University Letter

UND's faculty and staff newsletter

FAA names UND’s Andrew Leonard as Outstanding Center of Excellence Student of the Year

Andrew (Andy) Leonard, a graduate student in aviation management at the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND Aerospace) was named “Outstanding Centers of Excellence Student of the Year” by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Centers of Excellence (COE) program.
 
In her letter nominating Leonard for the award, UND Aerospace director of graduate studies Kim Kenville said he is committed to personal academic achievement and always is willing to assist others. Moreover, Kenville said, Leonard is doing valuable and original research.
 
Leonard, a Dent, Minn. native with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, obtained his private pilot license in 2007 and is working toward completion next month of his commercial pilot license. He is a graduate research assistant, teaching undergraduate courses in long-range navigation, airline operations and management and others. Leonard also is an operator of the UND altitude chamber, manipulating simulated altitudes for training and research activities, monitoring chamber and individual safety, and serving as an instructor of altitude chamber procedures, Kenville said.
 
Leonard’s FAA COE research involves collecting and analyzing data from several specially equipped UND helicopters. The special global positioning (GPS) system equipment aboard the helicopters tracks the aircraft’s position and is a core component of the federal government’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, Kenville said.
 
Leonard’s research looks at how accurately helicopter pilots could fly predetermined GPS routes of flight both into and out of the Grand Forks International Airport, Kenville said. The routes are layered over predetermined helicopter arrival and departure procedures using latitude and longitude data. Leonard retrieves the research data using multiple software tools and digitally recreates each flight route. Routes are measured, and the maximum deviation for each section of flight is recorded in an attempt to determine which sections of flight are usable, Kenville said.
 
Leonard and his parents, along with Kenville, UND Aerospace Assistant Dean Paul Lindseth, and FAA COE Program Director Patricia Watts, will be on hand in Washington, D.C., Saturday, January 9, for the awards banquet and ceremony. Everyone in the UND community is welcome to attend. For more information about the awards banquet and ceremony, contact Deborah (Debbie) Landeis, UND Aerospace, at 777-2935 or landeis@aero.und.edu .