Women engineering majors make up only 20% of undergraduate students in the U.S., and the dropout rate among women, especially freshmen women, far outweighs the rate among male students. According to National Academies of Engineering data, only 40-60% of entering engineering students go on to earn an engineering degree—and women tend to fall on the lower end of that range. To support women engineering students, new programs provide tutoring and academic support, extracurricular and internship opportunities, and scholarship funding.
The Safran Group’s Microturbo has 4,000 APUs and Gas Turbine Systems in operation on Dassault Falcon 20s and Rafales, Bombardier CL415s, BAE Hawk 200s and Aermacchi M346s, as well as on NH Industries NH90s and Eurocopter EC725s. A new e-APU for business aircraft and helicopters has been selected for two models and made its first test-bed run on Dec. 31, 2008. Microturbo’s network supports all its APUs and offers cost per hour contracts. The company has seen no decline in APU usage because its APUs mainly serve military aircraft and helicopters.
Austrian Airlines returned a Boeing 767 to service after TIMCO Aviation installed winglets on the aircraft. It took 25 days to complete the installation on OE-LAE, with the bulk of the time spent strengthening the wing and installing sensors, with only one to two days for actual winglet installation, said Austrian spokesman Michael Braun. Austrian plans to equip a total of four 767s with winglets, with two more potentially getting converted as early as May. Braun said the fourth 767 will get upgraded at its next C check.
The Bell Helicopter Training Academy launched its first online course for customer service facilities that maintain Bell 412 products. The 412-CSF field maintenance refresher course, available through Bell’s Learning Management System, allows technicians to complete refresher training requirements and earn full Bell Achievement Ranking System training credits online. IT
In an extensive move toward expanding its long-term engineering operations, Canberra’s Defense Materiel Organization (DMO) awarded a contract on March 11 to Australian Aerospace and subcontractor Lockheed Martin to provide Through-Life Support (TLS) services for the Royal Australian Air Force’s 12 C-130J Hercules transports. DMO Aerospace Division Head, Air Vice-Marshal Colin Thorne, said that the $A292 million ($192.46 million) TLS contract “will provide innovative solutions to C-130J maintenance and reduce future costs of ownership.
The Longbow Limited Liability Co., marked the first successful powered flight of the Radar Electronics Unit (REU) configuration of the Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR) onboard an AH-64D Apache Block III prototype attack helicopter. The joint venture of Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin’s radar is designed to enable the Apache Longbow to rapidly search, detect, locate, classify, prioritize and engage both moving and stationary targets, while improving power ratios and providing built-in processor expansion growth. Parts/Components
I look forward every year to AVIATION WEEK’S MRO Americas and MRO Military conferences in the spring as opportunities to get a sense of the industry’s mood and direction. This year’s event was one of conflicting signals.
BEIJING—China’s newly formed military aircraft and missile company, Avic Defense, is emphasizing maintenance as part of a business model that it has expanded far beyond just making original equipment. General Manager Wang Yawei says the company will forge a complete value chain covering the whole life cycle of its products, from weapons system predevelopment to maintenance and support guarantees for equipment that it has sold.
Lufthansa Technik scored two big wins for its photo-luminescent strips for commercial aircraft. It signed a preferred supplier agreement with Airbus on March 31, making Lufthansa Technik’s Guideline ColourFit emergency floor-path guidance system standard on Airbus’ complete line of aircraft. And, C&D Zodiac, one of the main suppliers for Bombardier’s CSeries aircraft, selected LHT to supply the Guideline ColourFit floor-path marking for use in the 100-149 seat aircraft.
Qantas cut 500 more management positions in mid-April, to slash costs and streamline the airline. CEO Alan Joyce said a statement that Qantas wants to avoid redundancies but is exploring alternatives to further cuts, such as part time work, various types of leave and other tactics. He said the the group’s diversified business portfolio and financial management have “cushioned” the impact of market conditions on its business. “Taking further action on costs and capacity will ensure we can continue to benefit from these strategies,” Joyce said.
For many of its sensors, PCB Piezotronics offers a sealed, watertight, integral cable assembly for protection from liquid ingress. The submersible accelerometers offer an alternative sealing technique that PCB Piezotronics says adds value when used in gearboxes, transmissions, flow tubes and valves, sealed chemical reactors with mixers, and when measuring structural reactions to turbulence.
All airlines with a Benin operating certificate, along with several other carriers, have been added to the European Union’s airline blacklist. The EU says the decision on Benin came after an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization highlighted problems.
AERO MEDICAL PRODUCTS, amended STC to install an Aero Medical Products air ambulance stretcher on various Pilatus PC-12, PC-12/45, PC-12/47 and PC-12/47E aircraft, STC SA01570CH
BANGALORE—Having inherited an incongruent inventory of spares for Russian-made fighter types, India now is looking at an across-the-counter spares exchange program from suppliers as a package with the original equipment purchase. The military’s job may become easier now that India has begun sourcing its equipment from Western suppliers.
AC TECH received a 2008 Boeing Gold Performance Excellence Award, signifying that it achieved 100% on-time delivery and quality acceptance for a 12-month period. The Garden Grove, Calif.-based company manufactures aircraft sealants and surface treatment products.
MICHELIN NORTH AMERICA, reissued STC to install Michelin tires on the main and nose gear of Bombardier CL-600-2C10/2D15/2D24 aircraft wheel assembly, STC SA03642AT
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center 402nd Maintenance Wing won the 2008 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Effectiveness Award in the Depot category for its work from Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008, including its response to the worldwide grounding of the F-15 fleet in the fall of 2007. Airframes
HYDERABAD—Investments in MRO may have been slow in coming to India, but increasingly companies are finding ways to make homegrown MROs the norm. A trend to incorporate military maintenance in long-term business plans also has emerged, indicating the industry has finally come home to roost. To attract larger foreign investments in India, Special Economic Zones (SEZ) were announced in April 2000, offering fiscal incentives that include tax waivers.
Leigh Sargent of ACE Applied Composites Engineering saw his company’s need for turnaround time-focused service as an opportunity for growth. ACE repairs radomes for a variety of aircraft, and before returning these to customers, it used to send the large components to other service providers for tests. If the third party couldn’t return the radome quickly enough, then it impacted ACE’s TAT. ACE decided to take the matter into its own hands: the Indianapolis-based company built its own radome test cell, focused on speed and quality.
