Transportation Students Place Second in FAA Design Competition

Featured Faculty: Jasenka Rakas

Undergraduates from CEE's Airport Design class (CE 153) won second place at the National Federal Aviation Administration Airport Management and Planning Challenge. The team was advised by Dr. Jasenka Rakas, lecturer in the CEE Transportation Engineering program.

The 6 undergraduates included CE majors, Katharina McLaughlin, Joanna Ji, Hoang Ngujen, Joshua Sachse and Alex Cuevas, and Haas Business School major, Mattan Mansoor.  Having students from different disciplines partner on improving the safety of airports is one of the hallmarks of the competition.

Their design, "Dynamic Collaborative Gate Allocation," included a stochastic optimization model that helps airlines and airports collaboratively determine gate usage in real-time. The model would enable airports to increase capacity without additional infrastructure, and would help airlines decrease flight delays, gate delay variance, and fuel usage.
 

The CEE team's design was reviewed by a panel of experts from the Federal Aviation Administration, industry, and academia. Judges commented that the students' approach was sound and well written. They understood the problem with gate allocation and proposed a model that would enable airports to increase capacity. Rakas was congratulated her work in engaging and encouraging the student winners on an outstanding effort.

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