NASA has designated three academic teams as Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE), continuing its support and funding for university research into vertical life technology. Made up of universities across the country, the teams will be led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Maryland. In partnership with the U.S. Army and Navy, NASA first awarded VLRCOE designations in 2011 and elected to continue the program in 2016.
“NASA and our military partners have invested and committed to vertical lift research and education for another five years to train the next generation of vertical lift engineers,” said NASA Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project manager Susan Gorton. “Among other objectives for the Army and Navy, the tasks that have been selected will cover a wide range of research areas that support NASA’s mission in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).”
Alongside training future vertical lift research professionals, NASA says the goal of the centers is to conduct research that will “establish a significant dual-use technology base from which the military aviation community and the broader vertical lift industry can draw substantial knowledge and capability.” VLRCOE awards are administered by the Army Contracting Command located at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Great, now they can take credit for all this neat stuff that has happened without them.