Aviation and Space Data ANalytics

Aviation & Space Data Analytics (ASDA) includes an NSF-sponsored consortium of Industrial Advisor Board (IAB) that instruments timely conversations between aviation and space industries, federal and non-profit agencies, and academics about interruptive technologies, new interoperable data standards and data security problems in aviation and space. The members of the IAB consortium are:

• To be invited to communicate with peer IAB members and academic researchers regularly and periodically, and obtain timely reports about data standards, best practices and new toolkits.
• To be informed about more interoperable data formats and obtain data preprocessing automation tools.
• To share non-proprietary business data and quickly retrieve and turn available data into business advantages.

Value Proposition

• We train a workforce reflecting the aviation and space industry’s needs by using sponsor-provided projects and datasets, and help sponsors recruit skilled interns and staff.
  • Sponsors’ workforce can obtain upskilling training in aviation data analytics courses of ASDA.
  • Sponsors jointly maintain an up-to-date, industry-relevant project pool with ASDA faculty and help attract early-stage college students enthusiastic about aviation and space careers.
  • Sponsors can track talent and hire interns and employees from four Ph.D., 20 graduate and 100 undergraduate students trained by ASDA in Aviation and Space Data Analytics.
  • Projects and datasets relevant to sponsors’ interests are selected for training and conducting non-disclosed research, helping sponsors recruit skilled interns and competent new staff.
• We delegate pre-competitive research as a contractor for our sponsors. Sponsors' investments can gain a 15:1 leverage due to their overlapping with other funded projects of the distinguished ASDA faculty and shared resource pool. We take contracts aligning and extending three core areas:
  • Data Accessibility and Exchange Requirement Analysis: Review aviation and space data standards, develop efficient data retrieval methods and jointly provide training with contractor-selected researchers and students.
  • Next-Generation System Modeling: Jointly oversee system development aligned with the sponsor's interest in Data-Driven Modeling and Simulations, enhancing the safety, security and efficiency of the Aviation and Space Ecosystem with a task force selected by both the contractor and sponsor.
  • Cost-Efficient AI/Machine Learning Prototyping: Collaboratively implement AI solutions to improve aviation operations, boost performance, cut costs and advance sustainability by a team of faculty and student researchers chosen by both the contractor and sponsor.
• We facilitate conversations between thought leaders from the aviation and space industries, governmental agencies, and academics.
  • Sponsors are voting members of ASDA'sIndustrial Advisory Board(IAB) to determine the priorities of ASDA’s core research projects sponsored by NSF.
  • Sponsors are invited to communicate semi-annually with peer IAB members and academic researchers and turn emerging problems into faculty research or student capstone project topics.
  • Sponsors also receive updates about new AI technologies, data exchange standards, non-proprietary datasets and quantitative or qualitative comparisons of existing best solutions to the sponsors’ problems under concern.

Aviation & Space Data Analytics is a university alliance to share curriculum and courses, offering K-12 online courses, K-12 boot camp workshops and Aviation Data Analytics minor, bachelor and graduate programs, and upskilling the in-service workforce. The students will be trained by the sponsors’ recommended projects at the R&D Incubator and will be recommended to the sponsors for interns and jobs.

• The sponsors can track Aviation and Space Data Analytics talents from the learner profile databases maintained by ASDA and recruit interns or employees from four Ph.D., 50 graduate and 200 undergraduate students trained by ASDA in the next five years.
• The sponsors can gain customized courses to upskill the current workforce.
• The sponsors partake in the commitments with academics and governments to develop the next generation of socially responsible and competent aviation and space professionals, and consequently share the long-term benefits.

The associated resources and facilities of ASDA include the Gaetz Aerospace Career Academy for K-12 Space Education Program, the Center for Aerospace Resilient Systems at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, the Security and Optimization for Networked Globe Laboratory (SONG Lab) at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, and the FAA UAS Center for Excellence at New Mexico State University. The three universities currently offer undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. programs in Data Science, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Aviation Science, UAS and Aerospace Engineering.