Guyana Chronicle New York Edition Week-ending December 2, 2016
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Guyanese helping to develop world’s fastest aircraft By Alva Solomon
THE world’s fastest aircraft, the Xb-1, a supersonic jet faster than the Concorde, is being developed by Boom Technology Inc and will fly late in 2017. And the company’s Principal Engineer, Aerodynamics, who is playing a key role in the development of the super-fast jet, has Guyanese roots. The company unveiled the prototype for the aircraft a week ago. It is nicknamed the “Baby Boom”and is being designed to achieve Mach 2.2 or 1,451 MPH — 2.6 times faster than other airliners. According to CNN, Boom Technology and Virgin Atlantic which is owned by Sir Richard Branson, tickets for the estimated threeand-a- half hour trip from New York-London round trip will be about $5,000. Boom said the aircraft will be able to carry up to 55 passengers It has been in the making two years to date and is set to establish a benchmark for speed and efficiency. With all safety considerations ex-
hausted, it has already attracted the attention of aviation pundits globally, who have viewed the aircraft as the next generation of speed, beyond the famed Concorde. The aircraft, according to the manufacturer, leverages advances in aerodynamics, materials, and propulsion to achieve efficient supersonic flight. The company noted on its website, that the aircraft has been refined through 1,000+ simulated wind tunnel tests. Boom jets feature three major aerodynamic advances from Concorde: an area-ruled fuselage, a chine, and a refined delta wing. “Supersonic performance is highly sensitive to airplane cross-sectional area. Our aircraft features a gentle tapering in the aft cabin, where the wings are thickest, reducing cross-section and disturbances to the surrounding air,” Boom Technology noted on its website. The XB-1 is powered by three General Electric J8521 turbojet engines and fed by two variable geometry supersonic intakes. Each en-
Kenrick Waithe
An artist’s impression of the XB-1 “Baby-boom” supersonic jet
gine has a variable geometry nozzle system, the company said. The XB-1 uses a compact turbojet engine, while the production airliner uses a medium-bypass turbofan engine for additional quiet and efficiency. The aircraft will be tested at Centennial Airport in Denver, Colorado, late next year. SO WHO IS THE GUYANESE LINKED TO THE AIRCRAFT? Kenrick Waithe is the Principal Engineer Aerodynamics at Boom Technology, Inc. He is the son of Guya-
nese parents. He appeared in infomercials released last week on YouTube by the company and explains the propulsion system utilised to develop the superjet. Waithe currently chairs the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Boom Discussion Group. AIAA is the professional society for the field of aerospace and engineering. According to Boom Technology, Waithe previously headed the Gulfstream team developing quiet boom and supersonic aerodynamics and was also responsible for
advanced computational fluid dynamics methods applied across all Gulfstream aircraft. He also worked with Lockheed Martin and NASA’s Langley Research Centre. As such, he carried a wealth of knowledge to Boom Technology. According to his professional profile, Waithe is a member of a small research team conducting supersonic research on sonic-boom suppression that if successful, could change the current worldwide ban on supersonic flight over land. He is responsible for
complex aerodynamics and propulsion integration of supersonic and subsonic concepts using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). He also conducts time-accurate analyses on aircraft with propulsion integration and is also responsible for identifying and developing new methods and processes to analyse and design a full aircraft with an integrated propulsion system. Waithe obtained his education from the George Washington University where he read for a Master’s degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Previously, he attended the University of Pennsylvania where he read for a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Education gets largest slice of budget EDUCATION again has taken the largest slice of the national budget, some $43.1B or 17.2 per cent of the budget, as Government places increased emphasis on the delivery of quality education across all levels. Included in this allocation is a sum of $1.9B for the School Feeding Programme and $578 million to purchase textbooks. Together with the President’s 5 Bs Programme, these measures are expected to result in improved attendance, attentiveness, and productivity. In a bid to address issues of overcrowding and facilities’ improvements, over $3.5B has been allocated to construct, extend, rehabilitate and maintain schools, teachers’ quarters and other buildings. Within this, several new schools are slated for completion, including Yurong Paru Nursery and Hiowa Nursery in Region Nine, Bamia Nursery and Primary in Region 10, and Baramita Nursery in Region One. Also this year, a total of 481 trained teachers were added to the pool of qualified
teachers in the public school system. “In 2017, we will aim to add another 600 to afford each student increased quality contact time. Furthermore, we will step up distribution of 61 computers under the One Laptop per Teacher Initiative, which was launched this year,” Finance Minister Winston Jordan told the National Assembly in his budget presentation on Monday. He said approximately 9,500 laptops will be distributed to teachers countrywide to improve classroom instruction and productivity. And in the area of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), about $2.4B will be invested in the coming years to improve learning outcomes of students, at the secondary level, with the aim of expanding the pool of employable, certified labour that can adequately bridge the skills gap. This investment will see the expansion of TVET programmes into four hinterland regions. Special focus will be placed on improving access for persons with disabilities.
