Aviation Software Experts to Meet

A committee of international computing specialists who develop guidelines for software-intensive aviation systems will gather from March 19-23 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus for a Meeting on Software Considerations in Aeronautical Systems.

The committee of 150 professionals from industry, government, and academia meets twice a year, alternately in Europe and the United States. It is a collaborative undertaking by RTCA Inc. and the European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE).

Organized in 1935 as the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, RTCA is a private, nonprofit corporation that develops recommendations on communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management systems. EUROCAE was created in 1963 as a European forum for administrations, airlines, and industry to discuss technical problems and prepare performance specifications for airborne electronic equipment.

In the meeting at Embry-Riddle, the committee will be tasked with updating the aviation industry’s guideline on the software aspects of certification of airborne equipment and systems.

Aircraft depend on a variety of digital on-board systems for autopilots, engine control, navigation, and radar, and on-ground systems for air traffic control and management. These software-intensive systems must interact by data links to perform ground system interrogation of on-board transponders, aircraft broadcast of position and status information, and other critical tasks. The system’s correctness relies on the correct operation of the associated software.

“Good software engineering practices are critical for producing dependable software,” says Andrew Kornecki, professor of computer and software engineering at Embry-Riddle. He says Embry-Riddle is an ideal place for the worldwide meeting, because “we place a special emphasis here on software process and the dependability and safety of embedded computer systems.”

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through its Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States and Europe, and through online learning.

For more information, visit http://www.erau.edu