by Joy Finnegan | Mar 28, 2023 | Avionics
Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Avionics), the world’s leading supplier of in-flight entertainment and connectivity systems (IFEC), continues to enhance its global software development capabilities, and the company has introduced a rapidly growing set of capabilities based in Pune, India.
Panasonic Avionics’ operations in Pune are the latest Panasonic investment in India. Panasonic entered the Indian market in 1972 and since then the company has grown from strength to strength and now Panasonic Avionics joins Panasonic Life Solutions India, which currently has 13,000 employees over 13 locations across India.
Panasonic Avionics new software design center is part of a company-wide effort to help airlines realize their passenger digital engagement vision using the most innovative IFE hardware, best-in-class enterprise software; seamless global high-speed connectivity; and worldwide support through maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services.
Satyen Yadav, Chief Technology Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, says: “It’s an incredibly exciting time in our industry as our airline partners are looking to enhance the travel journey in new and exciting ways. As a trusted partner to the world’s leading airlines, our goal is to unlock the potential of IFEC with solutions that give airlines the same flexibility they enjoy with their web and mobile solutions so that they can maximize their net promoter score (NPS), increase customer loyalty, drive revenue, and optimize their operational efficiencies.”
To support this vision, Panasonic Avionics is investing in state-of-the art labs in India that provide capability to build and validate new passenger experiences in both single and twin-aisle aircraft to match airlines’ need for the right kind of software solutions – all from a one-stop shop. As a result, the company is expanding its talent resources to replicate the full scale of a narrowbody or widebody aircraft, ensuring that it can fully test its IFE and connectivity software in situ and help airlines transform their in-cabin product.
The investment in Panasonic Avionics’ global software engineering capabilities will also help improve the time to market of robust, next generation in-flight entertainment systems, connectivity, and digital app solutions.
Yadav added: “We are excited to complement the excellent work of our US-based teams with the development and growth of our new capabilities in India. This combined group of skilled engineers is enabling us to grow and future-proof our software development capabilities and ensure the highest levels of reliability in our systems. This new expertise in India is already delivering a wide range of software-related services – everything from new OS platforms, mobile apps, interactive software, cloud and data engineering to automation and software architecture design.”
In 2021, Panasonic Avionics invested in a ‘build-operate-transfer’ (BOT) operation that today employs over 250 skilled engineers. Over the next 12 months, Panasonic Avionics plans to unveil a new operations facility in Pune. The company is planning for further growth of engineers based in India to over 400, bringing Panasonic Avionics worldwide software development sites to four locations and global team with more than 1,000 software developers.
by Joy Finnegan | Mar 27, 2023 | Innovation
Leidos has added the University of Michigan (U-M) to its list of partners assisting on the Mayhem program, a $334 million, 51-month air-breathing hypersonic contract awarded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The innovative partnership will allow students in the U-M Aerospace Engineering program to receive experience that contributes to Mayhem through the university’s Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) lab.
“The University of Michigan will be a critical component to the Mayhem strategy,” said Artie Mabbett, operations manager for the Leidos Innovation Center. “The students will gain firsthand experience experimenting with DE/MBSE tools aiding in development of the virtual ecosystem that will ultimately be transitioned to a Leidos environment for implementation on the Mayhem program. Not only does this benefit the program directly, but it also creates a pipeline of incredible talent with real world experience for the defense industrial complex.”
U-M students will support Leidos by assembling pieces of the MBSE environment, which Leidos will deploy in the digital engineering ecosystem for the team working on Mayhem. The idea was generated through Mabbett’s work with George Halow, an aerospace engineering professor of practice at U-M and program director for the university’s MBSE lab. They saw that the university’s growing success in MBSE education could add a strategic advantage and expand the AFRL’s goals for the program.
“Our team can have a significant impact in establishing a standard for Models-Based Systems Engineering that will help Leidos unlock massive efficiencies, cost and time savings,” Halow said. “It is our goal to help industry make this happen by giving aerospace students and our partners the tools they need to be successful.”
The initial aerospace engineering students were selected by Halow to begin working with the team at Leidos, and more will be added over subsequent semesters.
“It’s going to be challenging, for sure, because we’ll have to develop the techniques in addition to a full aerospace course load,” one of the aerospace students said. “But it’s definitely going to be very rewarding to work on something that’s at the cutting edge of aerospace technology.”
The aerospace industry faces a growing need for expertise in systems engineering and system projects. Through this collaboration, U-M will pioneer providing this education to aerospace students.
