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Schools Woo Students With Research Opportunities,
Solid Curriculum
Jaret Matthews spent August on Mars--virtually.
The Purdue University senior was one of 12 crewmembers assigned
to a simulated Mars base located on Devon Island in the Canadian
Arctic. As part of the crew, Matthews lived inside a two-story,
26-ft.-wide cylindrical "habitat" located on the edge of a large
crater. The spaceship-looking habitat came complete with an airlock,
and crewmembers donned spacesuits to go outside. More than 250 people
applied to join the Mars Analog Research Station Project, but Matthews
won out and took along an all-terrain vehicle he rebuilt.
Other colleges and universities in the U.S.
and abroad also offer students opportunities to participate in cutting-edge
research.
For example, at Tuskegee University in Alabama,
students work alongside professors on broad-ranging programs. These
include a contract from NASA’s Advanced Life Support Program for
extended lunar and Mars exploration. This project combines space
and hydroponics research.
Cranfield University in the U.K. is conducting
research on improving lift efficiencies of aircraft at low speeds,
as well as new aircraft cabin emergency evacuation systems.
This autumn, students at Prairie View A&M
University in Texas began writing software as part of a contract
from Lockheed Martin Space Operations. The Consolidated Space Operations
Contract (CSOC) program includes setting up a mentoring environment
near the campus where students will be trained.
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"The work will provide students with real-world
corporate experience, but it also will generate substantial savings
to NASA in software sustainment costs," explained Doug Tighe, CSOC
program manager. "We hope that as a result of their exposure to this
work, students will explore the career opportunities available in
the space industry."
The "storefronts," as the programs are known,
are being developed in conjunction with Historically Black Colleges
and Universities and Minority Educational Institutions.
BAE Systems North America has research projects
underway at a variety of schools accross the country, including
the University of California-San Diego, where students and faculty
are working together on applications of new technologies to business
transformation and operation.
At the University of Southern California,
aerospace research efforts include work in the field of remote imaging.
BAE Systems also is investing in a project
at the College of William & Mary on how to forge the strongest possible
relationships with colleges and students.
These types of opportunities are attracting
more and more students to engineering programs at institutions of
higher learning around the world.
Funding for university and college aerospace/aviation
research contracts comes from a combination of sources: the National
Science Foundation, government agencies, corporations and even industry
trade associations.
"We make the programs as broad as we can so
that they are effective for the universities," explained Dale vonHaase,
director of aerospace science at Lockheed Martin. "This gives our
staff access to the faculty, and it gives us a way to audition potential
graduate and undergraduate students. Currently, our research is
focusing on integrated media systems, software, imaging, sound and
data transmission."
In addition, Lockheed Martin, which spends
nearly $200 million on university-based programs, has the University
of Puerto Rico performing research in subsurface imaging.
"The universities tend to think further into
the future than a for-profit corporation can," noted vonHasse. "If
you are an engineer, you like to create things you can lay your
hands on or software that executes. We have no idea where technology
will be in 5-10 years, but for students who find something they
really like, such as aviation, that is the secret."
However, aerospace research dollars are not
just going to engineers. Georgia State University in Atlanta combines
its aviation management program with public policy studies. Airline
dollars are funding research on the cost of compliance, privatization
of air traffic control and economic implications of avionics standardization.
Number of Graduates Static
This research is proving to be the carrot
for aerospace and other engineering programs supporting the aviation
and aerospace industries. Despite a growing need for all types of
engineers, the ratio of engineering students to all college graduates
remains about the same. In 1991, of 1 million U.S. college graduates,
6% were engineers. In 1995, 5% of the 1.1 million college graduates
were engineers. And in 2000, the rate remained about the same.
During the 1990s, the distribution of engineering
disciplines tended to shift, with aerospace declining while computer
and software engineering grew. In 1991, 4.5% of engineering graduates
specialized in aerospace; that dropped to 2% in 2000. During the
same period, computer engineering grads went from 7% of the total
to better than 15%. Software engineering was not part of the degree
scan conducted by the Engineering Workforce Commission in 1991,
but it is among the most sought-after disciplines in 2001.
Is that bad news for the aerospace industry?
Not when you consider that the most sought-after skills at many
aerospace and aviation manufacturers today include software, systems
and structural engineering.
"Engineers can develop software to support
new Internet-based businesses. Or they can join aerospace, where
they will be thinking about new frontiers or where their software
will fly in orbit," said vonHaase.
Despite little change in the overall number
of engineering graduates, several aerospace programs have increased
enrollment, including Texas A&M, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
Purdue University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Purdue’s
enrollment is up 15% this year. Thomas N. Farris, a professor at
the Indiana university’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
said the primary goal now is to develop students "who can hit the
ground running. Our hands-on approach makes this possible."
Georgia Tech’s aerospace program swelled to
750 students this fall. The only program with a larger class at
Georgia Tech is electrical engineering. "This is a real milestone
for us," said Robert Loewy, chairman of the aerospace engineering
program. "Enrollment for us is very sensitive to perceptions about
the health of the industry."
Loewy said attrition is just as important
as recruiting is to enrollment. Georgia Tech offers an introduction
to aerospace engineering course to freshmen to help clarify misperceptions
about the industry. Field trips to aircraft production lines and
airline operations centers augment the college’s classroom content.
To keep students excited about what they are
learning, Georgia Tech offers a conceptual design sequence.
"We are teaching conceptual design that involves
highly mathematical analyses to predict performance, manufacturing
cost and life-cycle costs," explained Loewy. "It helps students
understand the financial and technological risks in new developments.
This kind of design optimization is something Georgia Tech is a
leader in," he added. The university recently opened a multimillion-dollar
laboratory for propulsion and combustion, and continues to focus
on development of neural networks for aircraft and spacecraft controls.
Loewy said all of this is not enough. "One
of the top challenges we face is getting all the material that everyone
wants into a four-year curriculum. A second challenge is preparing
students to enter a global industry. Finally, aircraft are dependent
upon computer technology. The industry is only now learning the
full breadth of what these new technologies will mean to future
aircraft and spacecraft."
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU)
expects more than 6,700 students this fall at its main campuses
in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz. The university also
operates other facilities throughout the world, pushing overall
full- and part-time enrollment up to 16,000.
Barry Benedict, ERAU’s new academic provost,
said the university has long been known as a leading flight school.
However, the academic program is notable, too, particularly after
being named No. 1 by US News & World Report among non-Ph.D. aerospace
schools. Benedict plans to create more opportunities for students
by seeking research projects that do not duplicate ongoing work.
"We will be finding areas that contribute to the industry but with
which others are not involved. We are looking at an applied level
that will be good for our students."
While universities worldwide modify programs
to meet the growing demand for aviation and aerospace engineers,
these schools also are introducing a variety of new initiatives
to make engineering graduates stronger as employees.
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