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I. Richmond Nettey, Ph.D., Professor of Aeronautics in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering (CAE) has been appointed chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Airport Terminals and Ground Access (AV050) at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C. 

Nettey along with 36 other committee members will investigate the planning, design, operation, and maintenance of the airport landside, which encompasses the area between points where passengers and goods enter airports to points, including terminals, where they board and disembark aircraft. The committee is also concerned with the transportation of passengers between their origin or destination, and the airport.

Nettey has been an active member of the NAS since 2002, when he was appointed to serve on the TRB’s Standing Committee on Aviation System Planning. His three-year term of office as TRB chair runs through April 2023.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to have a leading role in working with the other appointed members and affiliates,” Nettey says. “They have the opportunity to work with me, as a seasoned aviation professional who’s been in aviation education and professional aviation for more than three decades now, at the helm.”

Nettey said his appointment comes at a time when the world is looking to organizations like the NAS to provide guidance for meeting unprecedented challenges and his committee position gives Kent State an opportunity to have a front seat on important research work in aviation.

“Research work governing the use of airport terminals, governing transportation to the airports — ingress and egress facilities at the airports, especially now that we’ve got such monumental changes coming down the pike, associated with distancing requirements and the introduction of health screenings in addition to security screening at airports,” he said.

As chair, Nettey has already made a potential impact on the American response to COVID-19, as regards to aviation. Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation Committee asked the NAS for COVID-19 response proposals, which could be written into legislation for emergency funding.

In addition to his chairmanship of the TRB Standing Committee on Airport Terminals and Ground Access, Nettey also serves on the TRB’s Standing Committees on Aviation System Planning (AV020) and Aircraft/Airport Compatibility (AV070).