On Tuesday the Center of Excellence was pleased to welcome leadership from ATEC, the Aviation Technician Education Council, to South Seattle College for a day of outreach, conversation and national insight.
ATEC’s Executive Director Crystal Maguire led off the day with a run-down of what ATEC does and who makes up their membership, from airlines to aircraft makers to educational institutions, with 85% of all part 147 certificated schools members of ATEC.
The number of A&P schools is increasing, and with it student enrollment. But the modest 1.9% growth in enrollments is well short of the projected needs in aviation. It was a theme attendees heard throughout the day and one which industry partners recognize as a current and ongoing concern.
After an outreach and recruitment conversation, the group dove into the new Part 147, with the interim final rule approaching its first anniversary. The updated Airman Certification Standards went into effect August 1st of this year, and are intended to be regularly revised in line with stakeholder feedback.
Crystal highlighted two upcoming ATEC events of interest to attendees, the D.C. Fly-in coming up in September and the ATEC Annual Conference, set for March 17-20 in Tucson, AZ.
After lunch, the group focused on an overview of Choose Aerospace, aviation curriculum designed to grow the pipeline of a diverse, qualified technical workforce. Using ATEC’s Pipeline Report, ATEC staff highlighted the continuing shortage of AMTs and the need to prepare the next generation of technicians.
Choose Aerospace was created to make aviation technical content more accessible and to build pipelines into part 147 schools. Developed by Clemson University and ACRS Aviation in partnership with ATEC, over 500 hours of content cover the general subject areas in the FAA Mechanic Airman Certification Standards through community-based programs and high schools.
A successful day closed with questions and input from the 30+ attendees. The Center of Excellence thanks ATEC for visiting and for their continued partnership.