NIAR Executive Director John Tomblin shows Lisa Porter, Associate Administrator of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and collegues around NIAR's ASTEC facility located at Raytheon Aircraft Company.

The group received a briefing on the activities of the NASA National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), located at NIAR.

NCAMP, which is funded by NASA, provides the nation with a center for composite and advanced material validation and quality assurance. The program is in its second year and has recently chosen five resin systems for qualification and received committments from several manufacturers to manufacture test panels for the program.

The group also toured ASTEC, which houses NIAR's Aging Aircraft Laboratory and Full-Scale Structural Testing Laboratory. Projects currently underway at ASTEC include inspections and static tests involving a Beechcraft Baron, Liberty XL2, F-16 and Beechcraft Starship.

NIAR to coordinate efforts with ONERA of France

NIAR recently hosted a  meeting between NIAR researchers, Wichita State College of Engineering faculty and representatives from France's National Aerospace Research Center (ONERA). The purpose of the meeeting initiated by ONERA was to foster collaborative research efforts between the two groups.

ONERA is a public research establishment with eight French research facilities and 2,000 employees.