Consulting

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Corvette Research offers extensive experience in early development of complex systems. The company specializes in preliminary studies that help lay the groundwork for follow-on engineering and design. Partnerships with academia and industry afford a range of capabilities for development and analysis of concepts for aerospace and sustainable energy systems. 

The time between a new idea and preliminary design is full of uncertainty and potential for false starts and unproductive lines of inquiry. This is especially true of novel, complex systems where there may be several technological and architectural options, as well as multiple lines of technical approach. Pilot analyses of operations, performance, and life-cycles for alternative concepts can greatly reduce early program cost and risk.

Successful program plans are more than schedules and budgets. And when the program involves significant R&D or technology insertion, even basic program elements can get complicated. Requirements, how the work is organized, dependencies and constraints, schedules, and resources…these must all be balanced, so that the program is executable within thresholds for acceptable risk.

Innovation is not managed, so much as it is shepherded. Whether a single grant or large program, the approach chosen by investigators may be unique and progress not always predictable. Still, a clear framework for fostering innovation is both possible and necessary. It includes appropriately scoped goals and expectations, a solid understanding of the state of the art, suitable resources, tools and facilities, and regular communication between investigators and stakeholders.

System developers, operators, and financial stakeholders are often faced with multiple technological options for delivering a capability or product. Technology assessment supporting the choice consists of evaluating options relative to end-item requirements, estimated resources needed for development, and stakeholder risk tolerance.

Once there is a commitment to investigate one or more technologies, consideration should be given to associated maturation plans. For basic and applied research, such planning may be notional, but it promotes informed down-select decisions and more efficient transition to system development, prototyping, and demonstration.