President's Report Masthead
June 30, 2012

Binghamton wins FAA competition for fourth year in a row

A team of Binghamton University students, led by William Ziegler, associate professor of computer science in the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, was recently awarded first place in the National Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Design Competition for Universities.

Up against nearly 50 colleges and universities worldwide, the Binghamton University team captured the top prize in the Airport Operations and Maintenance challenge with its submission titled “Web-Based Smartphone Applications for Pavement Analysis: A Geographical Information System Approach.” The team was recognized for its adoption of existing technology in new and practical ways at airports.

Binghamton University also received a second place award in the Airport Operations and Maintenance challenge category for a project titled “Runway Excursion Modeling and Analysis: A Web-Based Geographic Information System Solution,” which was developed by a second team of students.

For the past four years, Ziegler has used the competition as an educational opportunity in his technical engineering writing classes. Students work side by side with industry experts from the Greater Binghamton Airport and McFarland Johnson, a leader in the planning and design of major transportation and facilities projects, to develop a 70-page design proposal in just 14 weeks.