“This is a formative opportunity for us,” another aerospace student said. “Not only is it a massive project, but we’re really starting from square one. I feel like I’m being handed very meaningful work.”
Leidos is a corporate sponsor of the MBSE Leadership Lab. Through this relationship, the company engages with active student-led engineering projects, providing industry feedback ranging from adaptive aircraft wheelchair accommodation designs to drones and space control projects.
“Leidos has been leading the way in our MBSE and systems engineering leadership program at Michigan Aerospace,” Halow said. “They show the critical industry need and are active participants in developing the next generation of leaders in this space. This is the future of our field, and we’re grateful for partners like Leidos who see the way forward.”
“The team assembled by Leidos marries exceptional experience with innovation,” said Ryan Leo, Mayhem program manager for Leidos. “Nothing highlights that better than our partnership with Michigan and its aerospace engineering students. My team is looking forward to seeing what they develop for this program.”
by Joy Finnegan | Mar 24, 2023 | Innovation
The Boeing Company has provided Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a $5.1 million donation for a research center that will drive safety improvements throughout the industry.
The newly named Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle, charged with advancing the safety of all who fly, will conduct independent research aimed at mitigating known and emerging operational safety risks. As examples, research may focus on topics such as data analytics to predict and potentially prevent safety incidents; runway safety; safety management systems; risk management; the safe integration of new entrants into the global airspace system; and more.
“By its nature, aviation is self-correcting in that we must continuously apply lessons learned to keep all who fly as safe as possible,” said Embry-Riddle President P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. “The Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle will provide an infrastructure for systematically investigating and reducing safety risks, from technological challenges to human factors. We are grateful to Boeing for supporting independent research in this field.”
“We continuously work to move the needle in strengthening the safety of the air transportation system,” said Michael Delaney, Boeing chief aerospace safety officer. “We’re pleased to be a part of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle, because the best solutions to the important challenges our industry faces come to life when we work together with our partners.”
The Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle will be housed in a 13,000-square-foot building on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus that is currently under renovation. This building, which is expected to open in January 2024, will feature offices and lab space as well as a dedicated classroom for safety-related professional education courses.
The center will foster collaboration across academia, industry and government entities, establishing research partnerships — involving graduate and undergraduate students who will gain real-world exposure to the industry through hands-on research projects — that will benefit all who depend on air transportation.
Findings of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle will be shared with the broader aviation community to advance knowledge and practices across the industry. Research projects will also foster thought leadership and encourage innovative ways to approach aviation safety challenges. Work conducted by the center will remain autonomous from, and independent of Boeing.
The center, headed by the Honorable Robert L. Sumwalt, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, will also focus on attracting and retaining high-quality faculty and students from diverse and underrepresented populations who are interested in careers in aviation safety and related fields.
“By forging partnerships with industry and government, the center will leverage Embry-Riddle’s faculty of more than 1,300 aviation and aerospace experts to address urgent safety challenges,” said Sumwalt, the center’s executive director. Further, Embry-Riddle’s graduate and undergraduate students will contribute expertise in related fields such as engineering, human factors, aviation safety, data science and risk management.
Joining Sumwalt in leading the center is Kristy Kiernan, Ph.D. Kiernan also serves as program coordinator for the Master of Science in Aviation Safety at Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Campus and as an associate professor in the Department of Aeronautics, Graduate Studies. A former Coast Guard aviator, she was an aviation safety officer, crew resource management instructor and chief pilot for technical issues in the Falcon 20. Her current research investigates the positive contribution of human performance to aviation safety and the safety aspects of integrating un-crewed systems into the national airspace. A pilot of both crewed and un-crewed aircraft, Kiernan holds a B.S. in neuroscience from Brown University as well as a Ph.D. in Aviation from Embry-Riddle.
An industry advisory board comprised of high-level professionals representing all sectors of aviation, including a Boeing representative, has been appointed and tasked with directing, reviewing and ensuring the relevance and integrity of the center’s four areas of activity: research, education, training and consulting. In addition, the board provides guidance on key areas of focus and directs the development of academic courseware on topics such as the ethics of safety and the building blocks of an effective safety culture, among others.
The debut of the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle is the latest development in Boeing’s partnership with the university. Other examples include Embry-Riddle’s participation in Boeing’s Engineering Accelerated Hiring Initiative as well as the Boeing Career Mentoring Program; the Boeing Scholars program; a Boeing program to serve ROTC graduates; and internships through an Engineering Development Program.
by Joy Finnegan | Mar 23, 2023 | MRO IT
ATP’s ChronicX solution has been named a winner in the Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program presented by the Business Intelligence Group.
