In the Spotlight

Dr. Navneet Garg, Dr. David Brill, and Dr. Dan Offenbacker, from the FAA Airport Technology Research & Development (ATR) branch hosted Dr. Greg White and Sean Jamieson from the University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, on September 3, 2024. They were given tours of the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) and National Airport Pavement and Materials Research Center (NAPMRC). The group discussed current and past research projects at NAPTF and NAPMRC, and sustainability at airport pavements.

Dr. Navneet Garg | Navneet.Garg@faa.gov
Dr. David Brill | David.Brill@faa.gov
Dr. Dan Offenbacker | Daniel.I.Offenbacker@faa.gov

Garrison Canter from the Airport Technology Research & Development (ATR) branch attended the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Operations & Technology Symposium on August 19-21, 2024, in San Jose, California. This event highlighted emerging technologies in several areas including airport safety and emergency management. Canter participated in a panel session, “Creating Your On-Airport Drone Program,” and presented updates on ATR’s research for using unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for airport applications.

Garrison Canter | Garrison.J.Canter@faa.gov

Dr. Dan Offenbacker from the Airport Technology Research & Development (ATR) branch attended the International Conference on Concrete Pavements and the Advanced Workshop on Concrete Pavements on August 21-29, 2024, in Hudson, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, respectively. Dr. Offenbacker gave a presentation titled Full-Scale Rigid Pavement Traffic Test at the FAA National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF)-Construction Cycle 8, which discussed some of the findings from the most recent rigid pavement experiment at the NAPTF. He also presented ongoing research titled Development of Top-Down Cracking Model for Rigid Airport Pavements, which covered topics related to rigid pavement curling and fatigue damage in concrete pavements. Dr. Offenbacker also contributed to research discussions held at the conference and workshop, providing an airport construction and design perspective.

Dr. Dan Offenbacker | Daniel.I.Offenbacker@faa.gov

Garrison Canter and Joe Healey from the Airport Technology Research & Development (ATR) branch attended the Sixth Annual Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA) Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS) Summit on August 27-28, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. The conference sessions included presentations by civilian, military, and industry representatives on the technological, legal, and policy issues and challenges of addressing safety and security risks posed by UAS.  Canter and Healey held informal discussions with personnel from partner agencies and various detection and mitigation technology vendors.

Garrison Canter | Garrison.J.Canter@faa.gov
Joe Healey | Joseph.F.Healey@faa.gov

Dr. Dan Offenbacker, Dr. Navneet Garg, Dr. David Brill, and Jim Layton from the FAA Airport Technology Research & Development (ATR) branch hosted Dr. Punya Raj Shakya from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Asia and Pacific Office (APAC) on August 14, 2024. Dr. Shakya toured the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) and National Airport Pavement and Materials Research Center (NAPMRC).

Dr. Garg, Dr. Shakya, & Jim Layton

Drs. Garg, Shakya, & Offenbacker

Drs. Garg & Shakya

The group discussed current and past research projects at NAPTF and NAPMRC, sensor technologies used to monitor pavement responses, and computing Pavement Classification Ratings (PCRs) for existing pavements. They also talked about the need for pavements to be both sustainable and resilient. Dr. Shakya thanked ATR for conducting an Aircraft Classification Rating (ACR)-PCR workshop at the APAC regional office in Bangkok, Thailand, in February 2024. He said he hoped for continued FAA support in organizing future airfield pavement design and evaluation workshops.

Dr. Dan Offenbacker | Daniel.I.Offenbacker@faa.gov
Dr. Navneet Garg | Navneet.Garg@faa.gov
Dr. David Brill | David.Brill@faa.gov
Jim Layton | James. Layton@faa.gov