[Avionics Today 04-03-2015] NASA has established a public-private partnership with five organizations with the aim to advance knowledge about composite materials that could improve the performance of future aircraft. Known as the Advanced Composites Consortium, which is headed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, Va., the partnership is working to improve composite materials research and certification.
Also included in the consortium are NASA’s Advanced Composites Project, managed from the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., the FAA, GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and a team from United Technologies Corp. (UTC).
“This partnership will help bring better composite materials into use more quickly, and help maintain American leadership in aviation manufacturing,” said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.