Improving Airport Operations
Laine D'Augustine
February 2011
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MITRE systems engineer Laine D'Augustine focuses on improving flight and airport operations through operations modeling, concept developments, system reviews and other analyses for the FAA. |
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"I have been interested in aviation for as long as I can remember," says Laine D'Augustine. This fascination led her to study both aerospace and mechanical engineering in college and graduate school. "My parents got me an introductory flight lesson for my 21st birthday, and I was truly hooked. As soon as I could afford it, I got my private pilot certification and later my instrument pilot certification."
D'Augustine spent a couple of years working in the aviation industry before coming to MITRE. She is now a systems development engineer at MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), the federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration. She supports numerous projects in airport operations modeling, concept development, and other analyses for the FAA.
Her work focuses on several initiatives aimed at improving airport operations in different parts of the country. "One of my first projects was helping create a standard delay-mitigation analysis process—such as when an airport needs an operational plan to use during a major construction project," she says. "Each airport is different and has different challenges, but we found that there are many benefits to standardizing the data-gathering and analysis process. It's almost like creating a checklist to give a team a starting point when they're faced with an upcoming construction project, so they know what they need to plan for."
She has also built prototypes for next-day operational review dashboards for the FAA's northeast region. "These dashboards provide data on airport operations from around the region from the previous day. The data aids the FAA in planning the current day's operations," she says.
In addition, last year D'Augustine and four other CAASD staff were regional analysts for the FAA's annual three-day system reviews conducted at the end of the fiscal year. "In this case, I was the analyst supporting the southwest region," she says. "The end-of-year reviews allow managers in the different parts of the country to share ideas about what is working well in the national airspace system."
While much of her work focuses on longer term projects, she also has day-to-day responsibility for analyzing use of the national playbook routes. "The national playbooks are a published list of coded departure routes that are issued when conditions such as weather or volume warrant that flights follow a specific path, like to avoid a thunderstorm," she explains. "Many of the requests I get are from facilities that want to know how many routes were used, when, who they affected, what times of day, and for what reason."
An Expansion Plan in Fort Lauderdale
Currently she is working with the FAA to minimize the delays associated with the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport runway construction project. They are using the delay-mitigation process she helped develop. "Fort Lauderdale is about to undertake a major, long-term runway lengthening project that is going to go through several phases of construction. Each phase will require a different operational plan. MITRE works closely with the airport tower, Broward County Aviation Department, and the other South Florida air traffic management facilities—as well as the airlines and customer advocate groups—to develop and implement an operational plan for each phase of the project."
She adds, "I really like working directly with our FAA sponsors. I'm able to see the impact we're having on their plan development as we move forward with the project."
A Multi-faceted Volunteer
A woman of many talents, D'Augustine spends much of her free time volunteering as an emergency medical technician (EMT) with the McLean (Virginia) Volunteer Fire Department, which serves the local MITRE community. "The first year I was at MITRE I used my civic time to staff ambulances and engines on weekdays when the county needed us to backfill for the career firefighters during their training exercises." Civic time is a MITRE employee benefit where the company grants (with prior approval) up to a week of paid time off to perform volunteer commitments that require absences during the workday.
"It's great to be able to help out during times when it's difficult for most volunteers to get away from their full-time jobs. Other times I have used the luxury of MITRE's flexible schedule to staff units for the fire department during the day, then do my work at night or on the weekend."
Last year she was even able to use her EMT training to volunteer internationally. "I spent a week in Cusco, Peru, working in a medical clinic for special needs children. It was a great experience."
—by Kay M. Upham
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