The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) intends to establish an Air Transportation
Center of Excellence (COE) for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment (AJF&E) in fiscal
year 2013. The goal of this endeavor is to create a cost sharing partnership between
academia, industry, and government that will focus on aviation environmental and topics
related to alternative jet fuels.
The FAA is soliciting proposals from accredited institutions of higher education with
university partners and other affiliates positioned to join the FAA in supporting a new
COE for AJF&E. This relationship will be solidified by contributions from non-federal
sources.
Upon completion of the competitive process, the FAA will enter into cooperative agreements with core university members and award matching grants to establish, operate and conduct research on alternative jet fuels and environmental matters. The cooperative agreement will be awarded in two phases up to a maximum of 10 years. The FAA Administrator has concurred with the intention to support this COE at a minimum 4
million dollars base level annual funding, pending congressional appropriations. The
FAA also intends to award to the selected team an indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity
contract to support tasks for the benefit of the agency. Other U.S. federal government
organizations may also co-sponsor research and other activities thereby augmenting the
FAA’s investment in the COE for AJF&E.
The FAA has identified a need for this Center of Excellence to explore ways to meet the
environmental and energy goals for NextGen which will provide environmental
protection that allows sustained aviation growth. The FAA COE Program Office and the
Office of Environment and Energy conducted a Public Meeting on November 15 and 16,
2012 to discuss the technical requirements, the COE legislative mandates and the
competitive selection process. This Final Solicitation follows the Public Meeting and
incorporates the public comments that were received.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FAA CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAM
The FAA has long had a successful partnership with the nation’s academic research
community, working with more than 75 U.S. colleges and universities to foster important
aviation research conducted by faculty and students. For almost two decades, these
efforts have contributed significantly to the advancement of aviation science and
technology while providing the agency and the industry a high return on investments.
The FAA establishes Air Transportation Centers of Excellence and awards grants under
the authority of Public Law 101-508 (49 USC 44513). The agency has established COEs
to focus on mission-critical topics that include: Computational Modeling of Aircraft
Structures, Airport Pavement and Airport Technology Research, Operations Research,
Airworthiness Assurance, General Aviation, Aircraft Noise and Aviation Emissions
Mitigation, Advanced Materials, Airliner Cabin and Intermodal Research, and
Commercial Space Transportation.
Comments and Questions
Comments and questions that were addressed at the public meeting have been collected
in writing. A document containing all comments submitted and questions answered is
available to those who attended the public meeting and to those who have requested to be on the COE mailing list. The COE Program Office has also posted this information on the
COE website (www.faa.gov/go/coe). Additional written questions submitted to
[email protected] will be answered and posted through March 8, 2013.
Each university team preparing to submit a proposal in response to this Final Solicitation
must submit a Letter of Intent to [email protected]. This letter must list members
and affiliates joining the team and be submitted by the university proposing to serve as
the COE lead by noon on Wednesday, February 20, 2013.
The FAA Administrator has concurred with the request to establish this new COE at the
annual base funding level, pending Congressional appropriations, and expects to select a
COE team within fiscal year 2013. The technical focus of this COE will include, but not
be limited to: alternative jet fuels, noise, emissions, their environmental and welfare
impacts, and efficiency.
For more information: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/offices/management/coe/media/pdf/AJF&E%20Final%20Solicitation%202013-02-01.pdf
