The next time you see a plane flying overhead 麻豆精品 S� any plane 麻豆精品 S� consider this: There 麻豆精品 S檚 a strong possibility that a graduate or researcher from UCF had something to do with that plane being in the air. It could be an engineer who designed the propulsion system, a pilot who trained on a simulator, or a professor who developed protocols to keep the plane safe.
麻豆精品 S淭he culture for producing leading-edge talent has been here for decades, 麻豆精品 S� says Florian Jentsch 麻豆精品 S�97PhD, chair of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Psychology Department and director of the Team Performance Lab at the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST). 麻豆精品 S淭he aviation industry as a whole is better because of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 roles, and employers are very much aware of that. 麻豆精品 S�
A casual reader might wonder how a university with no airfield could be ranked as the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 No. 1 supplier of talent six times by Aviation Week Network. Or why professors in fields like psychology and digital media play such prominent roles in the advancement of that talent.
Start with Jentsch. For 30 years he 麻豆精品 S檚 been an integral part of one of the world 麻豆精品 S檚 premier programs in human factors at UCF 麻豆精品 S� and what could be more important than 麻豆精品 S渉uman factors 麻豆精品 S� before and during a flight? In the same area of IST, David Metcalf and Michael Eakins 麻豆精品 S�09BA 麻豆精品 S�17MFA are creatively using multimedia to bring K-12 students into the widening aviation funnel (forecasts from Boeing indicate the industry will need more than 600,000 new pilots over the next 20 years).
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How UCF Fills the Talent Funnel
To trace the dots from digital media to aviation talent, let 麻豆精品 S檚 start with Eakins 麻豆精品 S� and Metcalf 麻豆精品 S檚 backgrounds. Both grew up near aerospace and aviation centers. Eakins was raised on Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 Space Coast, where his grandfather was part of the team that built NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 first lunar module. Metcalf spent his formative years near NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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麻豆精品 S淥ur students are never bored in the lab, 麻豆精品 S� Metcalf says.
Eakins was one of those students early on.
麻豆精品 S淲hen I started my education at UCF, I thought I 麻豆精品 S檇 pursue a career in gaming, 麻豆精品 S� Eakins says, 麻豆精品 S渂ut once I met David and had my first exposure to simulation, I got hooked. 麻豆精品 S�
Eakins is now the creative lead of METIL, developing simulation and training tools to hook others who least expect to be hooked. The lab hosts K-12 field trips so kids can see and touch those tools.
In February 2022, Metcalf and Eakins initiated the STEM Aviation Showcase, taking headsets and tablet-based simulators to events in Central Florida. Through partnerships with Orange County Public Schools, the Boys and Girls Club, and Junior Achievement, to name a few, they 麻豆精品 S檝e already made a presence at 16 events and had hands-on interactions with 1,600 curious kids.
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Most recently, Eakins developed a more advanced training aid in collaboration with Boeing. Using an AR headset and a virtual captain 麻豆精品 S� an avatar designed from a real pilot 麻豆精品 S� users can experience flight training without the need for a plane, an airport, or an expensive, non-portable simulator.
麻豆精品 S淎nyone who has access to this can practice flying anywhere, without any risk, 麻豆精品 S� Eakins says. 麻豆精品 S淚t could be a gamechanger. 麻豆精品 S�
The dots that lead from digital media to gaming to portable flight simulation come to a question that parents of high schoolers often ask: 麻豆精品 S淲hat 麻豆精品 S檚 the next step for my son or daughter? 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淲e can point out the best classes to prepare them for a career in aviation, 麻豆精品 S� Metcalf says. 麻豆精品 S淚f they decide to come to UCF, they 麻豆精品 S檒l be guided through their educational journey to the personal future they desire. 麻豆精品 S�
How UCF Makes Flying Safer
Jentsch arrived at UCF in the early-mid 1990s to study for his doctoral degree in a crucial research field that, at that time, relatively few people knew anything about: human factors psychology. The application to aviation was always clear to Jentsch and his colleagues.
麻豆精品 S淭he reliability of aviation is directly tied to the behavior of everyone in the system, 麻豆精品 S� Jentsch says. 麻豆精品 S淭he gate agent. The security person. The baggage handler. The maintenance engineer. The pilot. Every person must know when to speak up and say, 麻豆精品 S榳e can 麻豆精品 S檛 leave the ground yet. 麻豆精品 S� Technology helps, but at the end of the day we rely on good behavior for high positive consequences 麻豆精品 S� in this case, safe travel. 麻豆精品 S�
In the 麻豆精品 S�90s, UCF was one of five or six universities doing work in this space. Since then, many others have attempted to emulate UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 approach to research and training.
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e always a few steps ahead because many of our government and corporate partners are right here in Orlando, 麻豆精品 S� Jentsch says. 麻豆精品 S淧eople are always amazed that when you come into [Central Florida Research Park], you can find anyone and everyone who makes a flight simulator working here. This gives us access to tools at IST that allow us to explore the most realistic factors in aviation training. 麻豆精品 S�
The control stick, however, is only as effective as the person using it. When the human factor fails, we call it 麻豆精品 S渉uman error. 麻豆精品 S� And human error is responsible for at least half of all aviation accidents.
麻豆精品 S淥ur research and training in human behaviors have significantly reduced accidents since the 1980s, 麻豆精品 S� Jentsch says. The Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (BAAA), an organization established in Geneva in 1990 for tracking aviation safety, reported 337 accidents in 1989. By 1999, the number had dropped to 234, and in 2022 the BAAA charted 97 accidents. 麻豆精品 S淵ou can corelate the value of those results to the value of our students in the aviation industry. 麻豆精品 S�
Jentsch and his research team were among the first to trace errors back to fixable, trainable factors. Communication is a good example. They concluded that instead of trying to figure out a flurry of issues at once, it would be safer to bring each issue to a resolution before opening the next issue 麻豆精品 S� closed-loop communication. The strategy has since been adopted in other industries, like medicine. The reduction in surgical errors in hospitals is partly from the implementation of checklists and briefings during nurse shift changes.
麻豆精品 S淚t originated from our research for aviation, 麻豆精品 S� Jentsch says. He says he 麻豆精品 S檚 still excited after doing this type of research for 25 years.
麻豆精品 S淲hat we do is meaningful, and it goes hand-in-hand with meaningful simulation training and meaningful real-world jobs, Jentsch says. 麻豆精品 S淎t the end of the day, when employers know that people influenced by our research can tackle any situation and make flying safer, then we 麻豆精品 S檝e done our jobs well. And we don 麻豆精品 S檛 even need an airfield to do it. 麻豆精品 S�
