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NUAIR selects AirMap as UTM provider at Griffiss test site
ROME, N.Y. — The Syracuse–based NUAIR Alliance and Griffiss International Airport in Rome have selected AirMap to provide UAS traffic management (UTM) services at the Griffiss New York UAS test site.
They made the announcement at the New York UAS Symposium held earlier this week at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona and at the New York UAS test site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome.
UAS is short for unmanned aircraft system. A UAS includes a drone and equipment used to control its flight. A drone is also referred to in the industry as an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV.
In its Thursday news release, NUAIR describes Santa Monica, California–based AirMap as a global UTM platform. It will provide UTM services to “visualize, manage, and support” drone operations at the Griffiss test site.
NUAIR Alliance is short for the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance.
Syracuse–based NUAIR Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of more than 200 private and public entities and academic institutions working together to operate and oversee unmanned aircraft system (UAS) testing in New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan. NUAIR supports the New York UAS test site at Griffiss.
NUAIR and AirMap’s partnership “creates new opportunities to advance the research and development of technologies for UAS, which can attract new, permanent businesses to the region,” per the release. AirMap has offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific.
AirMap will launch a New York office to support NUAIR’s mission and efforts to advance UTM technology, NUAIR said.
Partnership purpose
NUAIR Alliance is currently building the nation’s “first and only” UTM 50-mile test corridor for beyond visual line-of-sight testing (BVLOS).
The $30 million project is an “important milestone as NUAIR advances the research, development, and deployment of leading-edge technologies to support its mission to safely integrate UAS into the nation’s airspace.”
The AirMap partnership will provide “enhanced” UTM capabilities for ongoing drone operations.
The partnership complements “CNY Rising,” the region’s economic-development blueprint.
How it works
The AirMap UTM platform will “power” NUAIR’s core UTM services, allowing traffic controllers management of airspace data, authorizations, and real-time air traffic. AirMap will also enable communications between UAS service suppliers (USS) for the exchange of “safety-critical airspace information” between NUAIR and other USS.
AirMap also brings “demonstrated expertise in low-altitude airspace management, deconfliction, and authorization worldwide” to use advanced UAS concepts such as BVLOS, remote ID, and counter-UAS.
“NUAIR Alliance is excited to bring in AirMap to power the test corridor with leading-edge UTM services,” Major General Marke (Hoot) Gibson, CEO of the NUAIR Alliance, said in the release. “Their global expertise is essential in accelerating the work we’re doing to advance UAS technologies. “
“AirMap works to support and enable advanced drone operations with leading UTM technologies,” Ben Marcus, AirMap co-founder and chairman, said in the NUAIR release. “We share in New York state’s vision, and we’re proud to partner with NUAIR in integrating drones safely into the national airspace system.”
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY DESIGNATED AS NEXTFLEX NEW YORK NODE FOR FLEXIBLE HYBRID ELECTRONICS INITIATIVE
VESTAL, N.Y. — NextFlex has designated Binghamton University to be the New York “node” for its flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) initiative.
A “node” is a designation aimed at increasing the “volume, pace and coordination” of FHE development in its respective region.
As the NextFlex New York node, Binghamton will design, develop and manufacture tools; process materials and products for flexible hybrid electronics; and “attract, train and employ” an advanced-manufacturing workforce, “building on the region’s existing” electronics manufacturing base, Binghamton University said in a news release.
Binghamton University has been a “leader in the advancement” of flexible-electronics manufacturing “for more than a decade,” Mark Poliks, professor of systems science and industrial engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing at Binghamton University, contended.
“It was our expertise and strong industry partnerships that solidified New York as a powerful resource within this NextFlex alliance. Our university, along with our industry and academic collaborators, have continued to excel in advancing flexible hybrid electronics technologies, and we are pleased to be recognized officially as the New York node for this important initiative,” said Poliks.
Formed in 2015 through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Defense and FlexTech Alliance, San Jose, California–based NextFlex is a consortium of companies, academic institutions, non-profits and state, local and federal governments with a shared goal of advancing U.S. manufacturing of FHE, according to the NextFlex website.
