THE AERONAUTICS RESEARCH DIRECTORATE ARD, PART OF THE ORGANIZATION OF NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, DESIRES TO CONTINUE SUPPORT FOR AERONAUTICS FOCUSED RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING INITIATIVES THROUGH A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY. THIS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ARD AND CNU PROVIDES A PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FROM THE CNU FACULTY TO WORK ON SITE IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH THE ARD. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR WILL PROVIDE DIRECTION AND TASK MANAGEMENT FOR AERONAUTICS FOCUSED MULTI UNIVERSITY AND MULTI DISCIPLINARY INTEGRATED SYSTEMS RESEARCH IN AERONAUTICS. SHE BRINGS OVER 23 YEARS OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION EXPERIENCE OBTAINED FROM HER ROLES WITH MULTIPLE NASA ORGANIZATIONS. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR WILL ALSO PROVIDE ON CENTER ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCHERS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF US UNIVERSITIES. SHE WILL ALSO PERFORM ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS THAT SUPPORT THE SPACE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM AT LANGLEY, AS DELEGATED THROUGH THE CENTER CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST OFFICE. THE PROPOSED GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH CNU PROVIDES A LOCAL, LOW COST ALTERNATIVE FOR ADMINISTERING RESEARCH INITIATIVES ACROSS NASA TECHNICAL ORGANIZATIONS, ACROSS UNIVERSITIES, AND ACROSS DISCIPLINES. UNIVERSITY PARTICIPANTS, KNOWN IN THE PROPOSAL AS VISITING RESEARCHERS, ARE COMPETITIVELY SELECTED BY NASA TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL, GRADUATE OR UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL RESEARCH. CENTER RESEARCH FACILITIES ENHANCE THE VISITING RESEARCHER EXPERIENCE AND VISITING RESEARCHERS BRING NEW PERSPECTIVES TO THE NASA RESEARCH COMMUNITY. THE AGREEMENT ALSO ENABLES THE ADMINISTRATION OF AN ANNUAL TECHNICAL CHALLENGE IN AERONAUTICS AND THE MEANS TO HOST A TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM OR CONFERENCE FOR CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS.