The FAA Traffic Flow Management Application Integration Design (TFM-AID) Challenge was developed to provide increasing opportunities to college and university students, including underserved students, to be involved in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) mission. The purpose of the TFM-AID Challenge is to pursue design and development enhancements to air traffic management capabilities while fostering a passion for aviation science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (AvSTEM) at the university level.
Through the TFM-AID Challenge, teams will prototype ideas for an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) design for FAA’s new automation system, Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS). The FAA is actively developing future requirements for FMDS to replace the current Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) in support of air traffic flow management (TFM) across the National Airspace System (NAS).
In the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) and in FAA facilities across the NAS, traffic managers, such as National Traffic Management Specialists (NTMSs) and Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs), perform TFM by balancing air traffic demand with system capacity to ensure a safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of traffic while minimizing delays. This goal is realized through continued analysis, coordination, and dynamic utilization of traffic management initiatives (TMIs) such as rerouting aircraft around congested areas or implementing programs that delay aircraft on the ground to control demand for congested airspace.
The FAA TFM-AID Challenge seeks designs for a proposed graphical user interface (GUI) that supports traffic managers (e.g., TMCs and NTMSs) in performing these tasks with a more streamlined and modernized interface than they have today, and minimizing user training requirements. The scope of the TFM-AID Challenge will center on designing an integrated display to support traffic managers in an Airspace Flow Program (AFP) TMI scenario.
Initial participation in the TFM-AID Challenge involves the development of a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) submission package, which will be reviewed and evaluated by judges. After receiving feedback from the judges on the PDR, up to five finalist teams will advance in the competition. Each finalist team will submit their final proposal via a Critical Design Review (CDR) Package, and compete at the onsite FAA TFM-AID Forum. The winning team will receive the prize award of $25,000 and a trophy.
Awards:-
The winning team will receive the prize award of $25,000 and a trophy.
Prize Breakdown:
Travel Reimbursement up to $6,000 will be awarded to the lead university of each of the five finalist teams to help offset the cost of traveling to the FAA TFM-AID Challenge Forum and Awards Ceremony to demonstrate their concepts. A $25,000 prize will be presented to the lead university of the winning team.
Non-monetary Prizes:
Finalist teams will be invited to demonstrate their concepts at the FAA TFM-AID Challenge Forum (location TBD) in late June 2023. Student participants of each finalist team will receive certificates.
Deadline:- 03-03-2023
