U.S. Navy Contracts Qualtech to Add New Dimension to Maintenance Knowledge Bases

 

Wethersfield, Conn. (February 7, 2006 ) Qualtech Systems, Inc. (QSI) is working with the U.S. Navy and Pratt & Whitney to develop an unprecedented level of maintenance diagnostics for the purposes of reducing costs and increasing the availability of the U.S. military’s next generation of fighter aircraft.

 

Connecticut-based Qualtech is a designer of software solutions that enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service and maintenance organizations to reduce the design, development, and support costs associated with capital intensive, and critical, equipment and systems.

 

The Navy has asked Qualtech to isolate systems faults to line-replaceable components so that Navy maintainers only need to be ready with replacement parts and basic support equipment or tools. The project is also expected to lead to minimizing or eliminating the need for intermediate level support at the flight-line. This latest Navy contract is an extension of a previous and related maintenance diagnostics award to Qualtech.

 

To achieve this extraordinary level of diagnostics and prognostics capability Qualtech will integrate prognostic and health maintenance information from a variety of different sources into a dynamically evolving knowledge base. A knowledge base (KB) is a domain of knowledge about the aircraft in machine processable form. A self evolving knowledge base is engineered with a built-in learning capability to selectively expand and update its own knowledge in response to a variety of situations.

 

“ The best possible maintenance decision-making requires reliable information to correctly predict operations and maintenance strategies,” said Qualtech Chief Operating Officer Chakrapani "Chuck" Vallurupalli. “ And so we are designing self-evolving knowledge bases because it is critical that the knowledge base have a learning component to account for an untold number of circumstances that can have a significant effect on the system.”

 

Qualtech is developing its self-evolving maintenance knowledge bases with the goal of automatically improving the accuracy of the models (schematic description of the system) that underlie troubleshooting, thereby significantly enhancing the quality and speed of troubleshooting.

 

The development of self-evolving KB also reduces barriers to model based systems by helping to initiate a model automatically using historical data.

 

Other key benefits of a self-evolving KB are the reduction of uncertainty of information inputted by human experts, and the ability to deal with a change in vendor components.

 

Qualtech is already working with Pratt & Whitney on a remote diagnostics program for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engine system.

While it is expected that the self-evolving KB project will have implications across all military aircraft, the initial focus is on the F-135 engine.

 

About Qualtech Systems Inc.

 

Founded in 1993, QSI’s software solutions enable OEMs and service and maintenance organizations to reduce the design, development, and support costs associated with capital intensive, and critical, equipment and systems. The company's software solutions complement Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions by allowing OEMs and service and maintenance organizations to provide the highest quality of service at the lowest cost by significantly reducing troubleshooting time and increasing equipment availability.

 

Qualtech’s Equipment Health Management and Integrated Diagnostics solutions are proven, mature and deployed worldwide. Some of Qualtech’s customers include Boeing (BA), FEI Company (FEIC), Honeywell (HON), NASA, Orbotech Ltd. (ORBK), and United Technologies (UTX).

 

Qualtech was also recently selected by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) -- a United Technologies company -- to provide real-time on-board diagnostics for F135 jet engines being developed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The JSF venture is the latest in an ongoing partnership with Pratt & Whitney.

 

For more information visit http://www.teamqsi.com

 

Agency Contact:

Michael Trahan

Michael Trahan Public Relations

860-345-7449