On base UTSI graduate studies program promotes technical excellence

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  A University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) graduate studies program taught on base is providing Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) work force a significant opportunity that will have far-reaching benefits, both locally and beyond. 

AEDC leadership is appreciative of the collaborative relationship that exists between the base and UTSI. 

"UTSI has been a valuable partner to AEDC for many years, affording our technical personnel the opportunity to expand their professional knowledge through advanced technical degrees," said AEDC Commander Col. Art Huber. "The on-site Master's Degree program is an enhancement to this already value-added partnership. 

Our AEDC technical engineering staff now has a new opportunity to attain their complete master's degree by attending classes on-site at AEDC during regular work hours. Time saved in travel to and from UTSI results in less disruption to both personal and work-related schedules." 

Dr. Gregory A. Sedrick, UTSI professor and dean of academic affairs said AEDC was the reason UTSI was located here. 

"We have enjoyed a long standing successful partnership," he said. "We consider ourselves as mission support for AEDC. Dr. Roy Schulz, then program chair of mechanical engineering at UTSI and now retired, met with the AEDC leadership and agreed to bring courses to the AEDC site to supplement courses held at UTSI and via the Web." 

Ben Mills, an Aerospace Testing Alliance project engineer who works on projects at AEDC's Propulsion Wind Tunnel and von Kármán Gas Dynamics Wind Tunnel facilities, is working on a master's degree in aerospace engineering. 

He took the first UTSI graduate program course offered onsite last fall, a class on thermodynamics. 

Mills, who is taking the sequel to that course this semester, is enjoying the convenience of taking the courses on base, but admits it's not all smooth sailing, even for an experienced engineer. 

"I do find this course a bit of a challenge," he acknowledged. "I haven't had a course in combustible thermodynamics, so I am learning quite a bit. So far we've covered combustibles and combustion reactions - that's new for me, I've had thermal, but haven't had a combustibles class. It really helps to be in a position to relate what we learn in class to some of the work that's been done in the test cells for rocket cells and things like that." 

In the class I'm taking now we were able to take some time out and take what we were studying and apply it to a specific process that they do in the rocket test area. This was especially relevant for those guys working in our rocket test cells, for them to be in a position to apply what they're studying to something practical in their jobs is going to help make them better engineers." 

Second Lt. Bradley King, a project manager for the 717th Test Squadron, is working on a master's degree in aero-propulsion engineering and is attending the same class as Mills. 

Lieutenant King said the graduate studies program will have benefits that extend beyond AEDC to the Air Force in general. 

"My next Air Force goal is to tackle test pilot school," he said. "They really want you to have a technically-oriented Master's degree. Also, there are other advantages to taking these courses on base. Our instructor, Dr. Rob McAmis, works right around the corner from me, same hall - so, it's easy to get help and the class is far more flexible than one offered at a typical university. You can work around work schedules and find time that's convenient." 

Nicholas Fredrick, a turbine engine analysis engineer working in test cell J1, learned about the onsite classes after he had enrolled in the first UTSI thermodynamics class offered last fall. 

"My master's degree will be in mechanical engineering," he said. "Thermodynamics II is a challenge because my undergraduate course work did not cover combustion or statistical thermodynamics." 

He agrees with Mills and Lieutenant King on the convenience of the onsite program. 

"The UTSI graduate studies program is important because it provides an opportunity for those working on base seeking an advanced degree in a technical field the convenience of working on that degree not far from where they live or work. If not for UTSI, I would have had to travel to Chattanooga or Nashville or enroll in an on-line program in order to obtain a master's degree in engineering." 

Fredrick said another advantage is the fact that ATA pays all of my tuition and essentially pays him to attend graduate school during work hours. 

"In doing so, ATA and UTSI are encouraging the employees at AEDC to obtain an advanced degree when otherwise they would or could not because of the logistics of juggling school and work and family responsibilities. These policies promote technical excellence and will hopefully prevent a 'brain drain' from the base to competing industries." 

Obtaining a master's degree will help me better understand the field I'm working in. By gaining a better understanding of turbine engines, I can better support the testing of said engines here on base. Proper testing is essential to AEDC's mission which is to support the war fighter."
 
The initial graduate studies program course load being taught on base was set up to lead to a master's degree in mechanical engineering; however, the classes can be taken on an individual or ad hoc basis for other academic goals or degrees. 

To learn more about the UTSI graduate studies program on base, call Teri Black (ATA) at (931) 454-7170, or Jeannie McFadden (DoD) at (931) 454-4583.