National Institute Of Aerospace Associates

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE (NIA), A NON-PROFIT RESEARCH AND GRADUATE EDUCATION INSTITUTE, CONDUCTS LEADING-EDGE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN SPACE EXPLORATION, AERONAUTICS, AND SCIENCE.

RESEARCH PROGRAM:IN SPITE OF THE COMPLICATIONS INTRODUCED BY THE COVID19 PANDEMIC AND ASSOCIATED CLOSURE OF NASA LANGLEY FACILITIES, NIA RESEARCHERS (AS WELL AS PROFESSIONAL STAFF, LANGLEY PROFESSORS AND SUBCONTRACTED RESEARCHERS) HAD A VERY PRODUCTIVE YEAR IN FY21. THEIR RESEARCH SPANNED THE BROAD TECHNICAL PORTFOLIO OF NASA LANGLEY.TECHNOLOGY DISSEMINATION AND TRANSFER - DURING FY21, NIA RESEARCHERS AUTHORED OR COAUTHORED 79 TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS, EITHER PRESENTED AT NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, OR APPEARING IN PEER-REVIEWED TECHNICAL JOURNALS. DURING FY21, NIA-AFFILIATED RESEARCHERS FILED ELEVEN INVENTION DISCLOSURES/NEW TECHNOLOGY REPORTS - TEN BY NIA STAFF MEMBERS AND ONE FROM INDUSTRY. ADDITIONALLY, NIA RESEARCHERS WERE CITED AS INVENTORS ON SEVEN NEW PATENTS THAT WERE AWARDED DURING THE FY. SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS - AS NASA LANGLEY'S STRATEGIC RESEARCH PARTNER, EACH YEAR NIA PLANS, FACILITATES AND HOSTS A VARIETY OF SHORT COURSES, WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS IN SUPPORT OF CENTER INITIATIVES AND CONTINUING WORKFORCE TRAINING. SUCH ACTIVITIES WERE SEVERELY LIMITED DURING FY21 AS A RESULT OF COVID RESTRICTIONS; HOWEVER, NIA SUPPORTED THREE SHORT COURSES AND EIGHTEEN TECHNICAL SEMINARS DURING THE YEAR.VISITORS PROGRAM - THE NIA VISITOR RESEARCHER PROGRAM EXISTS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION BETWEEN NASA LARC RESEARCHERS AND SCHOLARS FROM ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ON TOPICS OF INTEREST TO NASA. IN FY21, THE VISITORS PROGRAM CONTINUED TO BE IMPACTED BY TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS THAT EVOLVED BECAUSE OF THE COVID19 PANDEMIC. NIA SUPPORTED ONE VISITOR, A RESEARCHER, IN SUPPORT OF LARC SPONSORS. THIS WAS A 2-DAY VISIT. NIA VISITOR SUPPORT INCLUDES FACILITATION OF VISAS FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE US WHERE APPLICABLE UNDER NIA'S J1 VISA PROGRAM AND HANDLING ALL ACTIONS REQUIRED BY LARC SECURITY FOR CENTER ACCESS AND BADGING PURPOSES.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH:NIA'S EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH DEPARTMENT WORKS COLLABORATIVELY WITH LARC LEADERS TO DESIGN AND EXECUTE HIGH-QUALITY, CUSTOMIZED SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY FOCUSED PROGRAMS. THESE INITIATIVES ARE OFTEN LEVERAGED AND EXPANDED IN COLLABORATION WITH MISSION DIRECTORATES AT NASA HEADQUARTERS AND OTHER NASA CENTERS.

