the present invention provides a means for adapting conduction - cooled electronics modules into a convection - cooled chassis , wherein a conduction - cooled module is modified by mounting a finned cooling plate or “ convection bridge ” to the heat dissipative surfaces of the module . the fins of the convection bridge create a large surface area and a low resistance air path through the avionics chassis . thus , the finned convection bridge permits increased air flow through the avionics chassis , cooling the conduction - cooled electronics module by convection cooling . the concept utilizes additional card slots in the chassis to achieve the surface area necessary to provide adequate cooling with low pressure ambient air . fig1 is a pictorial diagram showing an exploded view of an enhanced 6u vme electronics module 100 , according to one embodiment of the invention . the enhanced 6u vme electronics module 100 comprises a standard 6u vme electronics module 102 ( that would normally be conduction cooled ), a finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 , and a cover plate 106 . the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 can be fabricated from a thermally conductive material such as aluminum and mounts adjacent to the existing standard 6u vme electronics module 102 , occupying the space that would normally contain an adjacent module . the fins on the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 create a larger surface area with low resistance to convection air flow . the fins on the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 are stationary fins ; that is , they are not designed to move once the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 is manufactured . however , the fins on the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 may be mounted in the same orientation or in different orientations . for example , the fins on the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 may be mounted such that they are in the same direction , such as shown in the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 . fig1 a shows a front view of the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 , in accordance with embodiments of the invention . the fins on the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 may be mounted along different orientations , such as converging toward a point , diverging from a point , or parallel lines . the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 depicted in fig1 a has a pair of converging fins 106 that are converging toward a point ( when traversed in the direction of air flow shown in fig1 a ), two pairs of diverging fins 108 and 112 that are diverging from a point , and two sets of parallel fins 110 and 114 . note that if the direction of air flow is changed ( e . g ., reversed ) a pair of diverging fins may be considered converging fins and vice versa . as such , adaptation of the standard 6u vme electronics module 102 using a finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 allows the use of the standard 6u vme electronics module 102 in a convection - cooled chassis by having the convection finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 act as the thermal conducting interface just as a conduction chassis would otherwise interface with the standard conduction - cooled 6u vme electronics module 102 . further , the enhanced 6u vme electronics module 100 as described may mechanically secured in a convection - cooled chassis by wedgelocks in the same manner that a standard 6u vme conduction - cooled electronics module 102 is mechanically secured in a conduction - cooled chassis . the cooling performance of this adaptation can be further enhanced by use of an interstitial material such as grease or indium foil between the standard 6u vme conduction - cooled electronics module 102 and the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 . fig2 is a pictorial diagram showing an enhanced 6u vme electronics module 200 , according to one embodiment of the invention . this is the form in which the electronics module is installed into a wider slot in a conduction - cooled chassis , according to one embodiment of the present invention . fig3 is a pictorial diagram showing a configuration 300 with an enhanced 6u vme module 302 installed in a chassis 310 , according to one embodiment of the invention . the configuration 300 comprises an enhanced 6u vme electronics module 302 , a fan 304 , air inlets 306 , a standard conduction - cooled 6u vme electronics module 308 , and a chassis 310 . the chassis 310 also may comprise external air flow openings 320 . the chassis 310 is an example of a chassis that uses an air - moving appliance , such as the fan 304 , to help cool the electronics modules . the fan 304 may or may not be integral to the chassis . as shown , the enhanced 6u vme module 302 uses a wider chassis slot interface and takes up the space of two modules when compared to the standard 6u vme conduction - cooled electronics module 308 . as discussed before , the enhanced 6u vme electronics module 302 comprises a standard 6u vme conduction cooled electronics module coupled with a convection bridge heat exchanger , such as finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger 104 described with respect to fig1 above . in this embodiment , the orientations of the fins on the convection bridge heat exchanger may be optimally placed when the fins permit air flows in directions other than horizontal with respect to the external air flow openings 320 . for example , if air flow from the fan 304 is in a direction other than horizontal with respect to the external air flow openings 320 , the optimal orientation of the fins may be in or near the direction of air flow from the fan 304 . fig4 is a cross - sectional diagram showing the chassis interface 400 of an enhanced 6u vme module , according to one embodiment of the invention . the cross - sectional diagram shows the enhanced 6u vme module 403 combined in a chassis with non - conduction - cooled standard 6u vme modules 418 . the chassis interface 400 comprises convection bridge heat exchanger 402 , standard 6u vme electronics module 404 , a heat flow 406 , an air flow 408 , a card slot pitch height 410 , generic 6u vme backplane 420 , generic 6u vme connectors 412 , a modified chassis side panel 414 , a wedgelock clamp 416 , and non - conduction - cooled standard 6u vme modules 418 . as discussed above the pairing of a convection bridge heat exchanger 402 and standard 6u vme electronics module 404 forms the enhanced 6u vme electronics module 403 according to an embodiment of the present invention . the purpose of the modified chassis side panel 414 is to provide air inlets so that air can be drawn through in the case of the chassis comprising a fan or any air - moving appliance . the air inlets can take different forms , from large air vents to small air holes . the chassis may need an increased slot width for this configuration , but as long as the card slot pitch height 410 is a multiple of 0 . 8 inches , compatibility with generic vme backplanes is maintained . adaptations of electronics modules into convection - cooled chassis will typically entail pairing of the finned - convection - bridge heat exchanger with the existing product and replacement of the existing chassis side panels with modified chassis panels 414 . fig5 is a cross - sectional diagram showing the function of an enhanced 6u vme module , according to one embodiment of the invention . the enhanced 6u vme module function 500 comprises a 6u vme convection bridge 502 , standard 6u vme electronics module 504 , heat flows 506 , air flows 508 , a modified chassis side panel 510 , a fan 512 , and a wedgelock clamp 514 . heat flows 506 allow heat to be dissipated from the standard 6u vme electronics module 504 to the convection bridge 502 . the air flows 508 created by the fan 512 then carry the heat out from the convection bridge 502 , resulting in a cooling effect . one embodiment of the present invention provides a means to utilize standard 6u vme conduction - cooled electronics modules designed for high end aircraft in other system applications without refrigerated cooling systems , saving money and time by eliminating the need to redesign modules for ambient air cooled applications . alternate embodiments of the present invention may include the convection bridge heat exchanger being permanently mounted to the chassis , allowing direct insertion of standard 6u vme conduction - cooled electronics modules into the chassis . one of ordinary art in the skill should find that similar adaptations of the present invention can be implemented for other standard vme dimensions such as 3u or 9u modules .