The DO-254 User’s Group has just launched the U.S. chapter. Tammy Reeve, President of Patmos Engineering Services, a consulting firm specializing in DO-254 compliance, is heading up the group, which is operating as a sister organization to its European counterpart.

The DO-254 Users Group began in Europe in 2004, with the objective of having avionics companies and other stakeholders share experience and effort to address certification requirements, identify paths to improve tools and solutions, and so on. This initiative has been presented at the FAA SW&CEH conference in 2007, and the group is now composed of about 20 companies including equipment manufacturers, experts, tool vendors, and component providers.

The U.S. group has formed out of the success of the European initiative. Numerous companies, including designated engineering representatives, aviation hardware developers, airframe integrators, tool vendors, and FPGA vendors met back in August to discuss the formation of such a group. The initial meeting indicated sufficient interest and eagerness, which led to representatives from 16 companies gathering on January 14-15 in San Jose, CA for the first official meeting.

The European group has been working on a number of key issues, gathering knowledge from across the industry and developing suggestions for best practice compliance. The U.S. group also has identified a number of areas where they are beginning to work on clarifications and guidance for compliance to the RTCA/DO-254 document. The two groups will work together to share information and establish a common point of reference, enabling them to be an industry representative counterpart to both the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

“For years we have had U.S. companies asking to join and participate in our organization. Until now, it was not possible,” said Lionel Burgaud, Geensys Aerospace Business Unit Manager and chair of the European DO-254 User’s Group. “With the formation of the U.S.-based group, we can now share our learning across continents and help guide consistent practices and expectations within our own communities and certification agencies.”

"DO-254 compliance is required on more and more projects, and unfortunately, that can come at great expense to companies who find themselves unprepared," said Todd White, FAA DER and Avionics Certification Manager, L-3 Aviation Recorders. "Much of the expense can be reduced by simply clarifying ambiguities and establishing best practices for compliance. L-3 Aviation Recorders is pleased to participate in these efforts through the work of the DO-254 User's Group."

“Involvement in this group is essential to our efforts to better support the DO-254 needs of customers,” said Michelle Lange, Mentor Graphics DO-254 program manager. “By understanding the common issues and compliance process bottlenecks, we can focus on improving our tools to address these needs. When we do this, the whole industry wins as compliant development processes become more cost effective.”

The DO-254 Users Group in both Europe and the U.S. is made up of a select group of companies that have agreed to work together to invest time and resources to better the compliance process. Group size must be limited in order to remain an effective organization, and the group is dedicated to mature companies able to bring an immediate contribution and experience. Other solutions exist, both in Europe and U.S., to train and support those companies needing support and wanting to learn more about DO-254. Visit www.do-254.com for more information.

About Patmos Engineering Services

Patmos Engineering Services, Inc. (www.patmos-eng.com) provides engineering consulting services for FAA certification and digital design for commercial and aviation related digital systems. Tammy Reeve, President of Patmos Engineering Services, is an independent FAA DER with 18 years experience in the aviation field. Tammy participated in the SC-190 working group, and more recently has been involved in the SC-205 (DO-178C) working group, where she is also co-secretary of the Model Based Development group. She has also done extensive work involving re-useable tool qualification, DO-254/DO-178B compliance for PLDs and ASICs, and DO-254/DO-178B training.