Beginnings: Preparing and Advancing College Engineering Students for the Aerospace Workforce with Experiential Learning and Research

About This Grant

The aerospace industry is vital to the U.S. economy and national security, driving innovation, high-skilled employment, global competitiveness, and technological leadership. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the aerospace industry to have an annual employment growth of 6% from 2023 to 2033. However, the aerospace workforce faces challenges including: 1) an aging workforce and knowledge drain, 2) skill shortages in emerging technologies, 3) education and training gaps, 4) limited pathways for community college students, and 5) high turnover rate and workforce retention issues. Acknowledging these challenges, this ExLENT Beginning project aims to develop a Community-College-University-Industry workforce pipeline strategically located at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area, one of the nation’s hubs for the aerospace industry. This project aims to build and strengthen an aerospace workforce pipeline connecting Tarrant County College (TCC), the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), the UTA Research Institute (UTARI), and RECARO Aircraft Seating. All the sectors are local to the DFW area. The project is expected to 1) effectively align educational outcomes with workforce needs, 2) expand career access, 3) strengthen industry-academic partnerships, and 4) enhance aerospace literacy and outreach. The developed workforce model can be scaled nationwide for the aerospace industry, ultimately advancing national prosperity and welfare, and securing national defense. This project seeks to develop the aerospace workforce pipeline through a biannual 10-day cohort-based training program and a 2.5-month summer internship program. The trainees include community college students, university undergraduate students, and veteran students. All the trainees will be advised by academic and industry mentors from UTA, UTARI, TCC, RECARO, Lockheed Martin, and ANSYS. The training and internship programs will leverage 1) AR/VR modules, 2) hands-on training, 3) project-based collaborative learning, and 4) real-world industry-driven immersive learning to equip the trainees with critical industry-tailored skills in aerospace composite manufacturing, non-destructive evaluation, testing, digital twinning, and AI-enabled aerospace technologies. Furthermore, this project will host open-house days to boost the public's aerospace literacy and STEM interest. This ExLENT project will foster cohorts of students, veterans, researchers, and industry engineers to develop the aerospace engineering community collectively, reinforcing the U.S.’s leading position in aerospace and defense technologies. The ExLENT Program, supported by the NSF TIP and EDU Directorates, seeks to support experiential learning opportunities for individuals to increase their interest in and access to career pathways in emerging technology fields. 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.