b'ENVIRONMENTALMSP 91file of a sound event into a picture, Juffer explains. For instance,While other airport entities have also earned the sound image of a Boeing 737 will have a very different imagepatents (see sidebar on opposite page), it is compared to a neighborhood tornado siren. The images arenot a common occurrence. Its exceptional for fed into a convolutional neural network, which is a computingairport operators to develop new inventions, so capability that analyzes and recognizes visual images. The networkthe U.S. patent is quite an accomplishment, then learns from an archive of known aircraft sound images andsays Evan Wilson, deputy general counsel for classifies future data as aircraft or non-aircraft events.the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Ross reports that the system is working as expected, and isThe application required rigorous legalEVAN WILSONaccurately identifying aircraft noise.documentation defining what the technology is, what it does and how it is leveraged in [our] system, says Patently Effective Juffer. The patent process took longer than developing and With the new network up and running at MSP in 2018, theimplementing the technology itself. process to patent the technology began. The Metropolitan AirportsTechnology notwithstanding, Ryks highlights how the patent Commission filed an application in October 2019, and the U.S.reflects Metropolitan Airports Commission values, specifically those Patent Office issued a patent (No. 11,593,610) on Feb. 28, 2023.that foster innovation and continuous improvement. In fact, he and Three of the four inventors listed were with the Airports Commission:other Commission leaders believe there may be more viable avenues GIS Solution Architect Matt Baker; Juffer, who now serves asfor the patented system in the future, both at MSP and possibly assistant director, Operations Optimization; and Derek Anderson,beyond. Along that line, they are looking into possibly patenting an acoustics and data analysis coordinator who has since left thethe technology in Canada. As Wilson adds, Were excited for the organization. The fourth co-inventor was Nicholas Heller, a computertechnologys potential and are just now exploring how we could science and engineering doctoral candidate from the Computerassist or share this with other airports or industry partners. Science Department at the University of Minnesota.Stay tuned. C USAPPROGRAMMYCMMY The U.S. Airport Professional (USAP) Program CY covers a full range of current airport CMY management topics such as leadership K development, business strategy, commercial management, nance, operations, safety, security, and air service.Find out more information atwww.airportscouncil.org/USAP AirportImprovement.comSeptember 2023'