PUBLIC OUTREACH:THE MEDIA COMMUNICATION GROUP AT NIA PROVIDES STRATEGIC PUBLIC OUTREACH SUPPORT TO NASA ON A VARIETY OF PLATFORMS. NIA'S PUBLIC OUTREACH ACTIVITIES PRIMARILY SUPPORT NASA HEADQUARTERS' SCIENCE AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY MISSION DIRECTORATES; BUT ALSO RECEIVE FUNDING FROM AND PROVIDE SUPPORT TO NON-PROFIT, AND COMMERCIAL ENTITIES OUTSIDE OF NASA. DURING FY21, ALL COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FUNDING SUPPORTING NIA'S PUBLIC OUTREACH ACTIVITIES WAS PROVIDED BY SOURCES OUTSIDE OF NASA LANGLEY. WHILE NO FUNDING WAS PROVIDED DIRECTLY BY LARC ORGANIZATIONS, LANGLEY PERSONNEL AND SUBJECT MATTER WERE PROMINENTLY FEATURED IN NIA'S PUBLIC OUTREACH PROGRAMMING. NIA'S ABILITY TO LEVERAGE NASA HEADQUARTERS' RELATIONSHIPS TO AMPLIFY THE CONTENT AND REACH OF NASA LANGLEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT VALUE TO THE LANGLEY COMMUNITY.

S.P. LANGLEY PROFESSOR RESEARCH PROGRAM:FY21 REPRESENTED ANOTHER EXCELLENT YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE LANGLEY PROFESSOR (LAP) PROGRAM. NINETEEN STUDENTS WERE FUNDED USING LAP FUNDS DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. OVER TWO HUNDRED FIFTY (250) TOTAL STUDENTS WERE FUNDED THROUGH LAP AND EXTERNAL FUNDS RAISED BY THE LAPS, OR WERE SELF-FUNDED; HOWEVER, THIS NUMBER IS SIGNIFICANTLY DISTORTED DUE TO PROF. MAVRIS AND PROF. GERMAN OF GEORGIA TECH WHO ADVISE OVER 200 GRADUATE STUDENTS. THE LAPS ALSO PUBLISHED 78 PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PAPERS AS WELL AS SEVERAL PATENTS AND BOOK SECTIONS. THEY ALSO TAUGHT FOURTEEN COURSES. THE LAPS CONTINUED TO PERFORM IMPORTANT AND LARCRELEVANT RESEARCH. THEY ALSO EACH GAVE PRESENTATIONS TO THE LANGLEY TECH COUNCIL THAT WERE VERY WELL RECEIVED AND PROVOKED MANY FOLLOW-UP COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.GRADUATE EDUCATION:NIA'S GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM PROVIDES UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS SEEKING ADVANCED DEGREES AT NIA'S MEMBER UNIVERSITIES, AS WELL AS FOR NASA EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS IN THE LOCAL AEROSPACE WORKFORCE. STUDENTS CAN SELECT COURSES FROM A PORTFOLIO OFFERED BY NIA'S NINE MEMBER UNIVERSITIES, BENEFIT FROM A DEPARTMENT-SIZED FACULTY-IN-RESIDENCE AND PERFORM THEIR THESIS AND DISSERTATION RESEARCH AT LARC WHILE COLLABORATING WITH LEADING NASA RESEARCHERS. THE NIA GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM HAS PRODUCED 239 GRADUATES (THROUGH END OF SUMMER 2021), INCLUDING 97 PHDS. MANY OF THESE GRADUATES HAVE ELECTED TO STAY IN THE LARC WORKFORCE, AND MANY OTHERS HAVE SECURED INFLUENTIAL POSITIONS IN INDUSTRY OR WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.CONTINUING EDUCATION: NIA SUPPORTS A WIDE VARIETY OF CONTINUING EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS AT NASA LARC, AS WELL AS FOR OTHER LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. ACTIVITIES IN FY 2021 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THE COVID19 PANDEMIC, WITH MINIMAL IN-PERSON ACTIVITY. NEVERTHELESS, NIA SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING:HELPED FACILITATE A TRUSTED AUTONOMY SHORT COURSE OFFERED BY THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION (NOVEMBER 2020)OFFERED A 12-WEEK SHORT COURSE "DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS." DR. DREW LANDMAN OF ODU WAS THE INSTRUCTOR (SPRING 2021). A FOLLOW-ON COURSE "RESPONSE SURFACE METHODS," STARTED LATE IN FY 2021 AND WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY FY 2022.HOSTED THE VIRTUAL OFFERING OF THE AIAA AERODYNAMIC DECELERATOR TECHNICAL COMMITTEE PARACHUTE SHORT COURSE, JUNE 7-11 AND 14-18. THE COURSE ATTRACTED 60 ATTENDEES FROM 11 DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE U.S.