CAFB will join Vets' Day activities

Columbus Air Force Base’s 14th Training Wing personnel will be among the active duty participants for the Nov. 9 Lowndes County Veterans Day Parade and wreath-laying ceremony Nov. 9. The veterans’ parade begins at 10 a.m. at the Columbus Municipal Complex. The wreath-laying ceremony is at 11 at the county courthouse. Organizations and veterans wishing to participate may contact the base public affairs office at (662) 434-7068 or American Legion Post 69 at (662) 329-4130. Source: Columbus, Miss., Dispatch, Oct. 26, 2013.

State econ VP touts economic growth

The senior VP for the Mississippi Economic Council told members of the Olive Branch, Miss., Rotary Club that the state continues to score high marks among its southeastern neighbors in business and economic outlook, and is No. 1 nationally in shipbuilding and manufacturing growth – which includes the aerospace industry. Scott Waller also stressed the importance of carrying forward with the ‘Blueprint Mississippi’ strategic plan and the state’s Common Core standards – adopted by 45 other states - for schools despite growing criticism among some groups over the past year. Source: Desoto (Miss.) Times, Oct. 24, 2013.

Aurora awarded Navy drone contract

The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) has awarded Aurora Flight Sciences, which operates a production facility in Tupelo, Miss., with a $2,811,232 contract to design, develop, and demonstrate an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for technologies to enable future launch, recovery, and operations from small Navy ships. The Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node program is to provide war-fighters an affordable solution allowing fixed-wing drones, with surveillance and communications capabilities, to routinely operate from aboard ships, and extending range and operational capabilities. AFS designs and builds aerospace vehicles for commercial and military applications; and is headquartered in Manassas, Va. Source: WVTA-TV Tupelo, Oct. 24, 2013.

Stark may be considered for howitzer project

The Israel Defense Forces’ Artillery Corps has plans to set out on a modernization program – as state and international companies prepare to post contract offers - to build a next generation of the 50-year-old M109 self-propelled howitzers. If updating plans get approval, potential suppliers will be asked to prepare an autonomously loading 52-caliber cannon, with a 155mm barrel, integrated on a refurbished or new, low-cost chassis. Israeli firms expected to compete: privately-owned Elbit Systems (ES), and the state-run Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Israel Military Industries (IMI). Internationally: America’s Lockheed Martin and Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Defense. IAI reports it is basing “specs” on a KMW artillery gun module that is integrated onto a Lockheed Martin-built rocket-launch system chassis. Final assembly of the artillery piece may be built at either ES’ Stark Aerospace facility in Columbus, Miss., or LM’s plant in Dallas. Source: Jewish Business News, Oct. 21, 2013.

GA Tupelo to work carrier contract

General Atomics headquarters has been awarded a $51,997,981 Navy contract order of a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement for procurement of Advanced Arresting Gear equipment required to stand up Runway Arresting Landing Site (RALS) simulation testing for the first-in-class Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier. RALS equipment enables the Navy to troubleshoot issues discovered during certification and deployment of carrier. General Atomics’ Tupelo, Miss., facility will conduct about 15 percent of the overall work for this project which is tentatively scheduled to be completed in October 2016. Source: Defense Department, Oct. 17, 2013

SXP sets up NW Miss. foundation scholarships

Schulz Xtruded Products of Tunica, Miss., will provide a matching gift endowment to The Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation for new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) scholarship assistance for the 2014-15 school year. SXP specializes in extrusion steel pipes, high-alloyed materials, and metallurgical bonded pipes for oil and gas firms as well as a variety of titanium profiles for the aerospace industry. For information about the scholarship program call the Northwest foundation at (662) 560-1103. Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal, Oct. 12, 2013.

Aero accident probes take back seat during gov't shutdown

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have been unable to probe 13 accidents since the partial government shutdown Oct. 1. The government agency has also postponed two others, including one scheduled for November involving an Asiana Airlines jetliner that crash-landed July 6 in San Francisco. In total, NTSB has put 1,500 investigations on hold; and sent home 383 of its 405 employees. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said the shutdown has “recklessly been putting our economy at risk of a relapse.” Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker warned that both political parties must be willing to compromise. Aerospace Industries Association CEO Marion Blakey warned a congressional panel Friday that the longer the shutdown continues, smaller aerospace supply businesses will suffer potential collapses and be hurt worse than the more established aviation firms. Source: Bloomberg, Oct. 11, 2013.

MSU fund-raiser reaches $345M

Mississippi State University is in the midst of a $600 million fund-raising effort that was begun quietly in 2010. It is designed to support the school’s eight academic colleges – including the Meridian campus - libraries and athletic programs for scholarships to endowed faculty positions, a new engineer and science facility and future projects within the athletics department. MSU Provost Jerry Gilbert says the effort has raised nearly $345 million to date. Source: The Associated Press, Oct. 11, 2013.

