Launched by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the Aerospace Education Research and Innovation Center (AERIC) will be a new addition to Alabama’s Tuskegee University. The center will support two-year research projects in fatigue damage tolerance, experimental aerodynamics and the performance of materials and components under extreme environmental conditions, according to a recent announcement by the center. Their ultimate goal is to prepare scholars for careers in critical DOD industries.
Home of the Tuskegee airmen, the university is today the number one producer of Black aerospace engineers in the nation, according to the DOD. Its aerospace science engineering department is an EAC/ABET accredited program that began in 1983, and is the only HBCU to offer an accredited BS degree program in this field.
Part of Tuskegee’s Engineering Department, AERIC is devoted to expanding the future aerospace technical workforce with a particular focus on underrepresented populations in the United States.
“The establishment of centers of excellence plays a vital role in our defense enterprise by stimulating research and innovation for the next generation of STEM leaders,” said Dr. Jagadeesh Pamulapati, director of the Office of Research, Technology, and Laboratories in OUSD(R&E). “Notably, beyond conducting research that enhances our ability to respond to threats and remain technologically superior, HBCUs serve the nation by educating a significant number of talented scientists and engineers. By supporting HBCUs and MSIs, we are cultivating a research enterprise that broadens idea sharing while expanding the pool of reliable STEM professionals able to meet both our mission and our workforce objectives.”
The $2 million center was sponsored by Senator Richard Shelby, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Defense. It was awarded through the DOD HBCU and Minority-Serving Institutions Research and Education Program, which aims to increase the research and educational capacity of HBCUs/MIs, and to foster workforce diversity and entry of underrepresented minorities into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines important to national defense.
The DOD said in addition to partnering with DOD, AERIC will collaborate with Wichita State University, Boeing, Dynetics, and Chevron to further the center’s research and education agenda.
