Durham Tech selected as part of NASA 2025 University Leadership Initiative research team
Durham Tech has been selected to serve on one of three university teams put together to help solve NASA’s 21st century aviation challenges.
“Durham Tech is honored to join NASA’s 2025 University Leadership Initiative, collaborating with top institutions like the University of Colorado Boulder, MIT, Stanford and N.C. State University to advance autonomous airspace systems,” said Sadik Kara, interim director of Durham Tech’s Biomedical Equipment and Electronic Engineering Technology Programs. “Over the next four years, this initiative will provide our students and faculty with unique opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research, reinforcing our commitment to innovation, workforce development, and the future of aerospace.”
As part of NASA’s University Leadership Initiative, both graduate and undergraduate students on faculty lead teams will contribute directly to real-world flight research while gaining hands-on experience working with partners from other universities and industry. This is NASA’s eighth round of annual University Leadership Initiative awards.
“By combining faculty expertise, student innovation and industry experience, these three teams will advance NASA’s vision for the future of 21st century aviation,” said Koushik Datta, NASA project manager.
Durham Tech is part of the team led by the University of Colorado Boulder. In addition to Durham Tech and the University of Colorado Boulder, the team consists of eight universities, two business entities and a nonprofit. The team will work on investigating tools for understanding and leveraging the complex communications environment of collaborative, autonomous airspace systems.
Research topics to be looked at by the three university teams include:
New aviation systems for safer and more efficient flight operations
Improved communications frequency use for more effective and reliable information transfer
Autonomous flight capabilities that could advance research in areas such as NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission
NASA’s University Leadership Initiative is managed by the agency’s University Innovation project, which also includes the University Student Research Challenge and the Gateways to Blue Skies competition.