AIAA Names Top Ten Emerging Aerospace Technologies of 2009

"Greener Aviation" Technologies and Alternative Fuels Head the List

RESTON, Va., June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has released its first annual list of top
emerging aerospace technologies.

Developed by AIAA's Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC), the list comprises
the following:

1. "Greener Aviation" Technologies - including emission reduction
and noise reduction technologies as used in the Federal Aviation
Administration's Continuous Low Emissions, Energy and Noise (CLEEN)
program, and the European Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE)
program
and "Clean Sky" Joint Technology Initiative.
2. Alternative Fuels - including biofuels, as promoted by the FAA's
Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), and the
recent
FAA grant to the X Prize Foundation to spur development of renewable
aviation fuels and technologies.
3. High Speed Flight Technologies - such as supersonic and hypersonic
aerodynamics, sonic boom reduction technology, and thermal management
aids.
4. Efficient Propulsion Technologies - including open rotors and geared
turbofans, such as those used in the European DREAM (valiDation Radical
Engine Architecture systeMs) program.
5. Active Flow Technologies - such as plasma actuators.
6. Advanced Materials - such as nanotechnology and composites.
7. Active Structures - such as shape memory alloys, morphing, and
flapping.
8. Health Management - such as monitoring, prognostics, and self-healing.
9. Remote Sensing Technologies - including unmanned aerial vehicles and
satellites such as those used in NASA's Global Earth Observation
System of Systems (GEOSS) program.

10. Advanced Space Propulsion Technologies - including plasma-based
propulsion such as the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket,
and solar sail technologies.

AIAA's list reflects the expertise of the members of the Emerging Technologies
Committee, as well as the results of a specially commissioned study. ETC
chair Dan Jensen stated, "The list provides guidance to AIAA for its institute
development strategy, while helping shape the annual input AIAA provides to
the United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. The technologies listed
represent the aerospace technologies in which research and technology
development is most active from a global perspective."

AIAA's Emerging Technologies Committee was created to identify new as well as
expanding technologies and programs with the potential for significant AIAA
involvement, to identify likely partners for new AIAA activities, and to
identify products and services that AIAA could provide to support emerging
initiatives. The ETC is composed of three technical subcommittees: Aviation,
Space, and Multidisciplinary and System Technologies.

AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global
aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and
90 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government
to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more
information, visit www.aiaa.org.

SOURCE American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Duane Hyland of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
+1-703-264-7558, duaneh@aiaa.org