NASA Aeronautics Is Focus of Research and Technology Roundtable

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA officials will meet with aeronautics industry, academia, and government leaders Aug. 25 to kick off a series of roundtable discussions about future directions for aeronautics research and technology. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will address the participants.

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The roundtable is sponsored by NASA and organized by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. Its purpose is to facilitate candid dialogue among participants, to foster greater partnership among the NASA-related aeronautics community and, where appropriate, carry awareness of consequences to the wider public.

The meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT in Room 100 of the Keck Building at 500 Fifth St. NW in Washington, DC. The administrator's remarks are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Bolden will join NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics research, Jaiwon Shin, in open dialogue with members of the roundtable.

Overview presentations of programs managed by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate are scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to noon. During a working lunch, participants will discuss the organization and operation of future roundtables. Beginning at 1 p.m., participants will turn their attention to topics including the state of the aviation industry, major needs and opportunities for aeronautics in the next 10 to 20 years, promising areas for integrated systems-level research to motivate rapid technology transition, and public-private partnership success stories.

The Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable was established at NASA's request by the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. The 25-member panel includes a broad range of executives, entrepreneurs and experts representing airframe and engine manufacturers, general aviation companies, academia, industry associations, and other federal agencies.

NASA has a long history of aeronautics research for public benefit.  Through scientific study, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate works to find practical solutions to the problems of flight.  In the past five years, the directorate has revitalized its aeronautics research investment portfolio with a back-to-basics philosophy balanced by a growing portfolio of systems-level research efforts that ensures excellence in broad-based fundamental research with robust mechanisms for community participation.

During several recent site visits with U.S. aerospace companies, NASA officials learned there are many productive avenues for future innovation with the aeronautics sector. They sought the National Research Council's assistance expanding this communication to enable more vigorous public-private collaboration in pre-competitive areas of common interest.  

Two additional roundtable meetings are anticipated in early and mid 2012.

News media interested in attending the roundtable should contact Beth Dickey by e-mail or telephone no later than 4 p.m. EDT on Aug. 23.

For information about the Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable, visit:

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DEPS/ASEB/DEPS_061276

For information about NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA