Frank van Graas earned his Ph.D. from Ohio University in 1988. He holds a BSEE and MSEE with specialization in avionics from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
At the Avionics Engineering Center, Dr. Van Graas is Principal Investigator for the FAA-sponsored Global Positioning System (GPS) research grant to investigate the Local Area Augmentation System for Aircraft Precision Approach & Landing and Aircraft Surface Movement Guidance.
Dr. Van Graas conducted the first real-time GPS attitude and heading flight experiment on a DC-3 in May of 1991, and the first kinematic dual-frequency GPS autoland flight tests using NASA Langley Research Center's Boeing 737 in May of 1993. In October of 1994, a code-phase Differential GPS system designed by Dr. Van Graas was the first system of this type to satisfy both sensor accuracy and Total System Error requirements for Category IIIb automatic landing operations using a Boeing 757 aircraft operated by the United Parcel Service. The first prototype Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) for Category III was completed by his research team in 1997 and successfully flight tested at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City using FAA's Boeing 727. In February of 1998, his team successfully flight-tested the first differentially-corrected pseudolite integrated in the LAAS. In 1996, he received the Johannes Kepler Award for "sustained and significant contributions to satellite navigation," from the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation.
Dr. Van Graas' teaching responsibilities include a sequence of undergraduate and graduate courses in electronic navigation systems. His current research projects include the GPS, inertial navigation, and integrated navigation systems. He has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia for such organizations as: The International Air Transport Association, the NATO Advisory Group on Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD), Navtech Seminars, Inc., and The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).
Professional activities: President, The Institute of Navigation (98-99) http://www.ion.org; Visiting Professor, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Leeds University, The United Kingdom (1994-2000); Navigation Systems Consultant (since 1989).
