AEDC commander wants more student involvement

Col. Michael Panarisi (U.S. Air Force photo) [Click to enlarge]

Col. Michael Panarisi, commander of Arnold Air Force Base and Arnold Engineering Development Center, said his facility wants to increase its involvement with area schools and with the Hands-On Science Center in Tullahoma, stressing the need to inspire students towards careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Panarisi wants more events to bring students to AEDC and more events for teachers at AEDC. He also wants the scientific and technical community at AEDC to step up and play a greater volunteer role at the Hands-On Science Center.

Panarisi, who became AEDC commander in July 2009, visited Shelbyville on Tuesday to speak at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and to stop by the Times-Gazette newsroom.

AEDC, located in Coffee and Franklin counties, is a massive complex of ground test facilities which serves both military and commercial aerospace customers. It is part of the Air Force Materiel Command and overseen by Air Force and Navy personnel.

Making the connection

Panarisi said he doesn't have a large budget for educational outreach but believes it's an important goal, both for the nation and for AEDC, to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. He said the statistics showing U.S. students lagging far behind other countries in their science and technology skills are "alarming."

AEDC hosted teachers at one of its "Evening at Arnold" programs, and Panarisi said he would like to do so more often. AEDC is also changing the structure of its "Minds In Motion" program which brings eighth grade students to the center for tours and displays organized by AEDC and by the University of Tennessee Space Institute, which is also located within the Arnold AFB reservation.

"When you see the kids' eyes light up, you can tell you've made the connection," he said.

Bedford County school officials have said they want to use newly-installed distance learning equipment to do more "virtual field trips," and Panarisi said AEDC would be open to pursuing programs like that as well.

The Hands-On Science Center, an interactive children's science museum in Tullahoma which adjoins the AEDC reservation, was founded in order to take advantage of some of the scientific and engineering expertise available at AEDC. But while AEDC was essential to developing HOSC and designing its exhibits, Panarisi said that hasn't always translated into an ongoing volunteer commitment. Some of the exhibits at HOSC, he said, badly need volunteer docents to explain them to children or to teach children how to operate them. He said he wants to encourage more AEDC staffers to donate their time to the facility.

"That's a very practical, local outreach that we can do," he said.

Test before flight

The empasis on community involvement, however, doesn't distract from AEDC's main goal of providing aerospace testing to military and commercial customers. Currently, the center has ongoing tests related to development of the Navy "Super Hornet" fighter-bomber. The Super Hornet is being competitively sourced, and two competing aerospace firms are testing their designs and components at AEDC. During the Cold War, AEDC operated in a shroud of secrecy to prevent enemies from knowing too much about the aircraft and spacecraft it was testing. Today, that same level of secrecy is put into play to make sure that one company's proprietary information is kept secret from the competing company.

"The companies really trust us with that," said Panarisi.

The U.S. is now extending the life of its F-15 and F-16 aircraft beyond original projections, and AEDC is testing new replacement parts and engine components designed to keep those aircraft flying. One test now underway will simulate a jet engine's entire lifetime of use in the space of a year.

A new supercomputer in operation at AEDC allows test results from computer simulation, scale model testing and flight testing to be compared and tweaked, in order to improve the simulation process and the scale model testing process. The supercomputer is so advanced that Eglin AFB in Florida, which conducts flight testing, is now renting time on AEDC's computer.

A life in the air

Panarisi was commissioned in 1986 after earning his bachelor's degree in engineering mechanics from the Air Force Academy. He began his aviation career as a weapons system officer in the F-111F at RAF Lakenheath in the UK. He deployed with the 48th Fighter Wing in support of Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm.

He is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force's test pilot school and has more than 2,000 flight hours in 39 aircraft types, with nearly 100 combat and combat support missions on his record. He has received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Medal.