Mid school forms Robotics Club

Northwest Middle School students in Meridian, Miss., have formed a Robotics Club as part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) focus within the Meridian Public School District. The club is comprised of approximately 20 students who meet once a week; and recently participated in the Mississippi Best Robotics Competition at Mississippi State University. “As technology becomes more and more a part of our daily lives,” said Daniel Roberts, Robotics Club sponsor. “It is this forward thinking that will broaden the horizons for all current and future Northwest students.” (Meridian Star 10/28/15) Central Mississippi Note: The Golden Triangle region is a hot bed of STEM activity and aerospace businesses.

GEA to build twin facilities in Ala.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - GE Aviation is building twin silicon carbide production factories in Huntsville, Ala., that are expected to employ up to 300 workers. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley made the announcement Oct. 27. Silicon carbide materials are used in jet engines. Construction begins in 2016; and expected to begin production in 2018. GE Aviation also has a plant in Auburn, Ala. (Source: The Associated Press 10/27/15) Central Mississippi Note: GE Aviation also has two aviation composites’ factories at Ellisville and Batesville, Miss.

AHI exhibits police helo in Chicago

Airbus Helicopters Inc., the U.S. sales leader in law enforcement helicopters, is exhibiting the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s H125 AStar at the 2015 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Chicago through Oct. 27. The H125 AStar is built and certified at AHI’s assembly plant in Columbus, Miss. (Vertical Magazine 10/22/15)

Airbus seeks quality inspectors

MOBILE, Ala. - Airbus Americas and its hiring partner AIDT are seeking four quality inspectors for its U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile. The quality inspectors-final assembly line are responsible for the execution and confirmation of quality inspections in the production process in the Final Assembly Line Hangar. Among other qualifications, candidates should have five years of experience, preferably with quality inspection of aircraft installations in an international aviation company, and experience as a technician with a focus on quality inspection in structure and/or system manufacturing in the aviation industry with a high school diploma. For more information and to apply, go to the AIDT site. (Source: Airbus, 10/26/15)

AHI announces new helo sales

STAT MedEvac, a major air medical transport service provider operating from western Pennsylvania, has ordered two H135-series helicopters from Airbus Helicopters Inc. to replace older aircraft. The announcement was made Oct. 20 at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Long Beach, Calif. STAT MedEvac operates some 10,000 missions annually with a fleet of 20 helicopters, including 14 EC135s and six EC145s. AHI has a large manufacturing and production facility at Columbus, Miss. (Source: PR Web 10/21/15)

DOD, fed jobs on the line

Congress was poised Oct. 20 to send an annual Defense Department policy bill to the White House setting up a showdown that could leave the Pentagon without a budget and about 400,000 federal employees facing furloughs. President Obama has until Oct. 31 to decide whether to make good on his veto threat to the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2016. This fiscal year’s bill includes an reform of the federal pension system, price hikes for Tricare fees, and protection of the Air Force’s A-10 Thunderbolt II – that the service doesn’t want. A veto could throw the whole defense budget into uncertainty, and sending Congress scrambling for a renewed plan by Dec. 11, when the current Continuing Resolution runs out. Troops would not be paid; and some 400K civilians would be furloughed if not resolved. (Source: Stars and Stripes 10/20/15) Central Mississippi Note: There are thousands of federal workers, and contractors, throughout the state of Mississippi including those working at Columbus AFB and NAS Meridian.

L-3 earns C-12 mod contract

L-3 Communications Corp., Systems Field Support, of Madison, Miss., has been awarded an estimated $12,000,000 modification to exercise the option on previously awarded contract for C-12 contractor logistics support. Contractor will provide maintenance, repair and support functions. Work will be performed Accra, Ghana; Andrews Air Force Base, Md.; Ankara, Turkey; Bangkok, Thailand; Bogota, Columbia; Brasilia, Brazil; Budapest, Hungary; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; Gaborone, Botswana; Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.; Islamabad, Pakistan; Manila, Philippines; Nairobi, Kenya; Rabat, Morocco; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; San Angelo, Texas; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Yokota Air Base, Japan, and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2016. This contract involves foreign military sales. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/20/15)

AHI-Columbus delivering new helos

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Airbus Helicopters Inc. announced Oct. 19 that it has received orders from Air Medical Resource Group (AMRG) for three H125 and two EC145 helicopters. The helicopters will be put into service with AMRG’s community and hospital-based air medical transport programs across 10 states and Puerto Rico. Two of the H125s are to be delivered this month. The three new H125 AStars will bring to 20 the number in the AMRG fleet. The H125s were produced at AHI’s Columbus, Miss., plant. (Source: PR Web 10/19/15)

MS universities: RESTORE centers

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has announced that the Mississippi Based RESTORE Act Center of Excellence (MBRACE) - a consortium made up of Mississippi’s four major research universities - has been selected as the RESTORE Research Center of Excellence. Following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Congress passed the RESTORE Act to direct a portion of Clean Water Act civil penalties collected from responsible parties to the states impacted by the oil spill. It includes a 2.5 percent funding designation to establish Research Centers of Excellence. The result of the research is to enhance coastal resource management and develop practical applications to drive technology innovation and business development. (Source: WDAM TV 10/15/15) Central Mississippi Note: The MBRACE consortium includes the University of Southern Mississippi, Jackson State University, University of Mississippi, and Mississippi State University. USM is to serve as the lead institution within the University’s Center for Gulf Studies.

