Project Description
This NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) project, SALA^4, focuses on advancing the safety and resilience of next-generation Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) systems through the development of intelligent autonomy and adaptive control technologies. The research aims to enable real-time detection, self-assessment and response to abnormal conditions, allowing autonomous systems to adjust their behavior dynamically while maintaining safety under operational constraints. These capabilities will support intelligent decision-making and resilient control in complex aviation environments, ensuring safe and reliable operations even in the presence of unexpected events or disturbances.
The project brings together the combined expertise of four academic institutions, a leading industry partner and a national research laboratory. This multidisciplinary collaboration bridges academia and industry to accelerate innovation in aviation safety and autonomy, and to support the integration of autonomous safety architectures into commercial and regulatory frameworks.
Beyond technical advancements, this initiative places strong emphasis on education and workforce development. It will provide research opportunities and career mentoring for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as support the development of new course materials to cultivate the next generation of aerospace professionals.
Embry-Riddle Faculty
Assistant Professor
- Aeronautical Science Department
- College of Aviation
Other Faculty
Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University
Dutton-Ducoffe Endowed Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
A.V. "Bal" Balakrishnan Chair
Professor of ECE, AE, ME, ISE
University of Southern California
Associate Professor Computer Science and Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington
Assistant Professor Electrical Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington
Aerospace Engineer of Vehicle Mobility and Simulation
Argonne National Laboratory
Technical Fellow
Collins Aerospace
Benjamin Gruenwald
Research Aerospace Engineer
Flight Sciences Branch DEVCOMArmy Research Laboratory
Advisory Board
Research Professor in Aerospace Engineering
California Institute of Technology
Dr. Naira Hovakimyan
W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for AI - Machine Learning
Federal Aviation Administration
Principal Aerospace Engineer
Air Force Research Laboratory
Tech Fellow – Flight Controls
Virgin Galactic
Technical Fellow and Senior Researcher
The Boeing Company
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Hever Moncayo, Ph.D.Principal Investigator