NIEC In New Jersey Has Been In Operation Since Winter

The FAA officially cut the ribbon on its NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability lab in Egg Harbor township in New Jersey on Monday. The facility has been operational since last winter.

The NIEC leverages existing NAS operational systems and high fidelity, real-time simulation capabilities to create an integrated, flexible and reconfigurable environment that can be tailored for NextGen research as well as test and evaluation. The NDA can provide a futuristic NextGen gate to gate visualization environment with advanced data collection capabilities to support integration and evaluation of new technologies and concepts. The ability to provide a combined environment of legacy systems with future technologies and capabilities also enable the NIEC to support the transition to NextGen.

The NIEC offers developers of NextGen hardware and software a collocated NIEC display area to support Human-in-the-Loop simulations; a real-time, rapid prototyping and simulation environment that simulates the NAS while integrating NextGen enabling components; Technical Center and external laboratory integration capabilities; Voice communications capabilities; Audio, video, and data recording capabilities; The flexibility to support multiple concurrent studies. It is ISO 9001 certified and open 24/7.

NIEC Cockpit Simulator FAA Photo

The NDA collocates and integrates key air traffic components into a single environment at the Technical Center to address emergent research questions. Existing Technical Center capabilities were leveraged for initial NIEC operation. Additional NextGen capabilities will also be obtained through partnerships with federal agencies, industry and academia. The NIEC platform will evolve as research requirements emerge. The base components of the NDA can be tailored for NextGen research and simulation as well as test and evaluation. There is also an Unmanned Aircraft System Suite, a Simulated Tower, and a multi-purpose area. The multi-purpose area can be used to display weather data, traffic management data, operate as a simulation monitoring station or simulate an airline operations center. Each of these NIEC components mirror key areas in the NextGen “Gate-to-Gate” spectrum.

NIEC ATC Simulator FAA Photo

The Press of Atlantic City reports that the FAA and the South Jersey Economic Development District have partnered on a NextGen Aviation Research and Technology Park, expected to cost $308 million. A five-year construction project is underway at the facility, and the first building is expected to open in the fall. Among the initial tenants will be the FAA and Richard Stockton College.

FMI: www.faa.gov