About Us

U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s Aviation Safety Management Systems Division provides systems engineering and analysis, operations research, and associated IT expertise to enhance aviation operational safety. We provide technical and risk analysis expertise on aviation and aerospace safety issues.

Our team of IT specialists, engineers, computer scientists, and operations research analysts designs and develops aviation safety business processes, decision tools, and knowledge management systems. A large portion of our work is focused on designing, developing, and maintaining information systems used by FAA aviation safety inspectors.

Our Capabilities

Safety and Security Assessments

• Develop safety and surveillance information management systems
• Leverage the principles of safety management systems (SMS) in all our work: taking an organizational view of safety
• Conduct safety studies, develop prototypes, and support rulemaking to improve the safety of aviation systems
• Evaluate the continued effectiveness of implemented risk control strategies, and support identification of new hazards

Human Factors Research and Design

• Provide human factors safety analysis and decision support to ensure management commitment to safety improvement
• Assist in the effective use of resources, identification of trends, and risk management
• Analyze and manage safety standards, policies, and directives
• Identify alternatives, impacts, and risks of existing business processes, standards, and policies with a goal to enhance safety
• Ensure safety promotion is in place, such as training and communication, to create a positive safety culture at all levels of the workforce

Systems and Infrastructure Modernization and Optimization

• Integrate and align technology to support aviation safety
• Deploy systems that align business and organizational goals with systems safety
• Address safety risk from a management systems standpoint to avoid catastrophic results
• Incorporate business process re-engineering, requirements definitions, lifecycle cost analysis, and benefits analysis

Applied Data Science

• Integrate data visualization with data exploration and data analysis, coupled with deep expertise in aviation safety management
• Apply SMS approach to statistical modeling, predictive analytics, and risk models
• Leverage data-driven decision-support tools to help ensure availability of enterprise data

Meet Our Team

View selected staff biographies.

Victor Bartolome

Acting Chief

Victor Bartolome is acting division chief for the Aviation Safety Management Systems division, formerly a senior technical advisor for the FAA Safety Assurance System (SAS) project. Bartolome joined the U.S. DOT Volpe Center in September 2022 as a general engineer. Within the SAS Project, he acts as a key liaison and facilitator between technical subject matter experts and project stakeholders, managing evolving requirement changes through the SAS Requirement Review Board (RRB) and fulfilling Task Order Contracting Officer Representative (TOCOR) duties to oversee deliverables and invoicing. Prior to joining the U.S. DOT Volpe Center, Bartolome spent seven years at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI serving as a software engineering lead and engineer. During this tenure, he briefed program leadership, steered the Software Working Group, established standard operating procedures, and mentored teams on leveraging Agile metrics for cost and schedule predictability. Bartolome holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Boston University and a master's degree in telecommunications systems management from Northeastern University.