Robert Sumwalt—who spent 15 years on the National Transportation Safety Board, including nearly five as chairman—has settled into the role he took on in January as a distinguished fellow in aviation safety and executive director of the new Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety. According to Sumwalt, the center strives to bring “excellence in aviation safety” to education, training, and research, but is weighted toward the latter. 

He is working out of a temporary office at the university’s Daytona Beach, Florida campus, but will soon move into the former student fitness center building, which is being remodeled as the aviation safety center’s new home. When renovations are completed in May, the facility will include offices for Sumwalt and his staff, as well as classrooms and conference rooms where aviation safety classes and seminars can be held.

The center he launched from the ground up is tackling a range of safety issues surrounding new technologies, from unmanned aerial systems and urban air mobility technologies to human-machine and machine-to-machine interfaces. It will also encompass areas such as automatic taxiing, the use of artificial intelligence, and streamlined or trajectory-based operations, and could even delve into alternative aviation fuels, new training systems—including virtual and augmented reality tools—and other technologies. 

“Embry-Riddle’s Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety will serve as a business magnet for our region, by attracting industry and government partners eager to identify timely solutions,” said ERAU president Barry Butler. “Sumwalt’s deep knowledge of aerospace safety issues and his professionalism and commitment to excellence make him an ideal leader of this much-needed enterprise.”

Sumwalt is also spearheading other aerospace safety research and outreach activities for the university and has oversight responsibilities of existing safety initiatives. Additionally, he is tasked with recruiting talent; promoting student participation in research projects; providing career counseling for students; and working with Embry-Riddle academic leadership to guide and mentor center-affiliated faculty.

“Embry-Riddle is the leader in aviation safety, and we now have an advisory board to see if any courses in this field are missing at the university,” he said. This work has resulted in the addition in August of a master’s of aviation safety program through ERAU’s Worldwide Campus.

He is also coordinating guest lectures, events, and professional development programs. Notably, the center last month held its first professional development course—focused on disaster response—that was taught by former NTSB employees who worked at that agency’s training center.

The Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety will also do consulting work for aircraft operators of all sizes. This ranges from helping to implement safety programs to holding customized short courses.

In fact, the center recently created a customized online course for a major airline that wanted data analytics training for their safety employees. The courses were held midweek in the early evening, after normal work hours, so the employees wouldn’t get behind in their day-to-day duties.

Other potential short courses could be a three- to five-day session on aircraft certification, aimed at the “Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, who are not aviation people, that are now developing electric aircraft,” Sumwalt said. He also believes the center can play a role in helping corporate flight departments implement safety programs, including safety management systems.

On the research side, the FAA has already approved funding for the center to conduct studies on go-around safety and flight-path management. The go-around research is the third phase of this project and will look into how to best train pilots for go-around procedures developed in the second phase, he said. Meanwhile, the flight-path management study will explore cognitive skill degradation from aircraft automation and identify ways to mitigate it.

Other research areas on Sumwalt’s radar include fatigue, runway excursions, loss of control in-flight, and controlled flight into terrain. 

“My goal is to continue making human mobility as safe as possible,” Sumwalt said. “I’m excited about this opportunity and I look forward to cultivating transformative partnerships with government and industry.”