NASA looks to universities for 'transformative' innovations

NASA Aeronautics’ University Leadership Initiative “could include revolutionary technologies, operational concepts, design tools, models, or other advancements we can’t even begin to characterize today,” said Doug Rohn, director of NASA’s Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.

NASA didn’t specify any topics or avenues of research, leaving the door open for unlimited brainstorming, which it said differentiates the University Leadership Initiative from other NASA research awards.

“Instead, universities were asked to come up on their own with the most compelling investigations, so long as that technical challenge addressed one of the agency’s main aviation research goals,” the news release said.

One stipulation, however, was that institutions think outside of the box to develop “diverse, multi-disciplinary teams,” including teams of researchers from academia and industry alike, keeping in mind “those who may not have an aviation background” but could add substantive technology expertise.

The agency directed those participating in the aviation research awards to “reach out broadly to universities that serve underrepresented student populations” to bring a variety of perspectives to the table.

Teams from Arizona State University, Ohio State University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee, and Texas A&M were selected for the potential awards.

Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics, said the innovation awards further enhanced the agency’s strong relationship with its university partners. He added that he expected the awards would “spur the nation’s leading universities to take a larger leadership role in advancing the revolutionary ideas needed to transform aviation.”