Besides Binghamton, NextFlex academic institutions also include Rochester Institute of Technology, Clemson University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Stanford University, and the University of Connecticut, according to the NextFlex website.
Nodes
Nodes are developed to foster collaboration and benefit NextFlex members by providing access to facilities, equipment and infrastructure to “fast-track” FHE design, development and manufacturing adoption.
A node “supports the national NextFlex mission,” which is to facilitate FHE technology “innovation;” accelerate the development of the manufacturing workforce; and “promote sustainable” advanced-manufacturing ecosystems in the U.S.
The FHE initiative focuses on defense, medical, and industry applications. They include health and human-performance monitoring patches; medical devices; sensors; imaging systems; prosthetic devices; energy storage; and energy-harvesting devices.
One specific application “could be something as simple” as a bandage that can sense when a wound is infected, Binghamton said.
The New York node will anchor a “regional mechanism” for workforce-development activities and support the “emerging” regional supply chain, including materials suppliers, system integrators, equipment manufacturers, academic institutions, and research centers. The node will extend “cost-effective access” to existing lab and pilot-manufacturing facilities based at Binghamton University and the Rochester Institute of Technology to the NextFlex member community for “collaborative” development of FHE and seek additional opportunities to expand these facilities.
“Bridging the gap between applied research and large-scale product manufacturing is what this NextFlex initiative is all about,” Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said in the school’s news release. “We are so proud to play such an important role in this nationwide effort, and today’s announcement once again solidifies Binghamton’s reputation as a leader in flexible electronics research and development.”
Federal spending bills include nearly $260M for Rome Lab, facility perimeter fence
ROME, N.Y. — A recently approved defense-spending bill includes more than $245 million for Rome Lab.
At the same time, a recently approved military-construction spending bill also provides more than $14 million for a perimeter fence at the Rome Lab facility.
Rome Lab is the locally known name for the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The more than $245 million component is part of the U.S. Senate’s fiscal year 2019 (FY19) defense-spending bill, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a news release issued Wednesday.
The defense-spending bill is also “expected” to pass the U.S. House of Representatives “in the coming weeks,” the lawmakers said.
Schumer and Gillibrand explained that the FY19 funding level of $245.48 million is $32 million more than President Trump’s budget request for this year, and roughly $2 million more than the fiscal year 2018 total.
“Rome Lab is at the vanguard of the fight to counter hacking and other cyber threats in the United States, as well as an essential driver of the Central New York economy, and I am very pleased we secured this significant increase in federal funding to support its essential mission and the talented people that work there,” Schumer said in the news release. “Not only has Rome Lab delivered real results in developing and enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure, but [it has] shown a commitment to employing local residents with good-paying jobs and partnering with local business to advance their work. I was proud of the role I played in securing this crucial funding, and will always fight to deliver Rome Lab with the resources they need to continue thriving.”
Perimeter fence
The perimeter-fence construction would comply with U.S. Department of Defense antiterrorism protection requirements, Schumer’s office said in an April 18 news release. The security fence around the perimeter of Rome Lab would be equipped with associated lighting, video surveillance, card controlled personnel entry-access gates, and visitor control entry point to mitigate threats from vehicle-born improvised devices.
Schumer said an adequate and secure location is required to “protect Rome-Lab personnel left vulnerable to potential terrorist-type activities, active shooters, and other criminal activity,” per the release.
About Rome Lab
One of Rome Lab’s primary focuses is gathering and processing cyber intelligence. Since 1997, it has been the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) “Superlab” and is “considered the nation’s premier research organization” for command, control, communications, cyber and intelligence (C4I) technologies.
The lab focuses on developing information technology for air, space and ground systems, in addition to partnering with other federal agencies, universities, private industry, and other state and local governments.
Rome Lab is also a “source of growth” for the regional economy and a “major source” of employment, Schumer’s office said. The office cites the USAF’s 2017 economic impact analysis, Rome Lab employed over 1,200 workers with an annual payroll of $140 million and generated over $392 million in regional economic activity last year.
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