Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, a world leading higher education institution focused on aviation and aerospace, has opened up a satellite campus in Fort Worth with plans for taking a leadership role in these growing North Texas industries.
Embry Riddle, which has had a presence at Naval Air Station Fort Worth since its days as Carswell Air Force Base, opened a second classroom and office center at Alliance Airport in September.In addition to its class offerings in engineering and other aviation-related fields, Embry Riddle also moved its Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership to Alliance from Daytona Beach.It's all part of Embry Riddle's aim to take a bigger role in the growing aviation and aerospace industries of Texas and surrounding regions, said Robert Mansfield, executive director of the leadership center.The university has its two main campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott, Ariz. and operates 150 satellite campuses throughout the world. It has long offered more than 40 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in aerospace engineering and many other fields. Classes are taught on campus and online.Adding the Alliance center was necessary in part, Mansfield said, because of the increasing difficulty for non-military personnel to get on and off the Fort Worth air base. But it's also a move to get more deeply involved in the broader community.Embry Riddle and the leadership center recently sponsored the first of what Mansfield hopes will be a series of conferences in Fort Worth aimed at bringing large contractors, like Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin, and their smaller suppliers together to discuss industry problems and solutions.Smaller companies in particular need help adapting to rapid changes underway in the industry."We live in this fast-moving world where complex adaptive behavior is necessary," Mansfield said. The goal of the center is to provide education and training so that smaller companies can train their leaders or find new ones."We need to bring more women into the field. They're more than half the workforce," Mansfield said.Embry Riddle is also reaching out to local institutions, partnering with both Tarrant County College and the University of North Texas.One of the newest programs in the curriculum is a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Science.Embry Riddle and the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Fire Training Academy are in discussions about coordinating and offering course credit to students who go through training courses at the academy. The university is also working with American Eurocopter in Grand Prairie to develop a helicopter fire fighting curriculum.And Embry Riddle is beginning a program to work with local schools to aid them in promoting engineering and science careers and teaching science, technology and math."If we're going to have a world class workforce, we've got to start doing something" to recruit and develop it, said Mansfield. "Ultimately it's about jobs. These are good jobs and they're future jobs."Heather Garten, an Embry Riddle instructor who is a former Defense Department employee and who holds a Ph.D. in math, is handling the outreach program to the local schools.One of her principal goals, Garten said, is to get into schools with students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds to inspire them to reach for the sky."It's important to give them more opportunities. We want to reach everyone," Garten said.Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxictHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
