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Teaching the World to Fly More Efficiently and Safely November 2007
How do you teach non-English speakers and non-tech-savvy students about the latest in aviation systems and operations? "With patience and creativity," says Cheryl Andrews, course manager of the MITRE Aviation Institute (MAI), a unique resource for the global aviation community. According to Andrews, the MAI's instructors—who include subject matter experts throughout the company—are accustomed to teaching people of different nationalities and levels of technical knowledge. Over the past year alone, the MAI instructed approximately 216 individuals from the airlines, the aviation industry, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and MITRE itself, as well as from the civil aviation authorities of more than 30 countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. What's more, many of the organizations that send students to the MAI are repeat customers. The technical depth of the courses, which contributes to their widespread appeal, arises in part from MITRE's decades-long partnership with the FAA. Since 1990, the FAA has sponsored MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), one of the corporation's three federally funded research and development centers. And for the better part of a decade, the MAI has been working with the FAA to help the global aviation community tackle its biggest challenges through increased knowledge. A One-Room Aviation Schoolhouse Like students in a 21st-century one-room schoolhouse, people of diverse professional backgrounds and nationalities come together in MITRE workshops, symposia, and seminars to learn about subjects related to the design and operation of the National Airspace System (NAS) and other airspace systems as well as the policies and procedures of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The four basic MAI courses are Introduction to Air Traffic Management (ATM); Airspace Planning and Analysis; Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (also known as CNS/ATM); and Spectrum Management. There are other courses specially designed for individual organizations such as a country's civil aviation authority or an airline, and each course is coordinated with the FAA. Courses range from one to three or more days, depending on the complexity of the material. The complete Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) course, for instance, lasts 10 days. Besides drawing on MITRE's longtime expertise in systems engineering and air traffic management, the MAI also collaborates with an array of organizations that advance aviation knowledge sharing, including the American Association of Airport Executives; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; George Washington University; NASA Glen Research Center; NAV Canada; and United States Air Force-Air Mobility Command. Though the technical nature of these courses increases the challenge to their teaching skills, the MAI's instructors consistently win high marks for their ability to impart information in a meaningful and memorable way. "We get a lot of feedback on the questionnaires collected at the end of the courses, and 'very knowledgeable instructors' is one of the most frequent comments," says MAI Director CC Hsin, who teaches a number of the course modules himself. One student declared, "I'm now more confident that I can accomplish the task at hand." In another note, the Director of Safety, Compliance, and Regulatory Affairs for Air Jamaica said of her SMS course: "I am very impressed—it is obvious that a phenomenal amount of work went into preparing this course." Experts in Their Fields But perhaps the greatest tribute was received during another course in SMS, when a visiting safety director learned that a plane had just crashed at her nation's largest airport. After discussing the situation with her country's top aviation official, it was decided that the best thing she could do was to stay and complete the course. One of the main reasons for the high quality of the MAI courses can be attributed to the instructors, who are experts in fields including air traffic control; airline operations; flight operations; communication, surveillance, navigation; systems engineering; airspace planning; and aviation safety and security. Most instructors have advanced degrees and many have Ph.Ds. All have a great deal of experience in briefing and mentoring, and quite a few teach outside of MITRE at area colleges and universities. The instructors constantly update their information and courseware. They also tailor the courses to their audience, which can include staff from MITRE, the DoD, and the FAA, as well as government officers, research organizations, airline executives, manufacturers and other commercial companies, and others within the national and international aviation communities. Instructing, Mentoring, and Inspiring The MAI adapts its teaching methods to the learning environment, too. For instance, a July 2007 SMS course taught to 17 students from all over the world was highly interactive because that style worked best with the diverse student body, varied subject matter, and a multi-party teaching team that included instructors from the FAA Academy. Perhaps the most interactive courses the MAI has taught were those for 30 Chinese aviation executives who came to MITRE in the spring of 2006 to learn American aviation management techniques and procedures. "Their learning style called for a frequent change of gears," says Tony Chambliss, an instructor in Traffic Flow Management. "So, for instance, we'd have Q&As in the middle of the lectures." Evidently, this format was a success: 35 new Chinese students returned to additional MAI courses from July through October of 2007. In some programs, the instructors form mentoring relationships with the students. At the end of the program for the Chinese, a safety executive from Szechuan province said, "I will miss my mentors. They were very knowledgeable, but what I liked most was their professional spirit." According to Hsin, the mentors were crucial to making that program a success. "Their effort to encourage these students is something they will always remember." Along with instruction in the latest developments in aviation safety, security, and efficiency, those who teach these courses offer something else of great value: inspiration. "'Inspiring' is another one of our most frequent comments," notes Hsin. And that coupled with education can only enhance the efforts to build better national and global aviation systems. —by Faye Elkins Related Information Articles and News
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