Holly Cyrus Presents Keynote at IEEE / AIAA Dinner Meeting
By
Bob Cranston
Holly Cyrus, FAA Project Manager, Aircraft Safety and Airport R&D Division, recently presented the keynote address at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ( AIAA) Dinner Meeting, which was held at the Mays Landing Country Club. The address was titled, “Airport Lighting and Signage for Safer Landings and Pilot Operations.”
Our nation has seen numerous aviation fatalities occur while aircraft are taxiing on an airport surface, or departing or arriving from runways. In poor visibility conditions, pilots depend heavily on airport lighting and signage systems.
Holly explained how the work that the Aircraft Safety and Airport Research and Development (R&D) Team conducts will result in safer landings, departures, and operational use of runways. She covered ongoing research at the Technical Center to improve airport safety, including leading edge research that will improve airport signage, lighting and pavement marking; and she discussed lighting issues related to wind turbines and light emitting diodes (LEDs).
The discussion of LEDs got into a number of interesting issues including how LED technology interacts when interspersed with standard incandescent lights on airport circuits; how LED intensity changes can be effected; how the “narrow spectral band” of LEDs impacts pilots with certain types of color deficient vision; and how LEDs can be seen on an enhanced vision display.
An 18-year employee of the FAA, Holly holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Capella University of Minnesota. She is a member of The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the recognized technical authority on illumination; a division governor in Toastmasters, the world’s largest organization devoted to developing communication skills; and the current chairperson of Women In Engineering, an IEEE affiliate group.
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