CNN Visits UDRI

When he wanted to know what's being done to research and remedy the problem of aging aircraft, CNN reporter David George turned to the United States Air Force and the University of Dayton.

George and film crew spent the afternoon of Aug. 3 in UD's Kettering Labs and the morning of Aug. 4 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base for a CNN science and technology series story on a joint initiative involving Wright Patt, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins, Ga., S&K Technologies based in Ronan, Mont., and the University of Dayton Research Institute. The story, focusing on initiatives to address the issues of aging aircraft, was scheduled to run before Labor Day.

UDRI's involvement comes through a subcontract to S&K Technologies, owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in Ronan, which was awarded a four-year research and development award by Warner Robins in 2000 to investigate and help develop ways to non-invasively prevent and repair corrosion in aircraft. Though based in Montana, S&K has offices at Warner Robins and at UD's Caldwell Street Center.

Gordon Sargent, dean of UD's graduate school and vice-president for graduate studies and research, which oversees UDRI, said the research institute has been working to test and develop methods of analz, relieving and preventing corrosion problems without the great expense involved in replacing aging aluminum parts.

During filming for George's story, Sargent displayed one of the test and development programs involving a candidate aircraft part in the Kettering Labs annex. The high-strength aluminum alloy part will be heat-treated to change its properties, making it corrosion resistant while maintaining its strength. This process can be applied to parts without removing them from the aircraft, making the process far more cost efficient than replacing them.

August 14, 2001

Back to News