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The Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at George Mason University was chartered in 2003.

The CATSR mission is to foster excellence in education and research in Air Transportation System Engineering. Contributions to the field include:

  • transportation network-of-networks simulation, optimization, and analysis
  • complex adaptive systems simulation and analysis
  • NAS, airport and airspace simulation and performance analysis
  • rare-event safety analysis for systems and devices
  • aviation environment (noise and emissions)
  • strategic planning and forecasting/industrial sector economics
  • auctions and other allocation schemes
  • portfolio analysis/costs-benefits analysis
  • flightdeck design and human factors

Video of CATSR research

Our outstanding students are successful leaders in industry, government and academia. Where are they now?

Links:

Get Your Commercial Drone Operators License here. Contact Dr. Sherry 703-993-1711

Get Your Pilots License here Minor in Flight Training and Aviation Management

Join CATSR List-Serv to get weekly Seminar information

Courses

Buy a copy of Terminal Chaos

sUASs, Drones, and Autonomy

Sports Analytics

Open Source Data Analysis of Airspace Operations

News & Events
Congrats Azin Nare Zoghabi awarded Ph.D. Dissertation: Methodology for Capacity and Safety Analysis for a Flow Corridor with Dynamic Wake Separation
Congrats Denis Avila awarded Ph.D. Dissertation: Method for Contrail Inventory Analaysis
Congrats Ph.D. student Oleksandra (Sasha) Donnelly (nee Snisarevska) awarded 3rd Place in Conference Best Paper at IEEE ICNS Conference, April 9-11 2019, Dulles,Va. Design of a Display for Alerting Cockpit Automation Function Configuration Changes
Congrats Amy Rose a graduate of the Minor in Flight Training and Aviation Managment at GMU on being selected to be the U.S. Representative on the Hop! Tour des Jeunes Pilotes . Amy spent the two-week program in France competing in daily aviation ralley competitions. Mason junior takes to the skies
Congrats to Alumni David Smith now General Manager of Irregular Operations in the Operations Analysis & Performance Division at Delta Airlines
Congrats to Alumni Zhenming Wang now at JD.com working on supply chains, drone and unmanned car convoys, and face recognition for an unmanned supermarket
Congrats Bahram Yousefi awarded Ph.D. Dissertation: Reslience of Enterprises in a Contested Cyber Environment
In the News Dr. Donohue interviewed on BYU Radio - Top of Mind by Julie Rose . The Potential Effects of a Privatized Air Traffic Control
In the News Dr. John Shortle quoted in GMU News at Mason . Extreme heat grounds commercial planes in Phoenix
In the News Dr. Donohue in News at Mason: . Government seeks to privatize air traffic control system
Award Ph.D. student Zhenming Wang, Dr. Sherry & Dr. Shortle awareded a U.S. Patent for "Method and Apparatus for Probabilistic Alerting of Aircraft Unstabilized Approaches Using Big Data" 62/324,406
Service Dr. Sherry serves on Panel From Here to Autonomy: Challenges & Opportunties at the 19th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA, May 8 - May 11, 2017
Service Dr. Sherry moderates panel at ICNS 2017 Conference April 19, 2017 Drones: The Sky is the Limit Panelists: Jeff Bruenig (Mitre CAASD), Kevin Hightower (Airmap), Matt Hutchison (Aurora Flight Sciences), Brett Velicovch (Expert Drones), Basil Yap (NC DOT) " UAS Workshop Panel"
In the News Dr. Donohue in Op Ed article in the Capital (Maryland) Gazette urges scientists and engineers to speak up about the facts . Are scientists obligated to march?
Service Dr. Sherry serves on National Science Foundation (NSF) Merit Review Panel
Service Dr. Sherry moderates panel at TRB Symposium Jan 8, 2017 UAS Making it Happen: From Research to Applications Panelists: Basil Yap (NC DOT), Colin Brooks (Michigan Tech), Sia Scjhatz (ACRP), Jeff Bruenig (Mitre CAASD), Davis Hackenberg (NASA)
Congrats Zhenimng Wang, Dr. Sherry, and Dr. Shortle awarded Provisional U.S. Patent for Method and Apparatus for Probabilistic Alerting of Aircraft Unstabilized Approaches using Big Data
In the News Dr. Sherry quoted in USA Today . Travel trouble? Here's why your airline flight is delayed
In the News Dr. Donohue briefs AASCDC . "Climate Change and Rising Sea Level: What Can We do about it?"
Award Senior Design Team takes 1st Place 2016 IEEE SIEDS Conference: Data Analytics, Simulation and Optimization Track for Design of a System for Aircraft Fuselage Inspection Sponsored by Integrity Applications Inc.
