Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments - AGATE Structure

AGATE Structure

The AGATE Alliance was designed by a team from American Technology Alliances and consisted of two parts: an industry consortium called the "AGATE Alliance Association, Inc" composed of three categories of members from 31 states, 40 principal members from industry, 6 associate members from industry and universities, and 30 supporting members from universities, industry and non-profit organizations, and a NASA General Aviation Program Office (GAPO) that coordinated Federal input from the FAA and DOD. The dual structure created a public/private partnership. It was one of the largest public/private membership alliances in the United States.

The purpose of AGATE was to enable market growth for inter-city transportation in small aircraft. AGATE aimed to make single-pilot, light airplanes more safe, affordable and available as a viable part of the nation's transportation system. AGATE targets trips of 150 to 700 miles - round trips that are too far to complete in a day and too short to efficiently use the hub-and-spoke system.

The Alliance was initiated from a meeting between NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin and industry representatives at the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in AGATE management, as a joint government-industry effort, was initiated in response to the Clinton Administration and Congress' commitment to "reinventing government."NASA retained American Technology Alliances to design the AGATE Alliance. Paul Masson of American Technology Alliances led a team of five individuals that worked for one year with NASA, the FAA and general aviation industry members to formulate the Alliance. A private sector R&D syndicated partnership model was used in which the AGATE members shared resources and risks to make the market "pie" bigger for everyone. Leadership was also shared. Costs were shared 50/50 between government and industry. The focus was on commercializing advanced concepts through joint ventures in order to produce greater results.

The forming of the Alliance, which had 100+ Members in 31 States at its peak, was also welcomed by the FAA. "General aviation is an integral part of the air traffic system architecture. AGATE is in the right place at the right time to support modernization of the system for GA," said Dr. George F. Donohue, FAA associate administrator for research and systems acquisition.

The Alliance operated under a unique process called the Joint Sponsored Research Agreement (JSRA). Research conducted under a JSRA permits building collaborative projects in a broader scale then permissible under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and used the stronger reporting and accountability standards of private sector joint research projects. The Alliance, according to Holmes, was unique in the sense that it served as a "blueprint" to map out the Government's research and development support for GA innovation revitalization. It provided industry with more flexibility and gave it the opportunity to take greater risks with higher payoff, faster speed of technology transfer, control of proprietary and shared technologies, and reduced cost and more efficient use of scarce research and development resources.

AGATE was intended to foster revenue growth and job creation in the areas of manufacturing, sales, training, service, support and operations industries within the U.S. small airport infrastructure. The program focuses on the development of new GA technologies including bad weather flight and landing systems, complete with graphic displays of weather and guidance information; emergency coping and avoidance measures that use on-board systems to support decision-making; traffic avoidance systems; systems that reduce the flight planning workload and enhance passenger safety; and systems designed to improve passenger comfort, aircraft performance and efficiency. The success of AGATE will be measured in terms of increases in pilot population, flight hours, airport utilization and new aircraft deliveries.