Educational efforts soaring at AERO Institute: city, universities, firms help boost workforce

San Fernando Valley Business Journal, May 12, 2008 by Mark R. Madler

In a Spanish-style building in Palmdale where lawyers and judges once argued over the finer points of law today calls home to classrooms in which the discussions turn to the finer points of engineering or office management skills.

For going on five years the AERO Institute has pursued a three-fold purpose of workforce training; educational programs for the public; and development of new intellectual property through its nanotechnology lab in a former courthouse on the civic plaza.

The institute is a consortium between the city of Palmdale, major universities and the aerospace industry to give additional education to the workforce in the Antelope Valley and spur interest in aviation and aerospace careers in students in elementary through high schools.

While the courses offered at the institute are not limited to aerospace employees, the presence of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing in the city is a draw for universities to have their programs available.

"The schools are enticed by the companies we have here," said Lorna Williams, director of operations for the institute.

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Cal Poly Pomona, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and the engineering school at Purdue University are among the schools partnering with the institute.

New this year are programs from DeVry University in associate, bachelor and post-graduate degrees; and an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business Management at Pepperdine University.

The MBA broadens the course offerings at the institute so that it is not so centered on engineering and technical courses, Williams said.

Underserved area

With the Antelope Valley lacking a four-year university it was underserved when it came to graduate school level work, said Ernesto Morales, director of corporate relations at Graziadio.

Morales spent a year building relationships with city officials in Palmdale and Lancaster; at the area chambers of commerce and the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance that eventually opened doors at the aerospace companies.

"An MBA would be the perfect augmentation to their technical expertise and help develop them as leaders in the community and at their own companies," Morales said.

The first class drew its 18 students from the U.S. Air Force, Palmdale city employees, Lockheed and Northrop Grumman.

The current program takes place two nights a week at the institute in Palmdale. Plans to begin a second MBA program in January would split the two nights between Palmdale and Lancaster.

For younger students, the institute gives classrooms and technical assistance for NASA to support its educational programs in schools and through informal programs such as robotics competitions and camps.

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One room at the institute is a television studio for broadcasts over a digital learning network that allows for real-time interaction between a NASA instructor and students.

Another contains hands-on exhibits, a mock-up of a jet cockpit that children can sit in, and a tire from one of the space shuttle orbiters.

Yvonne Kellogg, the NASA Manager at the institute, called the facility the gateway between the agency and the community.

Kellogg also cited the absence of a four-year school in the Antelope Valley and said the NASA programs help bridge the gap for high school students who want to continue their education and for Antelope Valley College students who want to transfer to a university.

"What we would like to see is our own young people have the opportunity to attain a technical education here," Kellogg said.

NASA involvement

Apart from its educational and workforce training missions, the institute also showed its worth in NASA's decision to sign a 20-year lease for hangar space at Plant 42 for five environmental and space science aircraft that had been based at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base.

Working with state and local governments and Los Angeles World Airports was new to Dryden and the institute made the process easier.

Among the planes based at Plant 42 is a modified passenger jet carrying a complex German-built telescope for studying the universe. When the plane begins flying missions in 2009, visiting scientists will have experiments on board.

"When you have people coming all over the world who have never been here before the Aero Institute can find them temporary housing and make their visit much more comfortable," Kellogg said.

BY MARK R. MADLER

Staff Reporter