Florida Tech and Navy Agree to Education Partnership to Expand Student Opportunities

By  //  August 1, 2019

Agreement Expands Student Opportunities, Enhances Research and Collaboration

Florida Tech and the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division have agreed to an educational partnership to share labs and equipment, partner on research, and bolster collaborations in simulation and training, data science, artificial intelligence and other critical fields. (Florida Tech image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech and the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division have agreed to an educational partnership to share labs and equipment, partner on research, and bolster collaborations in simulation and training, data science, artificial intelligence and other critical fields.

Florida Tech President Dwayne McCay and Capt. Tim Hill, commanding officer of the Orlando-based Naval Air Warfare Center, signed the agreement July 30 at a ceremony in the university’s Hartley Room.

“We are very excited about doing this with you,” McCay said at the signing. “We’ve had our eyes on the program in Orlando for a long time.”

“When we have the opportunity to collaborate and move forward, I think we’ll do some great things,” Hill said.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division is co-located in the Central Florida Research Park with the Air Force, Army and Marines, comprising the core of the Modeling, Simulation and Training Sector in the Orlando/Florida High Tech Corridor region.

It is described by the Navy as “the principle Navy center for research, development, test and evaluation, acquisition, and product support of training systems.”

Several Florida Tech faculty from the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts and the College of Aeronautics have previously worked with the Naval Air Warfare Center.

Sailors train on a new diesel generator simulator during a project review at Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, Fla. The simulator, which uses high-fidelity 3D software, was recently installed at Pearl Harbor naval facilities by the TechSolutions office at the Office of Naval Research. (U.S. Navy photo by Darrell Conley/Released)

Tuesday’s agreement is expected to more broadly enhance the educational experience of Florida Tech students and faculty and assists Center engineers and scientists with their mission. It will also facilitate the identification of other, mutually beneficial partnership opportunities between Florida Tech and the Center.

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Other areas of potential collaboration could include flight simulation, the psychology of teamwork, augmented and virtual reality, advanced manufacturing and Florida Tech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design (CAMID).

Florida Tech’s connection to the Navy dates to the school’s founding when its first classes in 1958 were held in facilities that housed the Naval Air Station Melbourne at what was then Melbourne Municipal Airport.

In 1972, Florida Tech’s first off-campus program was established at Patuxent River at the request of the Navy. More recently, the university’s extended studies site in Southern Maryland joined the Naval Air Warfare Center’s parent division to offer business-related coursework.

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