Andres Gonzalez, Corridor Inc. — Aerospace company American Dynamics Flight Systems, Inc., would probably not have been able to achieve its new aircraft technology, without the assistance of Maryland Industrial Partnership.

American Dynamics, a Jessup, Md., company that focuses on the design and engineering of aircraft and aero technology, was awarded $135,150 in MIPS funds to development an unnamed aircraft that can perform vertical take-offs and landings, while carrying up to around 500 lbs.

This is the second time that American Dynamics receive MIPS funding. With the funds provided, they tested a scale model of their unnamed aircraft at the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel. The testing showed that the aircraft can successfully flight against a wide range of wind forces.

For American Dynamics, testing their technology is one of the most important aspects of showing investors that the aircraft can be operated safely.

“For a start-up company, being able to access the resources to be able to do the necessary testing is key,” said Paul Vasilescu, American Dynamic technology development director. “MIPS has been instrumental for us to have access to the university resources, university faculty and the wind tunnel itself. Without the MIPS program we wouldn’t have been able to have access to those resources.”

Initially based in Long Island, N.Y., American Dynamics moved to the Baltimore-Washington corridor to be closer to potential aerospace clients, such as the U.S. Navy in The Pentagon.

Wayne Morse, president of American Dynamics, said that the prospective of benefiting from Maryland’s funding programs, such as MIPS, played a vital role in their decision to move to the tri-state area.

American Dynamics is working closely with aerospace engineering Prof. Jewel Barlow, director of the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel at the University of Maryland.

Barlow said that partnering with American Dynamics “is a good collaborative match because we bring expertise in experimental aerodynamics and analytics, but they are outstanding in computational aerodynamics.”

Investing in small businesses is beneficial for the state because small businesses will bring the new generation of aerospace technology, Wayne said.

“The reason why small companies, like us, are being able to do an airplane is that we can design things in the computer that, years ago, only large companies could do,” Morse said.

Vasilescu emphasized that aerospace technology is increasingly being produced by small companies.

“More projects can be done since the cost of developing these aircrafts is decreasing,” Vasilescu said. “There will be a massive expansion in the type of aircrafts that are going to be developed, just because the technology enables us to produce in areas of research that were completely unattainable before.”

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— April 2010 print edition