Professor Peter Brooker, Scientific Advisor to Helios Technology Ltd, presents the joint Imperial College London and Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust Annual Lecture in Transport Risk Management: ‘Air Traffic Safety: continued evolution or a new paradigm?’.
Abstract: The context here is Transport Risk Management. Is the philosophy of Air Traffic Safety different from other modes of transport? – yes, in many ways, it is. The focus is on Air Traffic Management (ATM), covering (eg) air traffic control and airspace structures, which is the part of the aviation system that is most likely to be developed through new paradigms. The primary goal of the ATM system is to control accident risk. ATM safety has improved over the decades for many reasons, from better equipment to additional safety defences. But ATM safety targets, improving on current performance, are now extremely demanding. What are the past and current methodologies for ATM risk assessment; and will they work effectively for the kinds of future systems that people are now imagining and planning? The title contrasts ‘Continued Evolution’ and a ‘New Paradigm’. How will system designers/operators assure safety with traffic growth and operational/technical changes that are more than continued evolution from the current system? What are the design implications for ‘new paradigms’, such as the USA’s ‘Next Generation Air Transportation System’ (NextGen) and Europe’s Single European Sky ATM Research Programme (SESAR)? Achieving and proving safety for NextGen and SESAR is an enormously tough challenge. For example, it will need to cover system resilience, human/automation issues, software/hardware performance/ground/air protection systems. There will be a need for confidence building programmes regarding system design/resilience, eg Human-in-the-Loop simulations with ‘seeded errors’.
Biography: Peter Brooker is currently Scientific Advisor to Helios Technology Ltd. He is a Visiting Professor at Cranfield University. Previously, he was Professor of Air Traffic Management and Environmental Policy at Cranfield University. Earlier posts were in DERA [now Qinetiq] (Head of Air Traffic Control Systems Research), National Air Traffic Services (Chief Scientist and Strategy & Development Director) and the Civil Aviation Authority (Planning & Corporate Director).
He was born in Derbyshire in 1946, and attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Ashbourne.
He has degrees from Birmingham University (B.Sc. Mathematical Physics – 1st Class hons), Oxford University (D.Phil. Theoretical Physics), and Imperial College (M.Phil., DIC Management Science). He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, the Royal Statistical Society, and the Institute of Acoustics.
His research and consultancy applies operational research and mathematical modelling techniques to aviation problems, covering safety, system capacity, noise and aviation cost benefit. Topics covered in his recent research papers include collision risk modelling, aviation safety targets, aviation benefits of the Galileo satellite system, air traffic control safety indicators, aviation safety and environmental restrictions. For his research papers, he had been awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Hodgson Prize, and the Royal Institute of Navigation’s Bronze Medal
Chair: Professor David Nethercot, Head of Department, Civil Engineering
Vote of Thanks: Chris Knowles, Head of Marketing, Transportation
A pre lecture tea and coffee reception will be served in the Senior Common Room, Level 2, Sherfield Building.
A drinks reception will follow the lecture.
To register for this lecture please email your name to: Amy Thompson