Ting Xu, Anthony Petraglia, Yingdian Zhu, and Ping-Tse Cho won first place in the Runway Safety/Runway Incursions/Runway Excursions challenge area. The team’s winning research proposal noted that current practices and equipment for measuring snow and ice require runways to be closed while readings are taken. They proposed adapting remote sensing technologies currently being used for monitoring glaciers, ski resorts, and parking lot snow conditions for use on airport runways. If installed at the Purdue University Airport, the team estimated that remote sensors would cost $300,000 to install and $25,000 annually to maintain while generating $500,000 in savings over 10 years.
Yue Gu, Lorraine Holtaway, and Kyle Jackson won first place in the Airport Management and Planning challenge for innovative revenue generation strategies at general aviation airports. The team investigated six strategies for revenue generation and developed a decision-making process airport operators can use to select the best revenue generation strategy for their airport. The process featured a Pugh matrix, safety assessment, and cost benefit analysis.
Mary E. Johnson, associate professor of aviation technology, served as advisor to the teams. They received awards and presented their work at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Keck Center in Washington, D.C., in late July.
A student team won a second place award and two other student teams won third place awards in last year's competition.
The Airport Cooperative Research Program is run by the Transportation Research Board.
Additional information:
- Airport Runway Ice and Snow Monitoring System with Remote Sensing Technology (first-place winning proposal)
- Innovative Revenue Generation Strategies for GA Airports (first-place winning proposal)