With North Texas ranking among the nation's top hubs for aerospace engineers and technicians, The University of Texas at Arlington is launching a new grant-funded initiative to guide students into aerospace careers.
Shiyao Lin, an assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, was awarded an ExLENT Program grant from the National Science Foundation to create cohorts of students, veterans, researchers and industry engineers aimed at strengthening the aerospace engineering community.
Rassel Raihan, also an assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Mahmudur Rahman, an assistant professor in industrial, manufacturing and systems engineering, are co-principal investigators. Drs. Lin and Raihan are also members of the Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies at UTARI, the UTA research institute in Fort Worth.
The project will expand the aerospace workforce pipeline in North Texas through a collaboration among UTA, Tarrant County College, UTARI and local aerospace company RECARO, preparing engineers and technicians to meet industry needs well into the future.
"This is very natural for us," Lin said. "The DFW area is very resourceful in the aerospace industry and STEM education, and we can facilitate the training and education of a broader spectrum of future aerospace engineers and technicians."
The team will develop a biannual cohort training program, paired with a 2 1/2-month summer internship, for community college students and UTA students. Participants will work with partner institutions and industry advisers from Lockheed Martin and Ansys, Inc. Training will incorporate virtual reality modules, hands-on exercises, collaborative learning and industry-driven immersive experiences to teach skills in composite manufacturing, non-destructive evaluation and testing, and AI-enabled aerospace technologies.
"Our program will involve extensive hands-on training. This is extremely important for aerospace engineering because engineers are not only trained by textbook learning, but also—perhaps more importantly—by manufacturing materials, doing lab experiments, debugging codes and running simulations," Lin said. "Our cohorts will use computers for design, simulation and analysis and will go into labs and break samples to learn about evaluation and testing of composite materials."
Some of the training will be delivered through virtual reality and augmented reality modules, allowing students to learn with mixed-reality tools.
"We have created modules for composite manufacturing, and if we can use them successfully for manufacturing, we can build modules for other areas, too," Raihan said.
The program will launch Oct. 1, with Lin and his team preparing the education and training materials while recruiting participants. They also plan to engage additional local industry partners to expand internship opportunities.
"We want to connect with local players in the region, from large corporations to startups," Lin said. "What we learn from these companies will help us develop this program into a self-sustaining resource that will provide workers trained in skills that local industry needs, which will benefit both industry and the region in the future."
About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
Celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2025, The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation's top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.
— Jeremy Agor, College of Engineering
