AEDC engineers attend NATO symposium in Poland

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Two engineers from AEDC recently traveled to Rzeszów, Poland, for the 2015 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Spring Panel Business Week (PBW).

Bryant Crowson and Adam Moon, who are part of the Test Operation Division branch, were among the 430 engineers, scientists and industry and government representatives from 21 NATO Nations and three Partner Nations to attend the conference hosted by the Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel at Rzeszów University.

Fifty-three AVT Technical Teams consisting of task groups, program committees, exploratory teams and a specialist team met during the week. These meetings included the AVT-229 Symposium on "Test Cell and Controls Instrumentation and EHM Technologies for Military Air, Land and Sea Turbine Engines;" AVT-230 Specialists' Meeting on "Advanced Aircraft Propulsion Systems;" and the AVT-241 Specialists' Meeting on "Technological and Operational Problems Connected with Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) Application for Future Military Operations."

Technical discussions covered a range of topics from mechanical systems, structures and materials to performance, stability and control analysis as well as propulsion and power systems of new and aging systems.

At the conference, both AEDC engineers presented technical papers they wrote. Crowson spoke about the F112 fan blisk damping test that was performed at the Williams International test facility and sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Moon's presentation featured aeromechanical excitation methods for advanced test cell applications.

"My paper focused on the spin rigs that Bryan Hayes designed and the facility health monitoring that's implemented at the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex," Moon said.

Crowson added this was the first time that either of them had presented at a conference-type setting.

"It was a great learning opportunity to see the advancements of Non-Intrusive Stress Measurement System (NSMS), which is a method for determining dynamic blade stresses in rotating turbomachinery," he said. "It was also interesting to see the advancements in test cell monitoring work AEDC could do in the future."

When they weren't presenting or learning about advances in vehicle technology, the engineers took the opportunity to learn more about the area.

"This was our first time traveling outside the U.S. for work and it was also the first time either of us traveled to Poland," Crowson said.

They also mentioned it was fun exploring and experiencing a new place and the food was delicious.

"The trip was an overall great experience," Crowson said. "Everyone presented interesting topics and the local population was very friendly to non-Polish speaking Americans."