papers & publications
Subject Index
1. New Runway Safety Report (Nov 2010)
2. Avaition Safety Research (2007-2009)
5. Change & Transformation Programmes
8. Real Estate
Runway Safety Report (Nov 2010)
In November 2010, Insight SRI published a new report 'Runway Safety: FOD, Birds, and the Case for Automated Scanning' , available for purchase through the dedicated website www.runway-safety.com. This report is the single best analysis of runway safety, FOD, and on-runway strikes presently available. It is data driven, values neutral, and draws together information from airlines, airports, regulators, and service/technology firms. It, for the first time, knits together an industry-wide perspective that allows like-for-like comparison of runway safety incidents, including incursions and excursions. Now available for purchase at US$2,600 per copy (for the PDF version).
See inside the report, read excerpts, testimonials, or download the table of contents and a brochure at www.runway-safety.com.
Avaition Safety Research (2007-2009)
In 2009, Insight SRI performed one of the first detail analyses of the US FAA database for bird and wildlife strikes. This showed that a surprising fraction (25%) of bird strikes actaully ocurred on the runway, shattering conventional wisdom that birds were only an airborne threat.
The Frequency and Economic Cost of Bird Strikes
From 2007-2008, we led an international effort to i.) recognise the costs and ii.) to address the safety concerns around foreign object debris, or FOD. This work set an industry standard, and is now recognised and referenced by regulators, airports, airlines, and OEMs arond the world. That original document ('The Economic Cost of FOD', 2007) saw some ten thousand downloads over a three year period, but is no longer available from Insight SRI. Readers of the original document are cautioned that the numbers in that 2007 paper are no longer valid. Findings changed singifincatly as new data and information came to light. Interested readers are urged instead to purchase a copy of the new report Runway Safety: FOD, Birds, and the Case for Automated Runway Scanning, available at www.runway-safety.com
Useful Links:
|
FODnews.com NAFPI FAA Office of Runway Safety NTSB ICAO Flight Safety Foundation Airbus fuel cap survey |
FOD Presentation from Delta Safety Manager Jim Stephan
FAA Runway Safety Report, Sept 2007
FOD Detection technology companies:
Qinetiq ('Tariser')
X-Sight ('FODetect')
Stratech ('iFerret')
Trex Enterprises ('Fod Finder')
Market Research
The dangers of taking market research at face value
Market research reports can be very useful, but even those from the best publishers can be riddled with errors. This paper is an extract from a client deliverable, illustrating the dangers of taking market research reports at face value. We illustrate the math errors, inconsistencies, and show how reliance on such unverified data can lead to bad business decisions. In this example for the vitamin market, market research indicating that vitaimin consumers are aging has been driving M&A strategy in the US - however it seems that the research driving that assumption is seriously flawed.
The dangers of taking market research reports at face value
Insight SRI, July 2008
Cluster Analysis
Understanding who your customers are and what they need is key to effective sales. This document is an example of a market cluster analysis, in this case performed at an industry level. For this client, Insight SRI looked at 64 characteristics for 42 industries, to help assess the size and nature of strategic oportunities. In the slides shown, only market characteristics realted to R&D are shown, and the analysis remains at the industry level (e.g. no company specific data is shown).
Example if industry level cluster analysis
Insight SRI, April 2007
Defence Transformation
“Transforming the Military Will Transform Industry"
Institute for Defence and Government Advancement, June 2003
A military that does new things in new ways will start to buy new things in new ways. This will mean new commercial and contractual mechanisms. ISRI created the following presentation to illustrates some of the large scale shifts in industry structure for a Wall Street audience, as part of a conference for IDGA.
PDF of PowerPoint Presentation,
IDGA Conference
"Investing in Aerospace", Wall Street, New York, Jun 2003
PDF of text and speaker's notes
IDGA Conference
"Investing in Aerospace", Wall Street, New York, Jun 2003
"Transforming the Military Will Transform Industry"
Op-ed, April 2003
An opinion piece on the implications for industry in Defence Transformation, intended for publication following the June 03 IDGA conference.
ISRI on Military Transformation
OP-ED submission to The Wall Street Journal, 2003
International Trade Issues in Intellectual Property
2003
Insight SRI discusses how a some gentle modifications to ITAR trade restrictions, offsets, and Global Project Authorizations could be used to drive dramatic cost savings in international technology development for defence applications.
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Collaborative Strategies for Aerospace Suppliers
January 2004
This paper lays out the strategic options, including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures for the mid-tier aerospace suppliers.
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Change and Transformation Programmes
Contact us for details.
Earth and the Environment
Global Warming
Director Iain McCreary was involved in some of the early climate modelling exercises at Los Alamos, including transportation simulations and direct atmospheric pollution measurements using LIDAR. In the article below, he poses some questions which may call into doubt the strength of the standard ‘man-made carbon contribution’ arguments.
“Its not that things aren’t warmer,” he says. “Its about context. When you start looking at the science holistically - by which I mean don’t just look at the atmospheric physics but also at the geological science, oceanography, and biology - When you open the scope of enquiry, the strength of the man made carbon argument suddenly seems a lot weaker.
"Carbon reduction as a means to combat and control pollution I am all in favour of. But when we look at the levels of international investment required to deliver on our carbon promises it seems to me that we are choosing carbon over, potentially equally worthy and far reaching causes. Among these I could include debt relief in Africa, HIV/Aids prevention, deforrestation, irrigation, providing drinking water, and disease epidemics such as malaria and African sleeping sickness...
"I am not convinced that the purely scientific data supports the purely political choice of making carbon reduction a priority over these other concerns.”
“The Geodynamo and Geothermal activity as a driver of climate change?"
Spring, 2008
<withheld, pending publication>
China’s Energy
In 1995/96, Iain McCreary was one of the US government’s experts on Chinese energy and energy consumption. Below, links to the unclassified version of the main report.
Note that LANL removed the 1995 China report from its public servers
in Aug 2008. As a substitute,
we provide a copy of the unclassified
summary below. For a copy of the full report, please contact us
Policy and Politics
Afghanstan, October 2001
Author Iain McCreary suggests that an invasion of Afghanistan could eb avoided if the Bush Administration would only remember recent history. In December 1999, following the hijack of an Indian Airlines flight, a Taliban negotiator took the position that hijacking an aircraft and kidnapping its passengers was "un-Islamic". Wouldn;t this make Bin-Laden a bad muslim? And if so, can we use culturally sensitive arguments and some respect to ensure we can get Al-Qaeda without having to make their pursuit a West v. Islam issue?
Afghanistan: Why invasion may be uncaled for
October 2001
US policy and China, 1995
A paper written in 1995, descibing the conceptual errors being made by the Clinton administration is assuming the rest of the world, including China, would be eager to adopt Western and American values. This paper is copied here, as its arguments are just as valid for pre-Olympics China in 2008 as they were thirteen years ago when the paper was written.
US Foreign Policy: Conceptual Problems and Failures in China
Real Estate
Opportunities for Riverside Property Developments (London)