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AIAA increases focus on new & emerging technologies
As part of Goal #1 of the AIAA Strategic Plan, an Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC) has been created to provide a focus within the AIAA community on new and expanding technology areas. The new and emerging areas may include micro/nanotechnology, developmental test and evaluation, network-centric warfare, and intelligent systems, to name a few. Each of these areas has applications that directly support the civil and defense aerospace communities through their vast array of applications.
The committee is charged with identifying the programs and technology growth areas for AIAA focus, the champions that would lead the AIAA effort (program committee, technical committee, standard development, etc.), and the products and services within the Institute that will support the new technology growth areas. The committee is composed of representatives from across the aerospace profession.
As new and emerging technologies impact the aerospace community, AIAA members, both individual and corporate, must to stay on the competitive edge. AIAA Board of Directors has recognized the importance of ensuring that AIAA products and services address critical and emerging technologies, capabilities, and programs. As a result, Goal #1 focuses on methods to incorporate such technologies into core AIAA activities. Our industry and our future workforce will focus their attention on these technologies, and AIAA must follow suit.
current focus areas
The ETC identifies focus areas to determine what type of involvement AIAA could have in these areas. See below for a description of the technology areas currently being addressed by the ETC:
Energy Optimized Aircraft and Equipment Systems
Advances in new aircraft show that much of the technology related to their innovation comes from the design and integration of energy consuming Aircraft Equipment Systems (AES). These are the systems of the aircraft that are mostly hidden under the floor, inside wings and behind panels, but are nevertheless essential in ensuring its performance, safety, controllability and comfort. AES include:
- Environmental Control and all aspects of Thermal Management
- Flight Control Actuation Ice and Rain Protection
- Landing Gear and Braking
- Electrical, Hydraulic and Pneumatic Generation and Distribution
- Auxiliary and Emergency Power Generation
- Aircraft Fuel System
- Engine Support
- Lighting, Cabin and Water/Waste
Just as the new aircraft configurations of today continue to push the boundaries of what these AES can be capable of tomorrow, advances in the available components and integration of these systems begins to introduce possibilities for new aircraft configurations of the future.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management is the disciplined process that weaves the daily capture, organization, and dissemination of knowledge to interested users. The goal of this focus area is to help AIAA provide an industry wide forum that can establish programs and activities that promote the discipline of Knowledge Management (KM). The team, championed by Lyle Long (Penn State University), Mike Bailey (GE Aircraft Engines), and Lynette Marlin (Rockwell Collins), is working to identify and document opportunities for other KM conferences focused on aerospace. In addition they are looking at how AIAA operates to:
- Determine how to support what AIAA does with KM (product support, member needs)
- Create Communities of Practice (CoPs) around the Journal of Aerospace Computing, Information, and Communication (JACIC) and technical committees
- Develop starter kit on how to develop CoPs for other products of interest within AIAA
- Document policies and procedures to communicate to AIAA groups
- Develop and distribute Best Practices document for CoPs
- Provide an Expert locator service
Download Understanding the Application of Knowledge Management in a Technology Driven Industry , a presentation made at the AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conference, 27 September 2005.
Nanotechnology
Over the past few years nanotechnology has become one of the hottest areas of research in the world. For example, worldwide funding for nanotechnology today is over 700% of its 1997 level, according to the National Science Foundation.
Research and development in nanotechnology is defined as work on structures, or architectures, on a scale from 1 to 100 nanometers. This work includes the ability to understand and exploit phenomena that is manifested in the real, macroscopic world because of the structure and dynamics present at the molecular level. This is in contrast to other areas of research, such as micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Research in MEMS encompasses the integration of various device components through micro-fabrication on the scale of micrometers. Despite differences in scale and focus nanotechnology and MEMS are not mutually exclusive. Additional, new areas of interest that are emerging involve the incorporation of nanotechnology and MEMS.
Active areas of research include nano-devices and -systems, nanoelectronics, nano-manufacturing, nano-materials, and nano-sensors. In addition, there is great interest in the environmental, health and safety aspects of nanotechnology. Current research activities include the ability to combine multiple "nano" disciplines to create new, synergistic applications of nanotechnology.
Aerospace was specifically identified in the President's FY04 budget by the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative as a field in which nanotechnology has the potential to enable a wealth of innovation, particularly in materials/structures and intelligent bio-nanomaterials.
For more information about the ETC for its focus areas, please email emergingtech@aiaa.org .
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