AHI to display new helo at AMTC 15

Airbus Helicopters Inc. will feature its newest single-engine helicopter for air medical transport services at the Air Medical Transport Conference 2015, which opens Oct. 19 in Long Beach, Calif. AHI is the leading provider of air medical transport service helicopters in the U.S. AHI’s exhibit will include two leading helicopter models featured with the H130 engine (formerly EC130 T2), and equipped with the firm’s innovative air medical transport equipment package. The first H130 equipped air medical interior equipment package went into service in February 2015 at the Enloe Medical Center FlightCare program in Chico, Calif. Eight more H130s with the identical equipment package have been delivered recently to Air Methods Corp. (Airbus Helicopters Inc. 10/15/15) Central Mississippi Note: AHI is the U.S. affiliate of Airbus Helicopters with a large manufacturing and production facility in Columbus, Miss.

GC states’ Space Grant program

Gulf Coast states with a piece of the Interstate 10 aerospace corridor have four NASA consortiums that can help the region prepare the next generation for exciting careers in the final frontier. (Gulf Coast Reporters League October 2015)

Zombie defense blimp doesn’t work

When a Florida postal worker landed a gyrocopter on the U.S. Capitol lawn last April, his mission was to deliver letters to Congress in protest of big money donations into politics. That flight shed light on a “zombie” defense blimp initiative, called Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS), designed to protect against low-level “impossible to kill” attacks by drones and small vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Times. The postal worker, although interviewed in advance by Secret Service, didn’t alert the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which could have deployed JLENS. But, even after 17 years, JLENS doesn’t work. The LAT reported the ineffective system has survived kill efforts – by the Army - amid critical reports from the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office and GAO, which rated its reliability as “poor.” Foreign Policy magazine reported in May 2014 that DOD planned to “preserve the sanctity of human life” among all “non-zombie” humans. CONOP 8888’s provided for a “zombie survival plan, how-to guide for military planners trying to isolate the threat from a menu of the undead -from chicken zombies to vegetarian zombies and even ‘evil magic zombies’ - and destroy them.” (The document’s “disclaimer section” noted that “this plan was not actually designed as a joke.”) (Waterloo Cedar Falls [Iowa] Courier 10/08/15) Central Mississippi Note: The “zombie” project lives on because its manufacturer, Raytheon, spread job-producing subcontracts throughout congressional districts across 10 states; and deployed heavyweight lobbyists like former senators Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.).

3D aerospace printing webinar

CLEVELAND - Aerospace Manufacturing and Design and Stratasys will host a free webinar from noon to 1 p.m. (CT) Oct. 27 on advance materials for 3D printing and additive manufacturing in the aerospace industry. The second webinar on 3D printing will feature Alissa Wild, senior AM Research Engineer with Stratasys, and Kim Choate, Mass Transportation Marketing Director with SABIC’s Innovative Plastics. They will discuss advanced technical compounds developed for 3D-printing objects for aerospace applications. Eric Brothers, editor of Aerospace Manufacturing & Design will lead the webinar. (Aerospace Manufacturing & Design 10/09/15)

ATK-Iuka aids MEXSAT launch

DULLES, Va. - Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services launched the Morelos-3 satellite for Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 2. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 421 rocketed into space from Space Launch Complex 41, carrying Mexico's next-generation communications satellite into orbit. Orbital AKT, a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, provided critical launch vehicle and satellite payload hardware for the Morelos-3 satellite. Morelos-3 is the second satellite that comprises the MEXSAT communications satellite system owned by Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, a Mexican government agency. (Source: Business Wire 10/02/15) Central Mississippi Note: Orbital ATK produced the 10-foot diameter composite heat shield that provided a low-weight, high performance shield essential to protecting the first stage of the launch vehicle from engine exhaust temperatures over 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The assembly was fabricated at Orbital ATK's Iuka, Miss., facility. It was the 57th Atlas V launch using Orbital ATK-built composite structures.

AHI names new sales exec

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Airbus Helicopters Inc. named Ralph Crosby III to the position of executive director of corporate and VIP sales. Crosby, with more than a decade of experience in aircraft sales, and help lead U.S. sales and assist with Airbus Helicopters Canada. Crosby joins AHI from work as VP of sales at Dallas Jet International. AHI is the U.S. affiliate of Airbus Helicopters, the largest helicopter manufacturer in the world, and a subsidiary of the Airbus Group. (Source: Airbus Helicopters Inc. 09/29/15) Central Mississippi Note: AHI also operates from its headquarters in Texas and with a large manufacturing and production facility at Columbus, Miss.