Tarrant County College and four partner institutions (Pennsylvania College of Technology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Weatherford College, and San Jose State University along with aviation industry leaders, organized labor, the federal government, [including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the USAF Avionics Training Center, and the Community College of the Air Force]) are collaborating to provide specialized aircraft maintenance education and training programs that award graduates an industry recognized certification for each program successfully completed. Programs being developed fill the educational gap that exists between the FAA's minimum requirements for certification and licensure and the aviation industry's requirement for ongoing and advanced education. As the need to maintain the nation's vastly different aircraft continues to evolve, expand, and become more complex (including smart metals, advanced composites, advanced engine technologies, and anti-terrorist equipment), the aviation industry partners and the colleges involved are identifying and setting the standards for aviation maintenance technician education and certification programs. These programs are becoming the tools through which the individual aviation maintenance technician meets or upgrades his or her current and future education, training, and certification requirements.
The intellectual merit for this project is the development of (1) world class, industry-driven, aircraft technician education programs that provide formal updating of curriculum, certification processes, and standards for aircraft maintenance technicians; and (2) partnerships between the FAA's Aviation Education Program, the Experimental Aircraft Association's Aeroscholars Program, and educational partners that establish K-12 articulation programs with postsecondary institutions; thus reforming aviation-grounded technology education in the United States, and fostering interest in associated science, mathematics, and technology fields.
The broader impacts of this Center are through the following: (1) Partnering aviation colleges and other participating aviation academic institutions are provided a strategy for introduction, dissemination, and inclusion of a new educational core curriculum for aviation maintenance technicians. (2) Academic institutions have an opportunity to update programs and curriculum. (3) Partner institutions compete with best- in-class standards for aircraft technician education. (4) Students receive nationally recognized competencies and certification for employment. (5) Business and industry receive a better-educated work force with a curriculum that is adaptable for continued life-long learning. (6) The project serves as a national resource to strengthen our country's technical education base. (7) Thousands of current civilian electronics and avionics technicians receive certification for education previously accomplished in military and civilian education programs. (8) U.S. military electronics and avionics technicians certify their military education prior to separation from service.
