Laurie Garrow Featured as Moderator at 2022 U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aerospace Summit

Georgia Tech Professor Laurie Garrow was recently featured as a speaker at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aerospace Summit. Garrow, whose expertise is in aviation, travel behavior analysis, and forecasting, moderated the panel Meeting the Needs of the Modern Customer. Panelists were Matt Davis, chief commercial officer, FlightAware; Clotilde Enel-Réhel, executive director of programs, Connected Aviation Solutions, Collins Aerospace; and Stacey Wronkowski, vice president of digital technology, United Airlines.

During the 30-minute panel session, Garrow led the discussion on examining the new ways data and technology are helping create a more connected, efficient, and sustainable journey for modern airline passengers. The panelists were able to highlight how their companies are tracking information across the entire passenger journey, highlighting ways that they are adopting sophisticated data collection and analysis to make real-time operational decisions and improve the experience for customers across the globe.

United Airlines spotlighted its ConnectionSaver tool, which sends travelers messages with directions to the gate for their connecting flight, information about expected travel time between the two gates, and will even hold the flight for a few minutes.

Garrow also asked how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are being used to improve technologies and make flying a smoother and more enjoyable process for passengers. Among the many initiatives mentioned, Enel-Réhel from Collins Aerospace spoke on that company’s ongoing efforts to develop and improve the technology used for predictive maintenance monitoring for aircraft to prevent unexpected maintenance issues. 

To close out the discussion, Garrow asked the panelists what’s next and how they see technology playing a role. Each panelist responded by emphasizing the importance of data collection, AI, and machine learning. 

Garrow expressed her appreciation for being invited to the panel saying, “It’s important as a woman [in] engineering to be featured at conferences like these.” She noted that there is an underrepresentation of women in aviation and emphasized the ongoing efforts to change that. 

Garrow is a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is the first woman and the first academic to serve as president in the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies’ 60-year history. In her role as co-director for the Center for Urban and Regional Air Mobility, she has conducted research in advanced air mobility that has focused on understanding demand for these new modes of transportation.