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This is not a News Release, but an article to be published in the Outlook Edition of the Duluth News Tribune on Sunday, March 12
Lake Superior College Proposes Advanced
Duluth
Aviation experts agree: A revolution in aviation is just over the horizon and how we travel will change dramatically. Encouraged by key players in
"Over the next few years we will add programs and aviation related opportunities for students," Dr. Kathleen Nelson, LSC's president announced. "Major players in our region's growing aviation sector, companies like Cirrus Design and Northstar Aerospace, will need a technically advanced workforce to grow and compete favorably in the future. Our proposed
LSC currently offers a professional pilot program and an aviation management degree. The new center will refocus those programs and offer new training options, including airframe and powerplant mechanic, aerospace avionics technician, aviation machining and fabrication, and possibly air traffic control technician.
According to John Eagleton, President and CEO of Northstar Aerospace and a member of the advisory committee, the emphasis on technically advanced aircraft and precision manufacturing is the most important aspect of the proposed training center.
"Industry training is so far behind the technology," Eagleton explained. "Nobody is preparing workers to the level they need today. This will be the first school to do that."
The new programs will be phased in over time with the Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic program slated to begin offering classes in the fall of 2007. That program will be relocated from Minnesota State College -
"Aviation is undergoing major changes," Candace Barnack, LSC's Vice President of Academic Affairs, explains. "The traditional scheduled airlines - the legacy carriers - are encountering all kinds of difficulties, whereas general aviation is growing and innovating at a spectacular rate. For example, Cirrus Design has grown to be the world's second largest manufacturer of single-engine, piston-powered aircraft in just a few years. Our research strongly suggests other important changes and opportunities are on the horizon and we plan to be ready to train and educate the next generation of the aviation workforce."
Early this year, LSC formed an advisory committee to discuss and draft plans to meet industry workforce needs. Executives from Cirrus Design, Inc., Northstar Aerospace, the
"General aviation is evolving rapidly," stated Dr. Lisa Larson, LSC's dean of business and industry. "We've learned a lot about the subject during our conversations. New technologies like very light jets, advanced navigation and instrumentation and high tech composite construction, as well as new business models such as air taxi service, will reinvent this industry. We're planning to be part of that revolution."
College officials are making a strong case for technically advanced general aviation as the focus of the new center. General aviation makes up 96 percent of
To complete the entire project as currently envisioned will require $15 million. The college is seeking funding from a variety of sources, including federal earmarks, state-funding and industry support. LSC isn't waiting for external funding to be available to begin the project, however.
"This project is a key to the region's economy and important enough for LSC that we are moving to start the project by reallocating current college resources to take the first steps," President Nelson explains. "We're already committed to establishing a redesigned airframe and power plant mechanic program in the fall of 2007."
While the effort is important to the burgeoning regional industry, committee members are quick to point out that the same issues and demands are being felt across the nation and globally. "It's the same story everywhere," according to Richard Lien of Northstar Aerospace. "We need people to build them, fly them, and fix them."
Initially the effort will be housed in leased facilities, but college officials hope to eventually fund a facility to house programs that serve the aviation industry. Other components of the center will be added as financial resources become available.
For more information about the proposed center, contact Lisa Larson, Dean of Business and Industry at l.larson@lsc.edu or (218) 279-2504.