Award Senior Design Team takes 1st Place 2016 IEEE SIEDS Conference: Model-Based Design Track IEEE Conference Paper and 1st Place GMU 2016 PITCH-IT Competition for Design of a Transoceanic Cable Protection System Sponsored by Raytheon
Award Senior Design Team takes 1st Place Decision Analysis Track 2015 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference and 2nd Place GMU 2016 PITCH-IT Competition for System Design of a Biofeedback Active Sensor System (BASS) to Mitigate the Probability of ACL InjuriesSponsored by Center for Air Transportation Systems Research
Congrats Ph.D. Candidate Seungwon Noh was awarded Best Paper in the Safety and Human Performance Track at the 2016 ICRAT Conference . "Application of Common Cause Failure Methodology to Aviation Safety Assessment Model"
In the News Dr. Donohue published Op Ed in Richmiond Times-Dispatch . "Benefits of Air Traffic Control Reforms Outweighs Challenges of Transition"
Congrats Zhenming Wang awarded Ph.D. Dissertation: Methodology for Nowcasting Unstable Approaches
Service Dr. Sherry & Denise Ponchak (NASA) organize workshop at ICNS 2016 Conference"How Drones are Changing the World We Live In." Panelists: Mr Robert Pappas (FAA - UAS Integration Office), Mr. Brett Velicovitch (CEO & Founder of Expert Drones Inc.), Dr. Quassim Abdullah (Chief Geospatial Scientist, Woolpert Inc.), and Dr. Uwe-Carsten Fiebig (German Aerospace Center - Department Manager Institute of Communicatuions and Navigation)
In the News Dr. Donohue published Guest Column "Legislators Can Act on Climate Change" . Annapolis Capital Gazette
In the News Dr. Sherry briefs at Oracle Corporation and George Mason Universitys public symposium on Breakthroughs in Big Data Analytics in the Public Sector . Application of Big Data Analytics to Improve Efficiencies in Air Transportation
In the News Dr. Sherry featured in WNYC radio piece on plans to modernize La Guardia Airport Cash Alone Can't Fix What Ails Crowded LaGuardia
Congrats Sanja Avramovic awarded Ph.D. Dissertation: Methodology for Simulation and Analysis of Pre-emptive Rebooking for Cancelled Airline Passengers
Appointment Dr. Sherry appointed to the Cyber-UAS Consortium sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Technology, Commonwealth of Virginia
In the News Ph.D. Candidate Sanja Avramovic is featured in Volgeneua School of Engineering news article Big Data Provides Solutions for Airline Savings and Passenger Satisfaction
Internship Ph.D. Candidate Zhenming Wang served an intership over the Summer 2015 at United Airlines - Continuous Improvement & Enterprise Optimization
Award Senior Design Team take 1st Place Decision Analysis Track 2015 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference (4/30/15) for Decision Support Tool (DST) for Designing Niche Small Package Delivery Aerial Vehicles (NSPDAV) - Ashruf Ali, Nathan Ballou, Brad McDougall, and Jorge Luis Valle
Award Senior Design Team take 1st Place Engineering Management Track 2015 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference (4/30/15) for Analysis of the Impact of Enhanced FOD Inspection on the Aircraft Assemly Process - Justin Amoyal, Roman Garber, Marwan Karama, Meba E. Kassahun and Anoosha Koohi
Award Senior Design Team take 1st Place Process Improvement Track 2015 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference (4/30/15) for Design of a Procedure Analysis Tool (PAT) for the FAA Human Factors Certification Process - Heather Johnson, Houda Kerkoub, Shaida Latifi, Mumtahina Mahmud, and Alexis Nittoli
Award Senior Design Team take 3rd Place Pragmatics Pitch IT (4/10/15) organized by Laboratory for IT Entrepreneurship at GMU for Decision Support Tool (DST) for Designing Niche Small Package Delivery Aerial Vehicles (NSPDAV) - Ashruf Ali, Nathan Ballou, Brad McDougall, and Jorge Luis Valle
Appointment Dr. Sherry appointed to National Academy of Science - Transportation Research Board UAS Subcommittee
Alumni on the move Jianfeng Wang to Google. Danyi Wang to SRA International, LTC John Ferguson to United States Army, Inspector General Agency, Vivek Kumar to LMI, Loni Nath to Oracle, David Schaar to Boston Consulting Group, Yimin Zhang to Jerry Thompson and Associates
Appointment Dr. Sherry appointed to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Digital Avionics Technical Committee (DATC)
