Avionics Engineering Center Receives $10 Million Grant

OH – The Avionics Engineering Center at Ohio University has received a $10 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. The five-year agreement will allow the FAA to obtain highly specialized technical support from the center as well as access to its test facilities. The Avionics Center, in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at the Athens Campus, is a very specialized organization that conducts research and development, evaluation, and implementation of electronic navigation systems and equipment.

The Center was established in 1963 by Dr. Richard H. McFarland, who envisioned a need by the FAA for a broad mix of theoreticians and practitioners who could address the evolving technical challenges facing the FAA and this award is a continuation of that sixty-year collaboration. The grant directly funds the Avionics Center’s support and execution of product lifecycle tasks for the FAA. The Avionics Center’s nationally recognized technical experts provide a fertile setting for faculty as well as undergraduate and graduate students who together lead the research to further the technological mission of the FAA’s navigation program. The expertise, facilities, and flight test aircraft within the Center are integral to improving the safety and efficiency of navigation and landing services provided by the FAA and its contractors. The Center’s test facilities mimic actual airport environments and their aircraft contain airborne data collection systems that enable effective and impactful research to be carried out.