Aeronautics session examines technology's future

Kathryn Holmes
ASME Government Relations

ASME's Aerospace Division, in collaboration with the Society of Automotive Engineers, recently organized a workshop sponsored by the Office of Science and Technology Policy on "Aeronautics and Aviation Technologies."

The Office of Science and Technology Policy advises the president and others within the Executive Office of the President on the impacts of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.

The May workshop, convened at the White House Conference Center, focused on aeronautics and aviation technologies. Experts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, academia and industry were invited to discuss technologies that the United States should pursue in propulsion, aerodynamics, structures and materials, flight mechanics and controls, information technology in design, and avionics.

Susan H. Skemp, who was ASME president at the time, opened the meeting, and noted that the technologies and competencies that enable the aerospace industry are not only key to the United States' overall national and economic security, but also key to contributing to advances in other critical sectors of the economy.

The workshop was organized to discuss research and development priorities as related to the future of the U.S. aeronautics and aviation enterprise. Investments in aeronautics research and technology have declined substantially over the past decade, in part due to the perception that technologies required in aircraft design are mature.

During the workshop, the presenters noted that air travel is expected to triple in the next 20 years, and the evolutionary development of technologies won't meet the increased demands for safety, environmental capability, capacity and economic viability. Presenters discussed technologies they said will be needed for future aerospace vehicles.

ASME's Aerospace Division has convened a Steering Committee composed of members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American Helicopter Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Engineering Education, and SAE, which will work together to provide the engineering community's perspective on current and future aeronautics and aviation technologies.

More information is available online at http://www.asme.org/
gric/engineeringpolicy/Aviation/Aero.html.

 

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