graduate students and postdocs were active in the Space, Policy, and Society Research Group this year and contributed to MIT’s white paper “The Future of Human Space Flight.” MVL faculty (Newman, Hoffman) and several graduate students took lead roles in planning the Department’s “Giant Leaps” celebration of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. The Laboratory’s “Bioastronautics Journal Seminar” enrolled 16 graduate students, with another ten faculty, students, staff and undergraduates participating as listeners. For the sixth year, MVL MIT Independent Activities Period activities included a popular course on Boeing 767 Systems and Automation and Aircraft Accident Investigation, co-taught with Brian N. Nield, Boeing’s chief engineer for the 777. MVL faculty include Charles Oman (director), Jeffrey Hoffman, Dava Newman, and Laurence Young. They teach subjects in human factors engineering, space systems engineering, space policy, flight simulation, space physiology, aerospace biomedical engineering, the physiology of human spatial orientation, and leadership. The MVL also serves as the office of the Director for the NSBRI-sponsored Graduate Program in Bioastronautics, the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, NSBRI Sensory-Motor Adaptation Team, the MIT-Volpe Program in Transportation Human Factors, and the MIT Portugal Program’s Bioengineering Systems focus area. Visit the Man Vehicle Laboratory at http://mvl.mit.edu/
THE PARTNERSHIP FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION NOISE AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION
The Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction is an MIT-led FAA/NASA/Transport Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence. PARTNER fosters breakthrough technological, operational, policy, and workforce advances for the betterment of mobility, economy, national security, and the environment. PARTNER combines the talents of nine universities, three federal agencies, and 53 advisory board members, the latter spanning a range of interests from local government, to industry, to citizens’ community groups. During 2008-09, PARTNER continued to expand its research portfolio. New research projects include Noise Exposure Response: Annoyance; Noise Exposure Response: Sleep Disturbance; Sound Structural Transmission; Environmental Cost-benefit Analysis of Ultra Low Sulfur Jet Fuels; Environmental Cost-benefit Analysis of Alternative Jet Fuels; Objective Measures to Support Airspace Management; Metrics for an Aviation CO2 Standard; Near-Term Operational Changes; Isotopic Analysis of Airport Air Quality; and International Collaborative Emissions Studies. New reports resulting from PARTNER research were released including studies of en route traffic optimization to reduce environmental impact, land use management and airport controls, large eddy simulations of contrails, and aircraft emissions-related pollutant health risk prioritization. MIT’s most prominent role within PARTNER is developing research tools that provide rigorous guidance to policy-makers who must decide among alternatives
Lab Report
65