Letter to Michael Huerta, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and Patricia Watts, Director of the FAA Center of Excellence Program - Designating Group of Universities a 'Center of Excellence' for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Letter
Dear Administrator Huerta and Director Watts,
I write in support of the CORUS (Center of Excellence for Research for Unmanned Aircraft Systems) team's proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS-COE) for fiscal year (FY) 2015. CORUS is a highly qualified and capable consortium of university, industry, and agency partners who will address the challenges and barriers to the safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS).
The CORUS team consists of nine universities, 12 university affiliates, and more than 80 agency and industry partners located throughout the United States that represent the best and the brightest minds dedicated to informing policies, rules, and best practices for UAS safe integration. This center will bring together top researchers from the nine campuses, which have extensive experience working in key UAS research areas. In addition, our industrial partners are committed to providing financial support as well as employee expertise, opportunities for student internships, and other collaborative enterprises.
The partner universities have extensive prior experience in working with the FAA, hail from states that represent pressing needs for improved air transportation services and facilities, and epitomize the distinct research strengths necessary to successfully carry out this proposal:
-Georgia Tech, who will be the administrative lead of CORUS, contributes its globally recognized aerospace program and decades of experience with UAS research;
-Brigham Young University (BYU), currently a co-leader in a National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, has a strong background in guidance, control, and navigation of UAS;
-The University of Colorado Boulder leverages its strong aerospace engineering program, co-leadership with BYU in the NSF center, and extensive experience flying UAS over the continental U.S.;
-The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) brings its strong aerospace educational background as well as particular strengths related to certification of complex automation systems;
-The University of Michigan celebrates its Centennial in aerospace research and education this year and has been a major contributor to UAS research and education through its internationally-awarded student research teams;
-The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) has strengths and leadership in robotics and UAS, along with unique facilities to allow rapid prototyping and testing of UAS concepts;
-Purdue with both an aerospace engineering program consistently ranked in the top 5 US universities and an aviation technology program that contributes leading edge UAS research, education and operational capabilities;
-Texas A&M University serves as a research and development leader of a recently designated FAA UAS Test Site and a new research Center for Autonomous Vehicles, calling on two decades of UAS research and operations and a wealth of specialized UAS facilities;
-The University of Washington relies on 100 years' worth of aerospace research and education legacy; UW's undergraduates participate in an internationally recognized Capstone design class for UAS that culminates in flight test of the designs; and
-Finally, the team is supported by affiliate universities that will participate in a more tailored way, typically in partnership with nearby core universities. These include Arizona State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Central Florida, Colorado State University, University of Hawaii, Middle Georgia State College, Northwest Michigan College, Syracuse University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, University of Texas at Arlington, Utah Valley University; and Washington State University.
The Center of Excellence program's research, development, and education activities remain essential to solving our nation's critical aviation challenges and providing vital solutions to operational problems in the transportation field. The CORUS team is dedicated to leveraging these combined resources and expertise to provide fundamental solutions to existing and anticipated UAS related issues. I encourage your support of this proposal in the FY 2015 competition.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
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