FAA Administrator Micahel Huerta announced today that they are partnering with the University of Oklahoma and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on a new FAA Center of Excellence. The new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Technical Training and Human Performance (we’ll just stick with Center of Excellence or COE) will be conducting research and development on technical training for air traffic controllers, aviation safety inspectors, engineers, pilots and technicians.
“This world-class, public-private partnership will help us focus on the challenges and opportunities of this cutting-edge field of research,” said Huerta. “We expect this team will help us educate and train aviation professionals well into the future.”
Further Details on the New FAA Center of Excellence
The FAA expects that within a few months, the new COE will be fully operational and start on a “robust research agenda.” The agency plans to take advantage of the latest advancements in teaching, including part-task training, modeling, and immersive human-in-the-loop simulation. They also plan to take advantage of adaptive learning technologies that are being used in other technical workforces.
The research at the new COE will be cover such areas as:
- Developing technical training programs and capabilities, including how the training is conducted, that are able to be applied in an aviation environment.
- Researching, developing and integrating new training technologies, such as mobile learning, while also developing new methods of collecting and managing training data.
- Studying how the current curriculum is analyzed and managed, as well as ways to improve learner data management techniques.
- Studying changes in learner expectations and academic best practices for training new generations.
- Developing modernized approaches and technologies that will help the agency meet their training needs and goals.
More Details on the FAA COE Program
The FAA Centers of Excellence were authorized as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act of 1990. Under this legislation, the FAA has been able to partner with COE members and affiliates to research a variety of ways to improve the safety and efficiency of the nation’s air transport system.
The agency currently has 12 Centers of Excellence, devoted to research in critical areas such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), developing alternative jet fuels, improving general aviation safety, limiting aircraft noise and emissions, new and advanced materials, airport improvements and more.
For more information about the FAA COE program, you can visit their web page.
