---
title: "NASA Selects Three University Teams to Participate in Flight Research "
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published: "2025-03-11T13:43:17+00:00"
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description: "NASA has selected three university teams to help solve 21st century aviation challenges that could transform the skies above our communities. As part of…"
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# NASA Selects Three University Teams to Participate in Flight Research 

[![A university teams graphic showing a University Leadership Initiative headline over a graduation cap atop a laptop.](https://i0.wp.com/newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/nasa-selects-three-university-teams-to-participate-in-flight-research.png?resize=696%2C461&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/nasa-selects-three-university-teams-to-participate-in-flight-research-3.png?ssl=1)

*NASA / Lillian Gipson*

[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/) has selected three university teams to help solve 21^st century aviation challenges that could transform the skies above our communities.

As part of [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)’s [University Leadership Initiative (ULI)](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/armd/tacp/ui/uli/), both graduate and undergraduate students on faculty-led university teams will contribute directly to real-world flight research while gaining hands-on experience working with partners from other universities and industry.

## By combining faculty expertise, student innovation, and industry experience, these three teams will advance NASA’s vision for the future of 21st century aviation.

![koushik datta](https://i0.wp.com/newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/nasa-selects-three-university-teams-to-participate-in-flight-research-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)

koushik datta

[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/) Project Manager

This is NASA’s eighth round of annual ULI awards. Research topics include:

- New aviation systems for [safer, more efficient flight operations](https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/air-traffic-solutions/)

- Improved communications frequency usage for more effective and reliable information transfer

- Autonomous flight capabilities that could advance research in areas such as NASA’s [Advanced Air Mobility mission](https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/drones-and-you/)

“By combining faculty expertise, student innovation, and industry experience, these three teams will advance NASA’s vision for the future of 21^st century aviation,” said Koushik Datta, NASA University Innovation project manager at the Agency’s [Ames Research Center](https://www.nasa.gov/ames/) in California.

This eighth round of annual ULI selections would lead to awards totaling up to $20.7 million for the three teams during the next three years. For each team, the proposing university will serve as lead. The new ULI selections are:

### **Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida**

The team will create a framework for developing trustworthy increasingly autonomous aviation safety systems, such as those that could potentially employ artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Team members include: The Pennsylvania State University in University Park; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro; University of Florida in Gainesville; Stanford University in California; Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico; and the companies Collins Aerospace of Charlotte in North Carolina; and ResilienX of Syracuse, New York.

### **University of Colorado Boulder**

This team will investigate tools for understanding and leveraging the complex communications environment of collaborative, autonomous airspace systems.

Team members include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; The University of Texas at El Paso; University of Colorado in Colorado Springs; Stanford University in California; University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis, North Carolina State University in Raleigh; University of California inSanta Barbara; El Paso Community College in Texas; Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina; the Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing research partnership; the company Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, in Manassas, Virginia; and the nonprofit Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

### **Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida**

This team will research continuously updating, self-diagnostic vehicle health management to enhance the safety and reliability of Advanced Air Mobility vehicles.

Team members include: Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; The University of Texas at Arlington; University of Southern California in Los Angeles; the company Collins Aerospace of Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Argonne National Laboratory.

NASA’s ULI is managed by the agency’s [University Innovation project](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/armd/tacp/ui/), which also includes the [University Student Research Challenge](https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/usrc) and the [Gateways to Blue Skies competition](https://blueskies.nianet.org/).

Watch the [NASA Aeronautics solicitations page](https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/armd-solicitations/) for the announcement of when the next opportunity will be to submit a proposal for consideration during the next round of ULI selections.

Source: NASA