June 13, 2000
Contact: Ranjit Arab, University Relations, (785) 864-8855.
LAWRENCE--A University of Kansas engineering professor will be among those testifying before a congressional field briefing later this week on the KU campus.
The Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the U.S. House Science Committee will hold the public hearing from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 16, in the auditorium of the KU Visitor Center at 15th and Iowa streets.
The hearing will focus on the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) initiative, a proposed multi-year project sponsored by NASA. The SATS initiative is intended to develop technology and infrastructure that will improve the safety and accessibility of small and underutilized airports.
David Downing, KU professor of aerospace engineering, is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee, along with a NASA official, a Wichita State University professor, and several others. Downing said the hearing was brought to the KU campus following discussions between Congressman Dennis Moore, D-Kan., and Downing in March. Moore is a member of the subcommittee.
As director of both the Kansas Space Grant consortium and the Kansas Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), Downing said he urged Moore to look into the initiative.
"One of the problems with a state like Kansas is that our population is widely dispersed," Downing said. "And the economic development of some of our smaller communities is limited by their accessibility. So the SATS system, if it is implemented, will provide aircraft access to everyone who has even a small airport."
Downing, who is currently involved in several research projects related to the initiative's goals, said SATS also would provide a more cost-effective way to develop local economies. For the cost of providing one instrument-landing system at a single airport with current technology, he said that SATS will be able to provide the same benefits for about five different airports.
The hearing is hosted by the University of Kansas and Moore's office. Among the congressmen scheduled to attend the hearing with Moore are the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Bart Gordon of Tennessee, and chairman Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
Among those also scheduled to testify are: Bruce Holmes, head of NASA's General Aviation Program; Rick Bryant, assistant city manager of Lawrence; Ramesh K. Agarwal, professor of aerospace engineering at Wichita State University; John Murphy, vice-president and general manager of Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems; and Gary Kelly, marketing director of GARMIN International.