FAA grant to fuel Purdue aviation program for high schools
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Purdue University is one of a dozen schools to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Pilots Aviation Workforce Development Grants program.
The $500,000 grant awarded to Purdue will go toward efforts to get students at the high school and earlier levels excited about the possibility of a career in aviation, specifically as pilots.
Damon Lercer, an assistant professor in the Purdue School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, says the grant will initially support a “train the trainer” model involving four Indiana high schools beginning this year.
“At each high school, we’re going to be recruiting two teachers, and then those teachers we’re going to train to actually become FAA-certified advanced ground instructors, for the traditional manned pilot avenue,” Lercer said. “The teachers will also earn their FAA Part 107 small unmanned aircraft certificate as well.”
The teachers will also be trained in on manned and unmanned aircraft simulators, which will be provided to them to instruct their students.
The high schools involved in the program are the two Purdue Polytechnic High Schools in Indianapolis, the Purdue Polytechnic High School in South Bend, and the Greater Lafayette Career Academy.
In the second year of the program, those teachers will host a series of four-week summer aviation camps, where 20 students in each camp will have the chance to pass the FAA private pilot written exam and also earn their FAA Part 107 small unmanned aircraft certificate.
“So there’s actually tangible things that both the teachers and the students are going to receive out of this program,” Lercer said.
Julius Keller, associate professor of aviation at Purdue, said the goal is to engage students as early as possible.
“With these certifications, they can be 16 years old to get a remote pilot certificate and finish the private pilot certificate,” Keller said. “”We also are going to use the Purdue brand to help guide students into their next higher education opportunity whether it’s with School of Aviation, [Purdue] Polytechnic or even Purdue Global.”
Keller said they will also be connecting with industry partners who can provide mentorship to students. Ultimately, he hopes the program serves as an experience in which students are educated about all of the career possibilities within aviation.
“We hope that we identify the students that are engaged in the summer camps, that perform well, and they have a dream to become pilots or aviation professionals,” he said. “So, educating them on what their next steps are, and then that’s obviously going to be wonderful for the industry that is high-wage, high-demand.”
Lercer said they will begin identifying the teachers that will participate in the program and begin training them this summer. Then, over the next school year, they will work to recruit students for the summer camps that will take place in the summer of 2025.
In addition to the specific aviation component, Lercer added that the program is about STEM education.
“As part of the education, they learn about physics. They learn about aerodynamics. They learn about weather. So there’s a lot of science that the students learn just by going through this program. And hopefully, we’ll attract them into aviation, ideally, but if nothing else, get them excited about STEM and the opportunities that are in the STEM fields.”