{"id":15454,"date":"2026-04-24T12:02:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-celebrates-decade-of-university-innovation-in-aeronautics\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T12:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:02:28","slug":"nasa-celebrates-decade-of-university-innovation-in-aeronautics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-celebrates-decade-of-university-innovation-in-aeronautics\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Celebrates\u00a0Decade\u00a0of University Innovation in\u00a0Aeronautics\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA Celebrates\u00a0Decade\u00a0of University Innovation in\u00a0Aeronautics\u00a0<\/h2>\n

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8 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For 10 years, a NASA initiative has helped the agency produce breakthrough aeronautical innovations while fostering the aviation workforce of tomorrow \u2013 and the\u00a0University Leadership Initiative<\/a>\u00a0(ULI) is still flying high, making awards with the potential to change 21st century air travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through ULI, NASA has supported more than 1,100 students at 100 schools, allowing them to pursue advancements in top priority areas for U.S. aviation, including high-speed flight, advanced air mobility, future airspace management and safety, and electrified propulsion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many of those students have used their ULI experience as a springboard to careers in aviation. And many of their ideas \u2014 such as designing more efficient wings or building supersonic\u00a0aircraft\u00a0that can change shape in\u00a0flight \u2014\u00a0are either being investigated further by industry or the technologies adopted outright.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it celebrates a decade of success, NASA\u2019s ULI team is looking forward to\u00a0leveraging\u00a0student innovations with new awards in 2026 and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough ULI we\u2019re building the workforce of the future and fostering the skill sets\u00a0we so desperately need to compete globally,\u201d said\u00a0John Cavolowsky<\/a>, director of\u00a0NASA\u2019s\u00a0Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program<\/a>\u00a0at NASA Headquarters in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Through ULI we’re building the workforce of the future and fostering the skill set we so desperately need to compete globally.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"john<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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john cavolowsky<\/p>\n

Director, Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What makes ULI unique from other NASA research projects, and especially appealing to universities, is that it\u00a0provides the opportunity for university students and faculty\u00a0to propose what research to conduct.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Usually,\u00a0NASA\u00a0determines\u00a0the research it needs\u00a0and then does the work itself or through partnerships and contracts. But with ULI, the agency shares its goals and universities consider how they can best help realize them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no better ways in my mind to help develop that talent within the students than to engage them in identifying big problems and then give them the resources they need to use their creativity to solve them,\u201d\u00a0Cavolowsky\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ULI\u00a0history<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

NASA\u2019s\u00a0relationship with academia and\u00a0reliance on its\u00a0research\u00a0proficiency\u00a0is\u00a0written into NASA\u2019s DNA\u00a0going back to the days of the\u00a0National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics<\/a>, from which\u00a0NASA\u00a0was formed in 1958.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than a century we have leaned on the brilliance and the capabilities\u00a0of universities to help us think,\u201d\u00a0Cavolowsky\u00a0said. \u201cWith\u00a0ULI\u00a0we can\u00a0ensure they\u00a0continue to bring their fresh ideas and\u00a0young energy to the work we do at\u00a0NASA Aeronautics<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ULI\u00a0evolved from\u00a0an earlier\u00a0project called Leading Edge Aeronautics Research for NASA\u00a0(LEARN).\u00a0NASA selected\u00a0five\u00a0LEARN\u00a0teams\u00a0in 2015<\/a>\u00a0to pursue\u00a0truly\u00a0outside of the box\u00a0ideas\u00a0that\u00a0showed promise but needed\u00a0additional\u00a0study.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of those\u00a0teams, for example,\u00a0sought to take a cue from\u00a0migrating\u00a0flocks of\u00a0birds by asking\u00a0if airliners\u00a0could save fuel by\u00a0cruising\u00a0in\u00a0a giant \u2018V\u2019\u00a0formation.\u00a0The numbers were intriguing and simple flight tests proved\u00a0the\u00a0concept, although the idea never made it to practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Slightly retooled\u00a0but keeping the innovative spirit of LEARN,\u00a0ULI\u00a0was\u00a0officially\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0in 2016\u00a0and a year later\u00a0NASA selected\u00a0five teams of university professors and students<\/a>\u00a0to contribute\u00a0solutions to\u00a0the biggest aeronautical challenges of the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0decade later,\u00a0NASA has\u00a0made a total of $220 million in awards to\u00a033 teams over\u00a0eight rounds of\u00a0solicitations<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smooth flying<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