MSU names new alumni director

Seasoned alumnus Jeff Davis was named the new executive director for Mississippi State University’s Alumni Association. The announcement ends a 3-month research to replace 38-year MSU alumni veteran Jimmy Abraham, who retired in June. Davis comes to Starkville from duty as an alumni association executive at Stephen F. Austin University. Davis begins his new role at MSU in November. Davis has family history with MSU. His grandfather played football at State in the late 1930s and graduated with an engineering degree. Source: The Reflector (MSU), Oct. 11, 2013.

Pre-teen’s STEM brewsky experiment headed to ISS

A sixth-grade Colorado student’s space-science experiment, one he developed at his science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) school 20 miles south of Denver, has won an all-expenses paid trip to the International Space Station. Astronauts aboard the ISS will test the effects of Michal Bodzianowski’s cosmic beer-making experiment. The 11-year-old claimed the prize as part of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education's Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. The experiment is scheduled to launch in December aboard Orbital Science's robotic Cygnus spacecraft. Source: Space.com, Oct. 11, 2013.

Aerospace teen rocket contest opens

Over the next six months, thousands of students from across America - and hopefully Mississippi - will push the educational envelope and test gravity’s limits by building and launching model rockets for the Aerospace Industries Association’s 12th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). Official registration has opened to as many as 1,000 student-teams from grades 7 through 12. TARC is a conduit for recruiting diverse students for careers in the aerospace and defense industry. For additional information on TARC and to register visit www.rocketcontest.org. Source: AIA, October 2013.

NC judge shoots down Eaton appeal

A federal judge in North Carolina scuttled Eaton Corp.’s decade-long alleged stolen trade secrets legal battle with Frisby Aerospace by dismissing the Cleveland-based aerospace firm’s lawsuit. Eaton had claimed a group of its former engineers stole company designs, took them to Frisby, where they were used to create mimicked-designs of Eaton’s state-of-the-art hydraulic parts. Judge William L. Osteen Jr. ruled that a Mississippi state court had already settled the issue three years ago leaving Eaton with no standing in a North Carolina courtroom. Source: Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer, Oct. 4, 2013.

(Central Mississippi/Golden Triangle Note: Eaton’s Jackson, Miss., facility operates one of the most advanced aircraft hydraulic test laboratories in the world.)

USM’s Army ROTC program to close

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program will be one of 13 nationwide to close at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. USM officials were baffled by the official Army announcement in a September letter to President Rodney Bennett, and plan to reverse the decision. Other southeast regional universities scheduled to lose their AROTC programs are the University of Tennessee at Martin, University of North Alabama, East Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and Georgia Regents (Augusta State) University. USM was the state’s only Army ROTC to receive a closure notice. There are five other ROTC programs in Mississippi: Jackson State University, University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University. Source: Hattiesburg American, Oct. 4, 2013; U.S. Army, Oct. 2, 2013.

Columbus AE plant names new GM

Samuel Adcock was named today as VP and GM of American Eurocopter’s helicopter production plant at Columbus, Miss., He will assume that role beginning Oct. 7. As its new leader, Adcock will oversee all plant operations and serve as AE’s executive committee. He was EADS North America’s Senior VP for Strategy and Business Development and among the original architects of EADS’ strategy that led AE to invest in the Columbus facility. For more than 20 years, he served in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. Prior to 1997, he served as Director of Defense and Security Policy for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi. He began his federal career with the Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding. Also, AE announced that Earl Walker, plant GM, will assume the new post of Senior Director of Government Relations. The Mississippi native joined AE in 2006; and has a business degree from Mississippi State University. Source: American Eurocopter, Oct. 3, 2013.

[Central Mississippi/Golden Triangle Note: AE recently announced it will install a full assembly line at the Columbus plant to produce AS350 commercial helicopters beginning in October 2014. The plant will also continue to produce the UH-72A Lakota helicopters for the U.S. Army.]

The ‘Shadow’ will compute for MSU

There’s nothing shadowy about Mississippi State University’s supercomputing prowess; but that reputation will get 10-fold more powerful following an announcement that the Starkville facility will get a “revolutionary” high-performance supercomputer for shared research beginning in December. MSU’s High Performance Computing Collaboratory will get the boost from Cray Inc.’s CS300-LC ‘Shadow’ cluster supercomputer. The ‘Shadow’ will be located at the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park adjacent to campus. Once operational, the warm water heat exchangers and liquid-cooled design will even use less energy. MSU computer system supports a coalition of research centers that share computational science and engineering computations. Among those groups is the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems which is comprised of research, engineering design and development, and technology transfer teams for industry and government partners. Source: Mississippi Business blog, Oct. 3, 2013.