{"681216":{"#nid":"681216","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech to Collaborate on $6.7 Million NASA University Leadership Initiative","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor \u003Cstrong\u003EKyriakos Vamvoudakis \u003C\/strong\u003Ewill collaborate with colleagues from academia and industry on a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/armd\/tacp\/ui\/uli\/2025-university-teams\/\u0022\u003ENASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) grant\u003C\/a\u003E to create intelligent systems for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) that can independently learn and make safe decisions. These systems will be designed to consistently be aware of safety and ensure that the vehicles operate reliably and securely.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe four-year $6.7 million Safety Aware Learning Assured Autonomy for Aviation project will be headed up by \u003Cstrong\u003EHever Moncayo\u003C\/strong\u003E from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and include collaborations with Georgia Tech, the University of Texas, Arlington, the University of Southern California, and Collins Aerospace.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to join forces and combine our multifaceted expertise to enhance the safety of Advanced Air Mobility vehicles. Our research is paving the way to make them a reality,\u201d Vamvoudakis stated. \u201cThis ULI will bring together experts from academia and industry to speed up progress in aviation safety, improve the reliability and autonomy of future air mobility, and facilitate the integration of autonomous safety systems into commercial and regulatory standards.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project will investigate the significant knowledge gaps that have slowed down the national airspace\u2019s use of AAM vehicles such as drones and air taxis. Vamvoudakis and his team will create smart safety system software that can learn independently. This system will help monitor, manage, and control these vehicles safely and reliably. It will also produce national safety guidelines to ensure the vehicles follow safe flight paths and make harmless decisions based on their own learning. Additionally, they will allow vehicles to autonomously adjust their own actions to ensure safety within specific operational limits. The idea is that future AAM vehicles will use smart, non-traditional components to stay safe and perform well, even in unexpected situations and emergencies. Establishing an intelligent system that can diagnose and predict issues independently will be crucial. This system will help ensure these vehicles meet their mission goals safely, despite challenges like unpredictable environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis ULI research effort will support the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/armd\/\u0022\u003EAeronautics Research Mission Directorate\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E (ARMD) outcome for 2020-2035: Initial safe and efficient integration of highly automated vehicles into the National Airspace System (NAS) by introducing aviation systems with bounded autonomy, capable of carrying out function-level goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is Vamvoudakis\u2019 second ULI. He is a part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/uli.arc.nasa.gov\/projects\/10\/\u0022\u003ESafe and Secure Autonomy Project\u003C\/a\u003E that is still active.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECo-Pis: K. \u003Cstrong\u003EMerve Dogan, Maj Mirmirani, \u003C\/strong\u003Eand \u003Cstrong\u003EVictor Fraticelli \u003C\/strong\u003E(Embry Riddle Aeronautical University), \u003Cstrong\u003EKyriakos G. Vamvoudakis\u003C\/strong\u003E (Georgia Institute of Technology), \u003Cstrong\u003ENicholas Gans\u003C\/strong\u003E and\u003Cstrong\u003E Yijing Xie\u003C\/strong\u003E (University of Texas, Arlington), P\u003Cstrong\u003Eetros Ioannou\u003C\/strong\u003E (University of Southern California), and\u003Cstrong\u003E Kevin Kronfeld\u003C\/strong\u003E (Collins Aerospace) will play a crucial role in this collaborative effort.\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Vamvoudakis and researchers will enhance Advanced Air Mobility safety. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor \u003Cstrong\u003EKyriakos Vamvoudakis \u003C\/strong\u003Ewill collaborate with colleagues from academia and industry on a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/armd\/tacp\/ui\/uli\/2025-university-teams\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) grant\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to create intelligent systems for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) that can independently learn and make safe decisions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Vamvoudakis and researchers will enhance Advanced Air Mobility safety. "}],"uid":"36345","created_gmt":"2025-03-18 19:56:10","changed_gmt":"2025-03-18 19:59:27","author":"gwaddell3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-03-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-03-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676581":{"id":"676581","type":"image","title":"Vamvoudakis-K-Headshot-h.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003EDutton-Ducoffee Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EKyriakos Vamvoudakis\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1742327867","gmt_created":"2025-03-18 19:57:47","changed":"1742327867","gmt_changed":"2025-03-18 19:57:47","alt":"Professor Kyriakos Vamvoudakis ","file":{"fid":"260385","name":"Vamvoudakis-K-Headshot-h.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/18\/Vamvoudakis-K-Headshot-h.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/18\/Vamvoudakis-K-Headshot-h.png","mime":"image\/png","size":80126,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/03\/18\/Vamvoudakis-K-Headshot-h.png?itok=XhFPgd0S"}}},"media_ids":["676581"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/georgia-tech-collaborate-67-million-nasa-university-leadership-initiative","title":"Georgia Tech to Collaborate on $6.7 Million NASA University Leadership Initiative"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186313","name":"Aerospace Engineering School"},{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMonique Waddell\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["monique.waddell@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}