INDICATOR: International and National Developments In Collaborations relating to Air Travel and Operational Research

The INDICATOR (International and National Developments In Collaborations relating to Air Travel and Operational Research) proposal is in response to the EPSRC 'Collaborating for success through people' call. This proposal has been tailored to meet the strategic needs of the single academic researcher, Dr Tim Ryley, to build and develop his research team. The people-based activities outlined in the INDICATOR proposal are for nine months, from October 2007 until June 2008. The activities complement ongoing EPSRC Propensity to Fly project research; the collaborations developed in INDICATOR will be relevant to the modelling and analysis of the Propensity to Fly survey data.The UK research team (Dr Tim Ryley & Dr Lisa Davison), based at Loughborough University, will collaborate with a highly-renowned US research team that has strong links with a major industrial player (Boeing); they will also develop UK collaborations in air travel and operational research. The US research team is across multiple universities and organisations: Professor Frank Koppelman (Northwestern University, Illinois), Dr Laurie Garrow (Georgia Institute of Technology), Dr Greg Coldren (Coldren Choice Consulting) and Roger Parker (Boeing).The INDICATOR proposal includes two people exchanges. The first, a two week activity in April 2008, is a study visit of the UK research team to the Georgia Institute of Technology, the employer of the primary US contact, Dr Laurie Garrow. All of the US research team will be present. The study visit will include presentations by both research teams on their work, discussion meetings on research linkages, and brainstorming sessions on future research and collaborations. The second is a return visit of two US research team members to the UK in May/June 2008.In addition to the people exchange components, INDICATOR includes the following four outreach events for the UK research team, in chronological order:1. UK collaboration visits / October-December 2007. Two week-long tours for the UK research team to visit and develop collaborative links with potential UK industrial and academic partners in air travel and operational research. 2. Research study visit to Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference and Washington DC contacts, Washington DC, January 2008. The UK research team will make initial contact with the US research team; attend presentations on the latest aviation issues and operational research; present some of their early Propensity to Fly research; network with other attendees; and visit the US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). 3. 'Discrete Choice Analysis: Predicting Demand and Market Shares' (DCA) course, Lausanne / March 2008. Dr Lisa Davison will attend this one-week course, assisting in her training and development. The DCA course provides the basis for the methods utilised in the air travel and operational research work undertaken by the US research team. 4. Multi-disciplinary INDICATOR workshop, Loughborough / June 2008. The final activity will be a two-day, high profile, multi-disciplinary INDICATOR workshop to be held at Loughborough University. This activity will bring the INDICATOR activities together, provide a direction for future research, and represent knowledge transfer between academic and user organisations.