Air TIES, a CoT center for alternative fuels, approved

Richard Buckius, vice president for research, has approved the Air Transport Institute for Environmental Sustainability (Air TIES) to be listed as an official Purdue center. It will be housed at the Purdue Airport.

Denver Lopp and David Stanley will be co-directors of the center, which aims to facilitate academic and industry researchers in developing aviation alternative fuels solutions for practical use in aviation.

Mary Johnson, Mark Thom, and Matt McKillip will participate in the development of the center. Thirty-nine faculty from across campus will be affiliated with the center as key associates in making it a success.

Plans for the center include:

Developing a cohesive knowledge base on the interaction of alternative fuel with the aircraft propulsion system and with the air transportation system. Fragmented silos of such knowledge exist today but not the integrated knowledge base Air TIES will provide.
Creating a continuous two-way flow of information between alternative fuel research and the air transportation system. By defining and communicating industrial requirements and test results to a wide cross section of basic researchers, from feed stock to drop in aviation fuel at the airport, Air TIES will close alternative fuel development loops.
Identifying implementation barriers and working with industry to overcome those obstacles.

The research goal of Air TIES is to become the leading laboratory of practical applications to alternative aviation/aerospace fuels research, development and deployment. The economic development goal is to position Indiana as a major Midwest corridor for the research, production, distribution and utilization of alternative aviation fuels for commercial and military applications.

Academic units involved with the center, and the number of faculty participating, are:

College of Agriculture: Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, and Botany and Plant Pathology; 12
College of Engineering: Aeronautics and Astronautics, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Mechanical Engineering; 16
College of Science: Biological Science and Chemistry; 5
College of Technology: Aviation Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology; 6