FAA Announces New Air Transportation Center of Excellence at Embry-Riddle
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta has announced the agency has selected Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to lead the new Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Technical Training and Human Performance.
“This world-class, public-private partnership will help us focus on the challenges and opportunities of this cutting-edge field of research,” Huerta said. “We expect this team will help us educate and train aviation professionals well into the future.”
The FAA is expected to invest at least $5 million over the next five years in this partnership, with Embry-Riddle heading a team of top-tier academic research institutions and more than 20 industry partners, including the FAA’s NextGen Florida Test Bed at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach.
“We are honored the FAA chose an Embry-Riddle-led team to conduct research needed to transform training for its 22,000-employee air traffic organization workforce,” said Karen A. Holbrook, interim president and CEO of Embry-Riddle. “Our consortium, titled AERIS (Greek for air) and headed by Alan Stolzer of the College of Aviation in Daytona Beach, has brought together the premier aviation and research universities in the nation and teamed them with market-leading companies in air traffic training, education and learning management.”
Embry-Riddle will lead research and development on technical training for air traffic controllers, aviation safety inspectors, engineers, pilots and technicians that focuses on human performance, using part-task trainers, modeling, immersive human-in-the-loop simulation, and adaptive learning technologies that are found in other technical workforces. This includes new technologies such as mobile learning and new ways of collecting and managing training data.
“The FAA has recognized the need to upgrade from the decades-old model of instructor-led training in a classroom to a modern, national approach,” said Stolzer, associate dean for research and graduate studies and chair of the Department of Doctoral Studies at Embry-Riddle. “Partnering with the FAA, our team will bring world-class training, education and research in air traffic control and aviation human factors areas to bear on the transformation of Air Traffic Organization technical training.”
The FAA expects the COE will be operational and engaged in a robust research agenda within the next few months. In addition to the new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Technical Training and Human Performance, the Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach Campus is also a core member of the FAA’s Center of Excellence in Unmanned Aircraft Systems and NextGen programs at the Florida Test Bed.
The FAA’s Center of Excellence program is a long-term, cost-sharing partnership between academia, industry and government. Congress authorized Air Transportation Centers of Excellence under the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act of 1990. This legislation enables the FAA to work with center members and affiliates to conduct research in airspace and airport planning and design, environment, and aviation safety.