[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 54 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 13730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6689]



[[Page 13730]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Antitrust Division


Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and 
Production Act of 1993--Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institute (``AVSI'') 
Cooperative

    Notice is hereby given that, on February 4, 2003, pursuant to 
section 6 (a) of the National Cooperative Research and Production ACt 
of 1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (``the Act''), Aerospace Vehicle 
Systems Institute (``AVSI'') Cooperative has filed written 
notifications simultaneously with the Attorney General and the Federal 
Trade Commission disclosing changes to its nature and objectives and 
membership status. The notifications were filed for the purpose of 
extending the Act's provisions limiting the recovery of antitrust 
plaintiffs to actual damages under specified circumstances. 
Specifically, the AVSI Cooperative intends to undertake the following 
joint research projects:
    ``Automated Inspection of Aircraft Structures''--To determine the 
fundamental issues, requirements, processes and systems for automated 
inspection of aircraft structures. This includes assessing various 
sensors, addressing certification issues and developing a roadman for 
various candidate architectures.
    ``Structural Loans & Environmental Monitoring (Usage & 
Exceedances)''--To determine the requirements for aircraft onboard 
structural load and environmental monitoring. Develop conceptual 
candidates for load & exceedance monitoring concepts and a prototype 
plan for such systems.
    ``Secure-Proprietary Collaboration in an Integrated Digital 
Environment''--To develop requirements for and demonstration of 
electronically shared secure/classified engineering information, 
maintenance upgrades for software, remote operation of systems, 
logistics data bases, and program management documents between all 
elements of either a commercial or military airplane project.
    ``Qualified Development Environment (QDE)''--To demonstrate the 
process by which correct operation of the complier and linker is 
validated within the subset of the language using requirements modeling 
with software code generation and verification. Produce the 
qualification planning artifacts and exercise the qualification process 
within a FAA certification program via DO-178B.
    ``Redesign Existing Hardware Due to Obsolete Parts''--To develop 
requirements and recommended process (sequence of events) for the 
redesign of avionics equipment due to electronic and hardware component 
obsolesce.
    ``Improved Software Verification Methods and Support Tools''--To 
develop cost effective software verification and methods and analytic 
tools for supporting these methods so the software verification process 
can shift from ``people-intensive'' and ``Test-Centric'' top more of a 
``model-based'' approach that can be supported using automated tools.
    ``Plastic Ball Grid Design of Experiment; Combined Low/High Cycle 
Fatigue Test/Analysis''--To provide design and process guidelines for 
the key parameters affecting the ball interface in plastic Ball Girds 
that can improve reliability & durability. Experimentally gather stress 
and failure data, compare results with analysis, and include data into 
analytic simulation of BGA assemblies.
    ``Quantum Leap Reliability Improvement''--To develop and implement 
a multi-dimensional approach to leverage information from all relevant 
sources, to achieve quantum leap improvements in reliability of 
aerospace products. This approach will include customer expectations at 
the highest level of airframe integration, and proceed through the 
functional, system, equipment, and component levels.
    ``Business Processes Improvement''--To identify the most effective 
technical and logistics ``best practices'' currently used in each 
sector of the avionic industry. Identify business-related barriers to 
adoption of these practices in other sectors and recommend changes in 
the supply chain of each avionics industry sector for existing and 
future programs.
    ``Avionics Technology Roadmap''--To develop and maintain an 
avionics technology roadmap that identified the intersection between 
avionics product plans and roadmap information from other supply 
chains, with concentration on the semiconductor device industry. To 
roadmap will be used to discover and develop proper responses to future 
trends in non-aerospace industries which impact out ability to design, 
produce, maintain, and support future avionics systems.
    Furthermore, Rockwell Collins acting through its Air Transport 
systems Division, Cedar Rapids, IA has withdrawn as party to this 
venture. In addition, the TRW Aeronautical Systems division, Solihull, 
West Midlands, UNITED KINGDOM of TRW, LTD., Shirley, West Midlands, 
UNITED KINGDOM, has been acquired by Goodrich Control Systems Limited, 
a wholly owned subsidiary of Goodrich Corporation, Charlotte, NC.
    No other changes have been made in either the membership or planned 
activities of the group research project. Membership in this group 
research project remains open, and the Aerospace Vehicle Systems 
Institute (``AVSI'') Cooperative intends to file additional written 
notification disclosing all changes in membership.
    On November 18, 2998, the AVSI Cooperative filed its original 
notification pursuant to section 6(a) of the Act. the Department of 
Justice published a notice in the Federal Register pursuant to Section 
6(b) of the Act on February 18, 1999 (64 FR 8123).
    The last notification was filed with the Department on July 8, 
2002. A notice was published in the Federal Register pursuant to 
Section 6(b) of the Act on September 4, 2002 (67 FR 56586).

Constance K. Robinson,
Director of Operations, Antitrust Division.
[FR Doc. 03-6689 Filed 3-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-11-M