University Park, Pa. -- Penn State is one of only eight universities to partner with the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) new Center of Excellence for Aircraft Noise and Aviation Emissions Mitigation.
The Center of Excellence is a partnership of academia, industry and government created to identify solutions for existing and anticipated aircraft noise and emissions-related problems. The center will conduct basic research and engineering development and will prototype solutions.
The partnership is led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and includes Penn State, Boise State, Florida International University, Purdue, Stanford, the University of Central Florida and the University of Missouri.
According to Anthony Atchley, chair of the acoustics program and principal investigator for Penn State's portion of the FAA partnership, the University's research proposal includes: an environmental noise study in the vicinity of an airport and an evaluation of the effectiveness of noise metrics to predict community impact, led by Kathleen Hodgdon, senior research assistant at the Applied Research Laboratory; sonic boom research led by Victor Sparrow, associate professor of acoustics; and rotorcraft research led by Kenneth Brentner, associate professor of aerospace engineering. The FAA already has committed $310,000 to fund the noise measurement research.
In general, the center's research and development effort will concentrate on noise and emissions mitigation issues, including socio-economic effects, noise abatement flight procedures, compatible land-use management, airport operational controls, and atmospheric and health effects.
The center has 18 industry partners, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Aerodyne Research, Bell Helicopter Textron, Boeing, Delta Airlines, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Gulfstream Aerospace, Logistics Management Institute, Metron Aviation, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Pratt and Whitney, Raisbeck Engineering, Rannoch Corp., Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County, Rolls-Royce, Sikorsky Aircraft, Wyle Laboratories and United Parcel Service.
The FAA has established five other Centers of Excellence, focusing on computational modeling of aircraft structures, airport pavement technology, operations research, airworthiness assurance and general aviation.