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Incubator Client Testing Flight Data Tracker

From left, Dr. Junaid Zubairi, Inderdeep Singh Bajwa and Charles Cornell, Fredonia Incubator director, with the Flight Data Tracker that is being tested at the Fredonia Technology Incubator. Submitted photo

DUNKIRK — Fredonia Technology Incubator client Advanced Data Research Lab has taken steps this summer to validate its technology.

Its founder, Dr. Junaid Zubairi, and intern, Inderdeep Singh Bajwa, have spent the summer testing a prototype of its patented Flight Data Tracker (FDT) system using radio transceivers and a flight data recorder. The test equipment was made possible through grants from the State University of New York at Fredonia and SUNY Research Foundation.

“The recent mishaps in aviation have highlighted the need to monitor, track and control the flights as much in real-time as possible,” Zubairi said. “I am encouraged by the successful testing to date of the Flight Data Tracker prototype.”

FDT, a patented technology designed at SUNY Fredonia, is a real-time system for tracking and saving flight data on the ground servers that is otherwise only stored in a plane’s Flight Data Recorder. Interviews conducted with aviation safety and communications experts showed promise that FDT would solve a problem of filling the gap between the Flight Data Recorder and the real-time analysis and usage of the flight safety data. The U.S. patent awarded in August 2017 uses a novel radio routing feature to keep the transmission cost down.

“With the support of the SUNY Research Foundation and the incubator, Dr. Zubairi has been taking the steps toward the commercialization of his research,” said Chuck Cornell, incubator director. “It’s exciting to see this startup advance.”

SUNY Fredonia senior Bajwa has been working through a summer internship with radio systems to help build the FDT prototype. He has also worked on interviewing potential customers through the SUNY Research Foundation Office of Research and Economic Development’s SUNY Summer Startup School.

“I am enjoying the awesome blend of aerospace, software and hardware engineering, and entrepreneurship,” Bajwa said. “This has been an exciting opportunity and great learning experience at the Incubator.”

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