Building an academic pathway for advanced air mobility aircraft maintenance technicians

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) provides $650,000 to Sinclair Community College to develop educational pathways and training for aviation maintenance technicians to service unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft. The project aims to address the projected workforce shortage of technicians capable of maintaining these new aircraft types as the aerospace industry shifts toward increased use of autonomous, electric, and hybrid technologies.

Key products and services to be delivered under this award include:

• Developing a post-secondary technical certificate curriculum on UAS and AAM aircraft maintenance, validated by industry and disseminated to colleges nationwide
• Providing training workshops for current aviation maintenance workers on servicing UAS and AAM aircraft
• Developing high school STEM content and teacher training modules to build the pipeline of future UAS and AAM maintenance technicians

Sinclair Community College is collaborating with sub-awardees Atlantic Cape Community College and Northland Community & Technical College on various aspects of curriculum development, industry standards implementation, and regional stakeholder engagement.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by training the next generation of aircraft maintenance technicians to service and maintain unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft, thus safeguarding the nation?s position at the forefront of the global aerospace industry. The aerospace industry is shifting toward increased reliance on semi- or fully autonomous electric or hybrid aircraft, which will soon be used more frequently and in expanded roles. At the same time, upcoming additions and changes to federal regulations will require that these new aircraft types are regularly serviced to ensure their airworthiness and safety of operations in the national airspace system (NAS). To support the domestic growth of the industry and to keep the expanding fleet of UAS and AAM aircraft performing at its full potential while remaining in compliance with federal regulations, the nation will require a sufficient number of aviation maintenance technicians. These technicians will need to have the skills to maintain these aircraft and to diagnose and repair any problems with inherent advanced technologies including sensors, avionics, communications, electric propulsion, and battery systems. This project will help address this need by enabling access to training and resources to develop these skill sets for both incumbent aviation maintenance workers and individuals who are new to the aviation field. This project will develop educational pathways by which a diverse pool of technicians will be trained to maintain and repair UAS and AAM aircraft. IT will also advance a shared understanding of the skills and competencies needed to fill such roles and embed these skills into a post-secondary short-term technical certificate curriculum. The development of this curriculum will be undertaken in coordination with partners having regional and national reach, validated by industry representatives, and widely disseminated and replicated at colleges across the country. These efforts will be key to addressing the projected workforce shortage of technicians capable of servicing these new types of aircraft. Training workshops will be developed for current aviation maintenance workers exploring the innovations in UAS and AAM and orienting them to the skills needed to service these aircraft. Additionally, to develop the recruitment pipeline for future UAS and AAM maintenance technicians, the project will develop high school stem content and train-the-teacher modules. Further, the project will conduct workshops to provide high school teachers with innovative curriculum, multimedia, and learning activities introducing the AAM paradigm, the components of UAS technologies, and opportunities for aviation maintenance technicians. This project is funded by the advanced technological education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced technology fields that drive the nation's economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.