ChronicX uses natural language processing and machine learning to analyze aircraft defect information, automatically pinpointing and organizing issue clusters. The complete advanced web and mobile solution provides automatic identification of chronic aircraft defects, chronic resolution management and defect analysis to improve aircraft safety and reliability. Currently in use on 25 percent of the world’s commercial airline fleet, ChronicX uncovers recurring defects and previously undetected issues, at both the tail and fleet level. It also detects emerging failure modes that are yet to reach critical status. The solution proactively enables engineers to respond with greater speed and accuracy to reduce delays and aircraft downtime.
“This award recognizing ChronicX reflects ATP’s long-term investment in providing cutting-edge AI technology for the aviation market and is a testament to our team’s commitment to delivering value to our customers,” said Norman Happ, chief executive officer of ATP. “This accolade demonstrates our continued dedication to helping the leading commercial carriers around the world save hundreds of millions of dollars in parts and labor, as well as reduced delays and cancellations with our maintenance, analytics and guided diagnostics solution.”
With the release of a new suite of features to the platform in the past year, ChronicX Mobile allows aircraft mechanics to see the entire maintenance history of the aircraft they are working on, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to assist in the diagnosis of issues and enables them to solve problems the first time. This eliminates wasted parts and temporary fixes used to pass the problem to the next repair facility.
New collaboration capabilities allow users to share experiences and ask for help from experts – all within the context of the aircraft or type of aircraft being worked on in real time. With the addition of new dashboards and deep integrations, customers can now access a command center view to help better understand what repair centers excel at which areas of an aircraft, providing more focused improvements than was ever possible before.
Utilizing ATP’s ChronicX solution, a major airline reduced unexpected flight delays due to repairs needed by 60 percent, saving them over $50 million in annual repair costs. Another aviation customer reported a 20 percent reduction in repeat defects, resulting in $400,000 in savings per year.
“We are so proud to name ATP ChronicX as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program,” said Maria Jimenez, chief nominations officer for Business Intelligence Group. “It was clear to our judges that ChronicX was using AI to improve the lives of their customers and employees. Congratulations to the entire team!”
by Joy Finnegan | Mar 23, 2023 | Avionics, Connectivity
Connectivity provider SmartSky Networks announced Davinci Jets as its newest sales and installation partner. Davinci Jets, a North Carolina-based aircraft management and charter firm, was the very first aircraft management company to offer SmartSky to its customers. It has since opened a new division, Davinci Jets Services, which provides FAA Part 145 certified, full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Through the expanded partnership, Davinci is now both a customer and, through its MRO, an enabler for equipping more business aircraft with SmartSky’s unprecedented capabilities that allow the entire aircraft to stay connected nationwide.
Davinci Jets Services is authorized to perform work on a wide variety of airframes and engines including but not limited to many models of Gulfstream, Bombardier, Embraer, Textron, and Pilatus aircraft. Traditionally, it has provided high-quality preventative maintenance and scheduled inspections. Now the operation is adding aircraft modifications to its repertoire for owners/operators and external clientele. “Inflight connectivity is the most requested upgrade and now we can offer the most advanced system, SmartSky,” said Joe Chaundy, Director of Davinci Jets Services. “SmartSky’s greatly-enhanced performance features ensure each passenger can stay continuously connected on multiple devices simultaneously while using the same applications at the same high performance that they do on the ground. As an MRO, we want a fast and easy installation that minimizes downtime for the aircraft. SmartSky delivers the speed our customers need in both connectivity performance and installation.”
“We are proud to partner with Davinci in a bigger way. Because they are a leading provider of customized management, charter, and MRO services, they are committed to offering the best available solutions for their customers,” said Aria Bahawdory, director of MRO Account Management for SmartSky. “Customers have grown tired of slow inflight connectivity because most Wi-Fi-equipped business jets are using technology that is nearly twenty years old. In order to get better performance, we understand they are now being strongly encouraged by their provider to upgrade, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet without the meaningful improvement you would expect from such an investment. SmartSky enables Davinci customers to get immediate access to the latest technology that will connect the cabin, cockpit, and operations, all in a single installation — and benefit from future SmartSky technology advancements delivered via software updates. The choice is really that simple.”
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