{"id":76652,"date":"2013-04-23T10:41:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T14:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=76652"},"modified":"2013-04-25T15:50:33","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T19:50:33","slug":"airbus-donates-flap-assembly-to-uconn-for-research-and-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/04\/airbus-donates-flap-assembly-to-uconn-for-research-and-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus Donates Flap Assembly to UConn for Research and Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Accorsi, senior associate dean for the School of Engineering, talks to students about an Airbus aircraft flap assembly recently delivered to the University’s Depot Campus. Airbus, the world’s leading commercial aircraft manager, donated the flap to UConn for research and training. (Chris LaRosa\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has donated an aircraft flap assembly worth more than $774,000 to the University of Connecticut\u2019s School of Engineering for use in its research laboratories and training classes.<\/p>\n

Aircraft flaps are hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed at which an aircraft can be safely flown and to increase the angle of descent for landing. Flaps shorten takeoff and landing distances by lowering the aircraft\u2019s stall speed and increasing drag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank Airbus for their generous contribution to UConn,\u201d said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. \u201cAt a time when we are making tremendous investments in our flagship university to bolster math, science, engineering, and technology training, this equipment provides a unique real-world experience for our students. Connecticut\u2019s aerospace industry is an important driver of economic growth. With this Airbus technology, we are poised to train an even more talented, competitive workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry Eccleston, president & CEO of Airbus Americas, said: \u201cAirbus is always pleased when we link with academic institutions such as the University of Connecticut. When we donate aircraft parts and components to research programs, we are investing in aviation\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn will invite faculty and students to submit research ideas that will help determine the best uses of the flap.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Accorsi, senior associate dean for the School of Engineering, talks to students about the flap assembly. From left: Kelly Morison, Stephen Clemens, Will Leet, Michael Jordon, Sarah Bacon, and Adam Boyajian. (Chris LaRosa\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are very grateful for Airbus\u2019 donation to our research program,\u201d said Michael Accorsi, senior associate dean for the School of Engineering. \u201cBy hosting an internal contest to see how best to use this important piece of aviation equipment, we hope to stimulate creative research ideas from our faculty and students and potentially provide Airbus with new technologies that can be deployed on their aircraft. I anticipate that we will identify several meritorious projects and hope to conduct these at UConn over the next three or four years. Now that the wing flap is available for faculty and students to examine, we will be asking them to submit formal research plans in the next several weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the initial research areas that have been discussed include non-destructive testing methods for aircraft structures; wireless aircraft sensors with energy harvesting capabilities; and new ice protection systems for aircraft.<\/p>\n

Improvements in non-destructive testing will not only enhance aircraft safety but will also help reduce the time and costs associated with aircraft inspection. Designing aircraft sensors that can power themselves from wing vibrations will allow these sensors to be easily distributed across the entire wing. These sensors can then be used to monitor wing performance and identify any unusual behavior. Research in ice protection systems will not only lead to more reliable winter travel, but also could provide more environmentally sound de-icing chemicals.<\/p>\n

Many Connecticut individuals and groups helped arrange for the Airbus donation, including the Governor\u2019s office; the U.S. Department of Commerce\u2019s Commercial Service in Middletown, Conn.; and the office of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis donated aircraft equipment is a unique educational opportunity for UConn engineering students to obtain hands-on experience, and is further evidence of the expanding positive relationship between the state, local businesses, and Airbus,\u201d Blumenthal said.<\/p>\n

The left inboard flap assembly donated to UConn is commonly installed on Airbus A330 and A340 long-range passenger jet aircraft. The flap was delivered from an Airbus Spares Center in Ashburn, Va., and arrived at UConn in early April. The flap is currently housed at the Longley Building on the Depot Campus in Storrs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The aircraft manufacturer has donated an aircraft flap assembly worth more than $770,000 to the School of Engineering for use in labs and classes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":76527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[44],"class_list":["post-76652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 11:07:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76652"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76667,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76652\/revisions\/76667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/76527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76652"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=76652"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=76652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}