Professors transform air transportation
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 07/21/2008
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Two Purdue professors have the chance to transform the future of air transportation.
Timothy Ropp, assistant professor of aviation technology, and Brian Dillman, associate professor of aviation technology, have been selected to serve as members for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, also known as NextGen.
"The concept (of NextGen) of taking national air transportation system and modernizing it has always been under construction," Ropp said.
Since 2005, NextGen has been working to update its systems from the ground up.
"More and more people are using air transportation Ð about 750 million in the U.S. in 2006," Ropp said. "Within the next 10 years it could get close to a billion."
Ropp and Dillman, who joined NextGen in June, are members of the safety working group for NextGen.
"As aviation grows worldwide, so does safety," Ropp said. "Everyone has to know how to deal with risk management."
A goal of the safety working group is to have a universal understanding of safety.
"We want to make safety a global concept, so everyone has the same picture," Ropp said. "What is safe in Beijing might not be considered safe in New York or Berlin."
Ropp and Dillman said air travel is in its safest era, but with the growth expected, changes should be made.
"Our role will be to make sure the new plan maximizes efficiency but also maintains Ð and even improves upon Ð our system's safety record," Dillman said.
Ropp said what they are learning at NextGen affects Purdue's aviation.
"What we are doing in the industry, we are implementing it here (at Purdue)," he said. "We're living what we're preaching."
Dillman said this is still a learning process.
"It's been a learning journey about what safety is, and (the) processes involved," he said.