One of the\u00a0earliest selected\u00a0ULI\u00a0teams\u00a0was led by\u00a0James Coder<\/a>,\u00a0who at the time was\u00a0an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.\u00a0His team\u00a0worked on technology that would\u00a0smooth the airflow around a wing to make it more efficient.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Technically known as slotted\u00a0natural\u00a0laminar flow\u00a0(SNLF)\u00a0wings,\u00a0Coder\u00a0has called the idea a potential game changer for commercial airliners.\u00a0The more efficient wing\u00a0would\u00a0mean less drag on\u00a0an\u00a0airplane,\u00a0which in turn\u00a0could\u00a0help airlines save money\u00a0on\u00a0fuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coder credits ULI for not only helping to prove\u00a0the technology\u2019s\u00a0effectiveness\u00a0\u2013\u00a0with the aid of\u00a0wind tunnel testing at\u00a0NASA\u2019s\u00a0Ames Research Center<\/a>\u00a0in California \u2013 but for providing students with\u00a0an\u00a0experience they\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0get elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Four<\/a><\/figure>
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Three University of Tennessee\/Knoxville students and co-investigator Dan Somers (in red jacket) prepare a slotted laminar flow wing section for testing in a wind tunnel at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California.<\/div>\n
University of Tennessee\/Knoxville<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAfter 10 years\u00a0industry remains interested in\u00a0the\u00a0SNLF technology\u00a0and\u00a0I am optimistic for good reason about its future,\u201d Coder said.\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0project alumni have gone on to do many wonderful things and leverage what they did and learned through the ULI.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With ULI experience prominent on their resumes, several of the students\u00a0on Coder\u2019s team\u00a0wound up with jobs in industry\u00a0\u2013 such as\u00a0Boeing\u00a0and\u00a0Lockheed Martin\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and\u00a0government labs. One is\u00a0currently\u00a0a\u00a0NASA Pathways<\/a>\u00a0intern working on\u00a0his PhD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now at\u00a0Pennsylvania State University, Coder\u00a0remains\u00a0a strong advocate for ULI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u00a0goes above and beyond simple workforce development,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cWe recognized early on the value-add of\u00a0ULI\u00a0is the students themselves. While we could have just trained students\u00a0en\u00a0masse, we wanted to put them\u00a0in the front seat of technical leadership on the project.\u00a0I think this\u00a0was\u00a0a very successful\u00a0strategy that\u00a0benefited\u00a0the project and the students as they embarked on their\u00a0careers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mighty morphing<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Forrest Carpenter is another example of a student whose ULI support led to work after graduation \u2013 in this case at NASA.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking on the ULI project was an incredible experience, one I will always be thankful for and will remember fondly,\u201d Carpenter said.\u202f\u201cI think the project\u00a0challenged me to be something more than \u2018just an engineer;\u2019 really helping my professional development and giving me a clearer focus on my passion.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a student at Texas A&M, he was part of a team selected by NASA in 2017 to research a novel idea in which a supersonic\u00a0aircraft\u00a0could alter its shape to fly more efficiently based on the atmospheric conditions in real time. Dimitris\u00a0Lagoudas, now the university\u2019s interim department head for aerospace engineering, led the team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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Members of a University Leadership Initiative round one team led by Texas A&M University participate in a status update meeting with NASA prior to their final review in 2022.<\/div>\n
Texas A&M University \/ Jonathan Weaver-Rosen<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A laser shooting out ahead of the\u00a0aircraft\u00a0would take measurements of the oncoming air and then the aircraft\u2019s computer would command patches of shape memory alloys and other mechanisms to morph the aircraft\u2019s outer shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One\u00a0possible application\u00a0of the technology could be in contributing to the reduction of the loudness of a sonic boom, expanding on the science behind NASA\u2019s\u00a0X-59 quiet supersonic technology demonstrator<\/a>\u00a0that seeks to reduce the sonic boom to a sonic thump.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main research role on the team was performing Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations of the various geometries we were looking at, including a pre-production version of X-59,\u201d Carpenter said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

His work on the idea continues. A follow-on NASA project,\u00a0GoSWIFT, will flight test the core technologies Carpenter and his ULI team worked on at Texas A&M. Only this time, Carpenter is the co-lead for the tests, which are targeted to take place at\u00a0NASA\u2019s\u00a0Armstrong Flight Research Center<\/a>\u00a0in California\u00a0in the near future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carpenter\u2019s enthusiasm for his work and gratitude for how ULI led to his career with NASA resonates with many other ULI alumni.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of students impacted, and how they were impacted, by a long-term project like ULI is huge,\u201d Carpenter said.\u00a0\u201cNASA\u2019s involvement in this kind of activity can only strengthen the research done in this country and to help inspire and develop the next generation of our workforce.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

ULI is supported by the\u00a0Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program<\/a>\u00a0within NASA\u2019s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, which\u00a0publishes ULI solicitations and other opportunities to collaborate<\/a>\u00a0with the agency\u2019s aeronautical innovators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Jim<\/div>\n
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Jim Banke<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Managing Editor\/Senior Writer<\/div>\n
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Jim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 40 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics’ Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on nasa.gov. In 2007 he was recognized with a Distinguished Public Service Medal, NASA’s highest honor for a non-government employee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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