FAA Centers of Excellence

FAA Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and Energy Questions and Answers

Updated to include questions received through March 15, 2013

View the Q&A Document

November 27, 2012

DOT FAA COE Outstanding Students of the Year - 2012

Gabriela DeFrancisci
FAA Joint Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Structures
University of California, San Diego

Gabriela DeFrancisci received her B.S. (2008) from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo's Department of Civil Engineering. She received her M.S. (2010) and is currently completing her Ph.D. at University of California, San Diego in Structural Engineering. In 2008, she received the UCSD Structural Engineering Department Fellowship. She was a Transportation Research Board Fellowship Recipient on Public Sector Aviation Issues in 2009-2010 and a California Space Grant Fellowship Recipient in 2010. Gabriela conducts her multi-faceted research for the FAA Joint Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Structures which is sponsored by the FAA Office of Aviation Research at the FAA Wm. J. Hughes Technical Center. Her project involves interactions with various aspects of the aviation industry including the airframers, the airline operators and material suppliers, as well as FAA and EASA.

Gabriela's main research area is wide area, blunt impact on composite structures, similar to accidental contact between a ground service vehicle and a commercial aircraft. Her dissertation is entitled "High Energy, Wide Area, Blunt Impact on Composite Aircraft Structures" which has very strong implications related to safety and detection of damage in the new generation of composite airframes. This award is a fitting acknowledgement of Gabriela's dedication to these important transportation-safety focused efforts, and the significance of the contributions which her research has produced, and continues to produce, for the aviation safety community.

In her free time, Gabriela enjoys rock climbing, running and backpacking.

Jose Bernardo
FAA COE Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER)
Georgia Institute of Technology

Jose is currently completing a Ph.D. at the Georgia Institute of Technology and conducts research for the FAA COE Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction under the direction of Drs. Dimitri Mavris and Michelle Kirby. At the age of five, Jose moved with his family from Lima, Peru to the U.S., and he became a U.S. citizen in 2002. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008, capping his undergraduate studies by flying a microgravity experiment on NASA's microgravity research vehicle. Jose accepted a Research Assistantship, and received an OMED Tower Award for academic excellence, and a Goizueta Foundation Fellowship award at Georgia Tech where he completed his M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2009.

Jose's doctoral thesis is entitled "Formulating and Implementing a Generic Fleet-level Noise Methodology" and his COE research in this topic is supported through the FAA Office of Environment and Energy in Washington, DC. His work is closely related to fleet-level noise, expanding on the research previously conducted in this area. The goal of this thesis is to provide capabilities to simply and rapidly analyze a multitude of operational, technological, and policy scenarios with respect to noise at the fleet level, while providing proper tools, methods, and metrics to analyze and compare results, thus improving the ability to select noise mitigation strategies. In addition to his academic and research capabilities, Jose has demonstrated significant leadership ability while responsible for organizing and directing graduate research assistants, overseeing the lab, and contributing toward the completion of various COE research tasks. Jose has contributed to several reports submitted to the FAA regarding CO2 metric development, specifically, COE-PARTNER Project 30, "Metrics for an Aviation COO2 Standard."

Jose enjoys team sports, particularly soccer, and playing and learning to play musical instruments of all kinds.

September 27, 2012

FAA Establishes New Center of Excellence for General Aviation

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a team of universities to lead a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for general aviation. The COE will focus research and testing efforts on safety, accessibility and sustainability to enhance the future of general aviation. Read more.

Open: January 1, 2013 through May 15, 2013

To fully develop the network of organizations from academia and industry (including for-profit and non-profit organizations) with similar and complementary interests in the research conducted under the COE CST, the FAA is releasing this solicitation for organizations who wish to join the COE CST to conduct research as an Affiliate University Member or an Affiliate Industry Member.

Download the official solicitation announcement.

Download Application.

Open: Through May 1, 2013

Open to women pursuing aviation related degrees. For complete information, view the official announcement.

Open: Through May 1, 2013, to July 1, 2013

The Secretary of Transportation is announcing a second-annual award competition to recognize outstanding students who develop unique scientific and engineering innovations in aerospace and aviation.

The 2013 Secretary's RAISE competition is open to students at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school level who are developing innovative solutions to real-world aviation and aerospace issues.

Winners will be formally recognized by the Secretary of Transportation on behalf of a partnership of government and private sector organizations.

Download the Announcement

Download the March 1st RAISE Flyer