Abstract

Aerospace research competitiveness depends on reliable, digitally connected, adaptable, and resilient infrastructure as well as faculty expertise and instrumentation. This paper proposes the Facilities-Engineering Integration Model (FEIM), a conceptual systems framework that links research strategy, capital planning, facilities engineering, digital engineering, laboratory operations, and workforce development. FEIM combines Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Internet of Things (IoT) sensing, computerized maintenance and enterprise asset-management systems, and digital-twin methods in a common decision environment. Five performance tools are defined: the Facilities Research Readiness Index (FRRI), Research Infrastructure Return on Investment (RI-ROI), Infrastructure Resilience Index (IRI), Laboratory Utilization Efficiency (LUE), and Research Infrastructure Optimization Model (RIOM). The manuscript does not report completed empirical findings. Tuskegee University is presented as a proposed application context, and all numerical examples and metric weights are explicitly illustrative pending expert calibration and pilot validation. The revised methodology specifies units of analysis, sample targets, time horizons, confounder controls, a modified Delphi protocol, and a bounded pilot. Recent 2021-2025 smart-campus and digital-twin studies are used to distinguish FEIM from prior operational and visualization frameworks. A worked numerical example demonstrates how the metrics would be applied without representing institutional performance. The contribution is therefore a testable framework, implementation architecture, and validation plan rather than a completed case study.

Keywords

Aerospace infrastructure, digital twin, facilities engineering, research infrastructure, smart campus, systems engineering.