Lockheed with University of Iowa Iowa's Operator Performance Laboratory completed an artificial intelligence demonstration using two piloted L-29 aircraft in a simulated air-to-ground mission. OPL is lead by Tom "Mach" Schnell, a professor of industrial and systems engineering and OPL chief test pilot.

A group of new hires, interns, and co-ops, who work in the area of airborne autonomy at Collins Aerospace, toured the University of Iowa Operator Performance Lab flight test facility. Tom “Mach” Schnell,  and OPL director, presented the lab to the group and explained how OPL tests and operates autonomy in a variety of contexts.

The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL) was among those who evaluated the next generation fixed wing helmet that was recently selected by the U.S. Air Force as the new standard helmet for many of its aircraft.  

Tom Schnell, an associate director for the UI’s Iowa Technology Institute and the Captain Jim “Max” Gross Chair in the UI College of Engineering, is the founder of the Operator Performance Laboratory. Since arriving in Iowa City 25 years ago this spring, Schnell has built the OPL into a nationally trusted aviation research hub.

Air Force test pilots have flown numerous live flights in L-29 jet trainers at the University of Iowa Technology Institute’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), an ACE performer. The two-seat L-29 jets at OPL are outfitted with sensors in the cockpit to measure pilot physiological responses, giving researchers clues as to whether the pilot is trusting the AI or not.

DARPA is also testing how human pilots interact with AI to examine how well they trust machines to automatically conduct dogfights. Air Force pilots have flown L-29 jet trainers also running AI algorithms at the University of Iowa Technology Institute's Operator Performance Laboratory.

Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) director and University of Iowa industrial engineering professor Tom “Mach” Schnell briefed national security leaders on a project seeking to improve artificial intelligence in aerial combat.

In less than three years, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms developed under DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program have progressed from controlling simulated F-16s flying aerial dogfights on computer screens to controlling an actual F-16 in flight. University of Iowa's Operator Performance Lab has contributed to the progress.

Tom "Mach" Schnell, a University of Iowa industrial engineering professor and director of Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), and Lt. Col. Patrick "Dice" Highland, a recent UI PhD and Commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Detachment 3 in San Diego, Calif., briefed national security leaders on a project that aims to improve artificial intelligence in aerial combat.

A delegation of Iowa legislators, staffers, and state officials visited the University of Iowa campus for an immersive experience with researchers who study aggressive cancer, manufacture pharmaceuticals, test new aircraft systems, and delve into biblical studies.

State lawmakers toured the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL) hangar at the Iowa City Municipal Airport on Tuesday.

University of Iowa's Operator Performance Lab (OPL) hosted the Air Force ROTC Detachment 255 (Det 255) award ceremony and the installment of a new cadet group commander. OPL and Det 255 have a collaborative relationship.

The University of Iowa may not have the visibility of some aviation schools, but the institution is well known for important research for the civil and military sectors. Robert W. Moorman spoke with their principals. Often research of new technology serves as a prologue to a corresponding need for new or better training. Such could be the case with various research programs at the Iowa Technology Institute, part of the College of Engineering.

A new state report has recognized the contributions of the University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) to Iowa’s aviation industry.

It’s fly-in pancake breakfast day at the Iowa City Municipal Airport and, as usual, Tom “Mach” Schnell is hustling around a hangar that is the high-tech headquarters for the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory.

The University of Iowa Operator Performance Lab (OPL), a flight test laboratory that conducts research on human-in-the-loop and intelligent autonomous systems, aided DARPA’s Pheme project for a capstone demonstration event.

The University of Iowa Operator Performance Lab (OPL) provided flight testing for the capstone demonstration event for DARPA’s Pheme project.

The University of Iowa Technology Institute's Operator Performance Laboratory is featured in the New Yorker article "The Rise of A.I. Fighter Pilots: Artificial intelligence is being taught to fly warplanes. Can the technology be trusted?"

The U.S. Air Force has promoted a University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) graduate research assistant to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, an accomplishment recognized in a ceremony at ITI’s Operator Performance Lab (OPL) in December. 

Collins Aerospace demonstrated potential applications of resilient networking, intelligent sensing, and secure autonomous processing at the University of Iowa Operator Performance Lab in Iowa City.

Amidst the Pentagon’s push for Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control initiatives, Collins Aerospace recently teamed with the University of Iowa to run a series of exercises focused on resilient networking, intelligent sensing and secure autonomous processing.

University of Iowa Technology Institute has not one but two Mi-2 Hoplite helicopters, and this month both were airborne as part of a live flight test range demonstration incorporating high-powered night vision cameras mounted on the nose of one of the helicopters. 

The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Lab hosted aviation professionals from around the state for the Iowa Business Aviation Association’s (IBAA) quarterly luncheon.

The University of Iowa’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) hosted the quarterly integration meeting for DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program to advance AI dogfighting capabilities at its hangar in Iowa City, Iowa.

Faculty members from the Iowa Technology Institute, a research arm of the College of Engineering (CoE), are contributing to a new space-based, interdisciplinary research enterprise designed to strengthen University of Iowa’s competitiveness for NASA funding for space missions and instruments.

U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA’s) leveraged test flights using AV L-29 jets at the University of Iowa Technology Institute's Operator Performance Lab to gather early stage "trust data" for the Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program. 

Sonalysts, Inc. is teamed with University of Iowa Technology Institute on an Army Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Contract to Address “Physical Monitoring Techniques to Improve Warfighter Performance.”  

The University of Iowa Technology Institute’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) recently supported Collins Aerospace in the first rounds of flight tests of an air combat training system designed to prepare U.S. Navy and Air Force pilots and crews for aerial combat.

An in-flight photograph of one of the University of Iowa's Mi-2 helicopters earned first place in the helicopter category of the Iowa Department of Transportation's biennial Iowa Aviation photo contest for 2019-2020. 

The Operator Performance Lab (OPL) has played an important role in developing the Tactical Combat Training System II (TCTS II), a military air combat training tool.

She knew the University of Iowa was where she would make that happen. It was ideal for Moore: a top-tier university only a short drive from her hometown. As for what that career would be, Moore looked to family members’ military experience.

Connecting vibrations from a helicopter to treating stroke victims may not seem like an obvious line of inquiry, but it turned out to be a promising one at the University of Iowa.

OPL was recently honored for the latest efforts in this long line of work. It was among two recent awards for OPL, which is part of the College of Engineering's University of Iowa Technology Institute. 

On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer speaks with Dr. Enrique Leira about how new research from the University of Iowa studying the effects of helicopter rides led to the discovery of a potential new stroke therapy.