Thank You from the General Conference Chair

Thanks again to all participants and volunteers for another outstanding conference! This year’s theme, 4-D Trajectory Based Operations Impact on Avionics and Systems, was very timely and I received many positive responses as to it’s relevance to our industry. Our conference co-sponsors, IEEE AESS and AIAA DATC continue to join in a formidable alliance.  Our industry sponsors: Boeing, MITRE-CAASD, Objective Interface and GE Aviation Systems add invaluable resources and visibility to the event.  Our hotel did a marvelous job.  The rooms were large and the hospitality even larger.  I think this was what we expected when we came to Texas.  Hats off to all! We had about 250 participants this year, but the technical content of the conference cannot be measured in quantity alone. Our conference is truly becoming international in nature, with over 14 countries being represented. Your continuing support and generous contributions continue to keep this venue a singular event of great value.

The long term strategy of our co-sponsors is to provide a suite of relevant professional education from which participants draw education credit.  This year we offered 21 separate tutorials, including 9 new ones. All tutorials were organized into tracks to allow attendees to easily identify those educational opportunities that align most closely with their areas of interest. Most courses were selected to directly complement the topics that were presented in the technical program, from Avionics Design, Software Safety and Systems Engineering to Communication systems and New Air Traffic Management concepts. This year’s technical program – led by John Moore and Bob Lyons – featured 155 technical papers organized into a six track format, a Plenary and two excellent Technical Panels.  ICAO AP 16 joined us to discuss the on-going work involved in synchronizing air and ground trajectory prediction and the lunch panel – attended by 100 conferees – attests to the thirst for current knowledge in early implementation of 4-D Operations.  Kicking off the technical program were six noted plenary speakers who knocked out the audience with their high-level insight and knowledge.  The session was packed and more than one conferee noted the buzz in the room at the conclusion.

The briefing material from these three panel sessions will soon be posted on our website. All technical papers were distributed at registration and are available for those who missed the conference.   I highly recommend review of the specific challenges posed by our visitors from the JPDO and SESAR Program Offices during the Plenary Session.

One of the true marks of a professional conference is the recognition proffered to those from the industry who have made contributions above the ordinary. Each year at the DASC, significant accomplishments of certain individuals in the field of digital avionics are recognized. At this year’s conference, we presented the Distinguished Institution Award, the Dr. John C. Ruth Digital Avionics Award, the Information Systems Award, the David Lubkowski Memorial for Advancement in Digital Avionics Best Paper Award for the 25th DASC, the 26th Best of Track, and Student Best Paper Awards.

Dr. Ruth was a major force in the digital avionics arena for many years both in industry and within AIAA. He was the 1999 recipient of the Digital Avionics Award. He contributed significantly to the many aspects of AIAA, was a member of several TCs, chair of two, a member of the Technical Activities Committee on two occasions and twice held positions on the AIAA Board of Directors. The 2007 recipient of the avionics award, Dr. Andrew Zeitlan, was the first to be honored with the Dr. John C. Ruth Digital Avionics Award. Adding to the touching nature of the awards program were 8 members of the Ruth family, including John’s wife, Mary.

Well y’all, that just about rounds up my brief recap of the 26th DASC. We have learned valuable lessons again this year and have provided them to next year’s committee. It was my honor to be part of this year’s event and to work with such a dedicated group of professionals who staffed the organizing committee.

Finally, let me call your attention to next year’s conference focusing on Integrated Modular Avionics. We’re diving back into basics next year and hope to see you again in Minnesota.

John Gonda, General Chair, 26th DASC