AFRL Director speaks at DESS

  • Published
  • By Bill Hancock
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Dayton Engineering Sciences Symposium was held on October 24th, at Wright State University Student Center.

The annual DESS is sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and features 100's of technical presentations, from a broad range of engineering and science disciplines. The annual event is a forum for students, engineers and scientists, to present their work, networking opportunities and improving technical presentation skills.

Joe Sciabica, Air Force Research Laboratory Executive Director, provided the keynote address, entitled "AFRL's Role in Remotely Piloted Aircraft", for this year's event.

"Engaging in these types of events provides us with diversity of thought." said Mr. Sciabica "This allows us to look at Air Force problems and concerns, in supporting our warfighters, from outside the fence. To share our needs and problems with academic and industrial communities is to gain a different perspective, provide a give-and-take discussion and allows the community to be part of the solution equation."

Mr. Sciabica's presentation spanned from large Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the tiny Micro Air Vehicle research and the problems and challenges faced in respect to their integration into Air Force domains of air, space, and cyberspace.

"We, as the United States Air Force, have a duty to our warfighters to maintain our supremacy in these domains. You cannot fight and win in one domain without being significant in all," said Mr. Sciabica. "It's about being cognizant and knowledgeable in your field, to know what is going on across DoD, academia, industry, and even the world. We have to be the best-of-the-best, to provide for the best. The bottom line is we all share these challenges to deliver capability."

Along with the military's recent amplified usage of UAVs in operations around the world, remotely piloted vehicles are increasingly being considered and used for new purposes in governmental agencies, such as NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others, with uses ranging from border patrol, to weather forecasting, to post-disaster rescue efforts.

"There is a long list of overlapping needs when it comes to UAVs, challenges in the human element, flight dynamics, sensors, autonomous operation, communication, etc." said Mr. Sciabica. "UAV and MAV system research, with its agile study capability and lower costs, represent a great opportunity."

AFRL is the Air Force's only organization wholly dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for America's air, space and cyberspace forces. AFRL leads a worldwide government, industry and academia partnership in the discovery, development and delivery of a wide range of revolutionary technology, including UAVs and MAVs.