Next year, $2.5B is allocated for TVET interventions countrywide. DEPRESSING Looking specifically at Mathematics and English, Jordan said this year, the Mathematics and English Language results at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) examination and, more particularly, the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), were very depressing. And the results for English and Mathematics, at the Grade 6 levels, were distressingly alarming, he told the House. “Our 10 and 11 year old boys and girls took tests on core subjects, which resulted in 14 per cent passing Mathematics, revealing that over 12,000 of our children were not numerate, while more than half of those writing English could not sufficiently comprehend our official language to attain a 50 percent score. This is a crisis!” he said. But, he noted that Government has wasted no time in tackling this crisis head-on. In the near and medium
terms, interventions to address the problem include implementing the $337.4M Programme for Emergency Education Reform (PEER), which provides an initial and rapid response that will: i) administer diagnostic and needs assessments across the country for school, class, and child; ii) recruit and retain mathematics specialists; iii) train school administrators for improved monitoring; iv) train teachers in content and methodology; v) roll out a parent involvement strategy in every region; and vi) expand immediately, the number of class periods assigned to mathematics at both the primary and secondary levels beyond the existing meagre four periods; (vii) Commencing and completing the curriculum reform across the entire public education system.; and (viii) accelerating the development of appropriate job descriptions and commensurate remuneration packages, in order to attract specialists and relevant personnel, in conjunction with the Public Service Department and the 60 Public and Teaching Service Commissions, to fill critical
human resource gaps across the country by mid-2017. Also, in keeping with Government’s commitment to ensure that all sectors incorporate the fundamentals of a green economy, the Ministry of Education has partnered with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) to reduce the usage and cost of electricity in schools, having conducted energy assessments at 29 secondary schools. “We have rehabilitated 1,870 watts of photovoltaic systems and installed systems at selected schools in the hinterland regions, so as to facilitate the resumption of the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programmes and improve lighting in these schools.” UG Turning his attention to the University of Guyana (UG), Jordan said the country’s premier institution remains critical to enhancing the human capital stock necessary for the diversification and ‘greening’ of the economy. “We look forward to the on-going repositioning of the
university and the efforts to generate revenues and pursue investments that will create a more financially sustainable institution. In 2017, the Government will allocate $2.9B to support the university operations and construct a teaching and learning complex for mathematics and science,” he said. The Student Loan Agency will also be restructured to ensure institutional sustainability; achieve efficiency in processing of student loans; enable an electronic database to improve client interactions; and improve customer service. “Mr. Speaker, increased financial allocations alone will not suffice to transform our sector, if teachers are either unpunctual, are frequently absent from classes, or when they do show up for classes, are deficient in classroom instruction and management; It will not suffice if parents are not investing their time and effort to support learning outcomes; It will not suffice if a head teacher fails to care and to supervise,” the finance minister told the House.