First in flight: UNC Charlotte and CLT partnership featured at international aviation symposium
On the heels of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and UNC Charlotte’s Aviation and Innovation Research Institute partnership announcement, University and CLT representatives served as keynote speakers at the Transportation Research Board Symposium on Aviation Innovation and Research June 8-11.
The symposium, hosted in Dayton, Ohio, brought together engineers, scientists and transportation researchers to discuss research solutions to new trends and challenges in the aviation industry.
Tara Cavalline, director of the Charlotte AIR Institute and professor in the William States Lee College of Engineering, and Jack Christine, chief infrastructure officer at CLT, delivered the keynote presentation. The presentation covered the origin of the partnership between UNC Charlotte and CLT and the AIR Institute’s past, present and future projects.
“The opportunity to share information about our Charlotte AIR Institute on a national and international stage with the TRB aviation community is fantastic,” Cavalline said. “We have an exciting and compelling story to tell, in which the power of partnership has enabled the creation of many opportunities to support the aviation industry.”
In the only project of its kind in the nation, the research focuses on a runway currently under construction at CLT between and parallel to two existing runways. High-sensitivity instruments, or sensors, will be embedded into the concrete pavement and foundation layers as they are placed. Additional sensors will be embedded at the runway surface and along the topside of the runway. The data feed from those sensors will provide information on how the pavement behaves in real time and over the long term, as well as data useful to inform operations such as deicing. Stakeholders will gain insight into pavement responses to environmental stressors and aircraft movements.
“We have a world-class airport willing to support the educational and research mission of an R1 university with its resources, time and expertise,” Cavalline said. “You just don’t find airports willing to engage with a university on this level anywhere else in the United States. This partnership reflects the uniqueness and opportunity of Charlotte.”
In addition to better informing the aviation community, this partnership is bolstering the student experience at UNC Charlotte with students actively supporting several other airfield pavement research projects funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and NCDOT’s Division of Aviation.
“Students are finding more opportunities to engage with aviation-related educational content, participate in aviation-focused research and secure internship/full-time work opportunities,” Cavalline said.
More information about the Charlotte AIR Institute is available on the institute’s website.