FAA unveils $10M. NextGen testing, simulation lab in Egg Harbor Township
By EMILY PREVITI, Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, June 8, 2010
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a multimillion-dollar lab
Monday at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in which researchers, avionics engineers and
former pilots and air traffic controllers are developing new software systems meant to make flying safer
and more efficient.
The NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability, or NIEC, lab is named for the Next Generation Air
Transportation System that includes the software programs under development at the lab. The FAA
created the lab to streamline research by consolidating work formerly done at separate sites into one
location.
NextGen is a multibillion-dollar federal initiative aimed at updating air travel to make it safer, cleaner,
more efficient and less noisy while increasing the capacity of the sky space. Most research has
occurred at the tech center, which is the FAA's main development and testing site. It includes the
Atlantic City International Airport, the forthcoming NextGen Aviation Research and Technology Park
and bases for the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Marshals and the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey
Air National Guard.
The FAA invested about $1 million to complete work on the 4,000-square-foot NIEC lab. The facility is
worth about 10 times that amount; the remainder of the money came from funding and donations by
the government, contractors and manufacturers, center director Wilson Felder said.
In operation since the winter, the new lab encourages interaction among various research components.
This can help smooth out kinks such as the meaning of technical terms lost in translation among
professionals from different fields, Felder said.
"You're seeing the integration," he said. "Previously, we had the unmanned-aerial vehicle and air-traffic
control (simulators) in different labs. When we brought them together, the problems they had talking to
one another … were resolved."
Reporters and government officials toured all but one of the NIEC lab's six sections. The lab designated
for research on robotic aircraft was off limits. Felder cited security concerns.
Meanwhile, 20 retired military and commercial pilots and air-traffic controllers ran simulations
elsewhere in sections of the lab.
Some sat before simulated air-traffic control booths. They watched animated planes move across a
270-degree "window" - a computer screen reflecting in real time decisions made by controllers and
pilots elsewhere in the building, simulator Tru Hall said.
A pair of retired commercial pilots manned the controls of an imitation cockpit. Aluminum stairs led up
to the cockpit door. Inside, a screen displayed the digital image of a neighborhood near the
Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport as it would appear in-flight.
In another cluster, computer screens flashed graphics depicting weather patterns, flight schedules and
flight progression.
The simulators face situations created using archived information on weather, in-flight performance and
other factors of past, real-world scenarios. Their responses are tracked and saved. Ultimately, that raw
data will script computer programs aimed at speeding decision-making by pilots and air-traffic
controllers, said Tom Carty, manager of the weather operational readiness and implementation team.
Such internal advances will build on the capabilities aircraft must install by 2020. Expected to cost $4.1
billion to implement, the changes will enable aircraft to communicate via Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast. ADS-B relies on satellites, which are more precise than the radar the
50-year-old air navigation system uses now.
To support the continued development of NextGen technologies, the FAA has partnered with the South
Jersey Economic Development District on the $308 million NextGen Aviation Research and
Technology Park. Preparatory site work for the five-year construction project continued there Monday
afternoon.
The first building is scheduled to open in the fall; tenants will include the FAA, Richard Stockton
College and unidentified private companies.
By the time it is complete, the complex is expected to have seven buildings and employ 2,000 people.
Contact Emily Previti:
609-272-7221
EPreviti@pressofac.com
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a multimillion-dollar lab
Monday at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in which researchers, avionics engineers and
former pilots and air traffic controllers are developing new software systems meant to make flying safer
and more efficient.
The NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability, or NIEC, lab is named for the Next Generation Air
Transportation System that includes the software programs under development at the lab. The FAA
created the lab to streamline research by consolidating work formerly done at separate sites into one
location.
NextGen is a multibillion-dollar federal initiative aimed at updating air travel to make it safer, cleaner,
more efficient and less noisy while increasing the capacity of the sky space. Most research has
occurred at the tech center, which is the FAA's main development and testing site. It includes the
Atlantic City International Airport, the forthcoming NextGen Aviation Research and Technology Park
and bases for the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Marshals and the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey
Air National Guard.
The FAA invested about $1 million to complete work on the 4,000-square-foot NIEC lab. The facility is
worth about 10 times that amount; the remainder of the money came from funding and donations by
the government, contractors and manufacturers, center director Wilson Felder said.
In operation since the winter, the new lab encourages interaction among various research components.
This can help smooth out kinks such as the meaning of technical terms lost in translation among
professionals from different fields, Felder said.
"You're seeing the integration," he said. "Previously, we had the unmanned-aerial vehicle and air-traffic
control (simulators) in different labs. When we brought them together, the problems they had talking to
one another … were resolved."
Reporters and government officials toured all but one of the NIEC lab's six sections. The lab designated
for research on robotic aircraft was off limits. Felder cited security concerns.
Meanwhile, 20 retired military and commercial pilots and air-traffic controllers ran simulations
elsewhere in sections of the lab.
Some sat before simulated air-traffic control booths. They watched animated planes move across a
270-degree "window" - a computer screen reflecting in real time decisions made by controllers and
pilots elsewhere in the building, simulator Tru Hall said.
A pair of retired commercial pilots manned the controls of an imitation cockpit. Aluminum stairs led up
to the cockpit door. Inside, a screen displayed the digital image of a neighborhood near the
Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport as it would appear in-flight.
In another cluster, computer screens flashed graphics depicting weather patterns, flight schedules and
flight progression.
The simulators face situations created using archived information on weather, in-flight performance and
other factors of past, real-world scenarios. Their responses are tracked and saved. Ultimately, that raw
data will script computer programs aimed at speeding decision-making by pilots and air-traffic
controllers, said Tom Carty, manager of the weather operational readiness and implementation team.
Such internal advances will build on the capabilities aircraft must install by 2020. Expected to cost $4.1
billion to implement, the changes will enable aircraft to communicate via Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast. ADS-B relies on satellites, which are more precise than the radar the
50-year-old air navigation system uses now.
To support the continued development of NextGen technologies, the FAA has partnered with the South
Jersey Economic Development District on the $308 million NextGen Aviation Research and
Technology Park. Preparatory site work for the five-year construction project continued there Monday
afternoon.
The first building is scheduled to open in the fall; tenants will include the FAA, Richard Stockton
College and unidentified private companies.
By the time it is complete, the complex is expected to have seven buildings and employ 2,000 people.
Contact Emily Previti:
609-272-7221
EPreviti@pressofac.com
