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SpaceTEC meets growing space industry workforce demands

by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

SpaceTEC, a National Science Foundation Center of Excellence based at Brevard Community College's Spaceport Center, is training and certifying aerospace technicians to meet the growing workforce demands of the space program.

While more than a fourth of the aerospace industry workforce is moving toward retirement age within five years, less than 7 percent of the workforce is 30 or younger, according to SpaceTEC.

"There's a critical need for qualified aerospace technicians," said Dr. Al Koller, SpaceTEC executive director.

SpaceTEC includes a consortium of 12 colleges in eight states that have created an accredited National Technician Certification Examination. The certification is expected to provide more quality control for determining whether technicians possess basic skills and allow better mobility for technician jobseekers.

The SpaceTEC consortium includes the Community Colleges for Innovative Technology Transfer (CCITT), which was formed in 1994. The national consortium of community colleges is "committed to incorporating innovative technological dimensions into existing and future educational programs and services."

Member colleges, including BCC, are affiliated with NASA centers or Department of Defense locations. The institutions are located at the country's aerospace hotspots, including the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, and enroll more than 400,000 students annually.

The 11 other colleges in the program are Allan Hancock College and Antelope Valley College in California, Calhoun Community College and Community College of the Air Force in Alabama, Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Palm Beach Community College in Florida, Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, Prince George's Community College in Maryland, San Jacinto College in Texas and Thomas Nelson Community College in Virginia.

"We're trying to spread the word about what SpaceTEC has to offer aerospace workers and employers. Many people who've heard of it don't realize BCC is the center of a national program," Koller said.

As veteran technicians reach retirement age, they must be replaced by a new crop of carefully trained technicians, Koller said. SpaceTEC is helping ensure proper training and certification for new hires and boosting the expertise and skills of technicians already on the job.

Two technicians who work at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport recently graduated from the BCC Aerospace Technology Program and earned SpaceTEC's first national certifications for aerospace technicians. The technicians were Stephen Blaschak with United Space Alliance and Jeffrey Duncan with the Lockheed Martin Titan Program.

The two passed the three-part SpaceTEC National Technician Core Certification Examination Dec. 10.

"They were so proud to get their certifications and we were proud of them," Koller said.

SpaceTEC was created following the formation in November 2000 of an alliance of local representatives from government, labor, education and industry. The Aerospace Technology Advisory Committee came together to look at the challenges facing the aerospace industry and decided there was a need for an accredited teaching program for aerospace workers similar to the FAA licensing for aviation mechanics.

To assist in that effort the National Science Foundation awarded a three-year grant in 2002 to CCITT to establish a National Aerospace Technical Education Center and SpaceTEC.

A 70-hour accredited college program, the Associate of Applied Science degree or an Associate of Science degree in Aerospace Technology at BCC, also resulted.

SpaceTEC's certification exam, which followed ATAC discussions and foundation funding, is designed to prove the basic knowledge and hands-on skills of an entry-level aerospace technician thus ensuring employers that workers are qualified. It's a quality control measure the industry was lacking.

"Before our certification program individual companies would certify their workers, but that certification couldn't be transferred to a new company. The new SpaceTEC certification offers a national standard," Koller pointed out.

The SpaceTEC core certification examination process kicked off December 1. A baseline is being created for future certifications. Two hundred certification candidates in five states will have the chance to take the test free of charge as part of the validation stage. Once the exam is validated, it will cost $250.

"The exam is thorough and will give technicians the opportunity to demonstrate their skills. We think it will instill a sense of pride in our technicians as well," Koller said.

The exam includes a written exam and an oral and practical test administered by a certified SpaceTEC examiner. Covered in the test are introduction to aerospace, aerospace safety, material and processes, basic electricity, tests and measurements and applied mechanics.

"A hands-on aspect to the exam is critical for certifying technicians," Koller said.

The test may be taken by those with a qualifying two-year technical degree, an A&P Mechanics License or a minimum of two years of aerospace-related military or aerospace workplace experience.

A sample example may be seen on the SpaceTEC Web site. To learn more about SpaceTEC visit www.spacetec.org or call 730-1020.