Service Dr. Sherry serves as General Chair for the IEEE 2015 Integrated Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference
Firdu BATI PGM Congratulations! Firdu Bati recieves Ph.D. April 2014 Firdu, a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), used Probabilistic Graph Models to identify safey issues from the massive ATSAP data archives. Link to Dissertation
Yimin Zhang Yimin Zhang awarded a Ph.D. April 2014 Dr. Zhang's dissertation describes a comprehensive model for collision risk analysis for NextGen airspace cocenpsts. A case-study for Transcontinental Corridor con-ops is provided Link to Dissertation
Akshay Belle Akshay Belle was awarded a Ph.D. in System Engineering Nov 20, 2013 Akhay has accepted a position with Booz Allen Hamilton. Congratulations! Dr. Belle's dissertation describes a method that combines surveillance track data, weather, data, airspace proceedure data, with aircraft performance models to estimate flow performance for complex airspace procedures. A case-study of RNP approach procedures in the Chicago Terminal Area is provided.Link to Dissertation
Dissertation Awarded LTC John Ferguson awarded a Ph.D. April 2012 Dissertation: A Methodology for Evaluationg Economic and Policy Impacts on Airline and Passenger Behavior Link to Dissertation
George Donohue Dr. Donohue on Bloomberg News. Sept 23, 2013 Donohue: insulating air-traffic management from politics could provide faster technology development and steadier funding. Donohue: budget pressures make the change the most probable since President Clinton floated such a proposal.
Bengi Manley CATSR Alumni on the Move Bengi Manley to SRA International, Loan Le to United Airlines, Jianfeng Wang to United Airlines, Ning Xu to American Airlines, Richard Xie to Agilex
Samira Monshi Congratulations 2013 Graduates of Aviation Program! Laurie Calzadilla (Metron Aviation), Evan Demick (Booz Allen), Paramjeet Khanna, Kevin Lai (CATSR), Gabe Lewis (TASC), Daric Mergesa (Boeing), Samira Monshi (USPTO), Seungwon Noh (Ph.D. Student), Gupreet Singh, Brian Skelly (FAA), Karym Zabara
CR ANSP Team Recieves Award CATSR Sponsored Undergraduate Team Wins 1st Place in Design Competition Adel Elessawy, Gurpreet Singh, Joshua Singh, Karym Zabara. First Place in the Modeling and Simulation Track at the 2013 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference, West Point Military Academy, May 2, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility for the U.S. Air Navigation Service Provider: A Decision Support Tool to Reduce CO2 Emissions from En-route Flights"
Green Buildings Team Recieves Award FAA Sponsored Undergraduate Team Wins 1st Place in Design Competition Alexandre Cheytanov, Nathan Bales, Paramjeet Khanna, Chris Swift. First Place in the Decision Analysis Track at the 2013 General Donald R. Keith Memorial Capstone Conference, West Point Military Academy, May 2, 2013. "A Decision Support Tool for Building Leasing Strategies to Achieve the Executive Order Mandate for Federal Government Green Buildings"
Vision Series Lecture GMU Vision Series Lecture - Lance Sherry (2013) "Delayed and Cancelled! Why the U.S. Air Transportation System is Unreliable and How to Fix It"
George Donohue Dr. Donohue on Bloomberg News. Nov 13, 2012 Megan Hughes reports on low traffic air traffic control towers. Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line."
Lance Sherry Dr. Sherry quoted in Associated Press article Oct 31, 2012 Sandy shuts down Northeast air travel. By Joshua Freed and Samantha Bokamp
Victor Ye Farewell and Thank You! to Boija (Victor) Ye, from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who completed a two year visiting scholar internship at CATSR. Aug 2012.
Vivek Kumar Congratulations! to Dr. Vivek Kumar on his new role as Research Scientist at Intelligent Automation Inc. (I-A-I). May 2012.
Univ Dresden Gute reise! to Dr. Vivek Kumar on his 3 month assignment to the University of Dresden - Institute of Logistics and Aviation to work with Dr. Hartmut Fricke and his team. September 2012.
Guillermo Calderon-Meza Congratulations! to Dr. Guillermo Calderon-Meza on his job at Microsoft (Redmond, Washington). May 2011.
John Gonda with GMU Students Thank You! to John Gonda, on behalf of AIAA - DATC, for endowment of a scholarship fund for CATSR students. March 2011.
George Donohue GMU Vision Series Lecture - George Donohue (2009)Terminal Chaos: Why U.S. Air Travel is Broken and How to Fix It."

Come join our team:
Dr. Lance Sherry
E-mail: lsherry AT gmu DOT edu
Phone: 703-993-1711