Centre brings aviation industry training under one roof.Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded community college located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has area campuses in Dryden, ON, Fort Frances, ON, Geraldton, ON, Kenora, ON, Marathon, ON and Sioux Lookout, ON. alumni gathered on the tarmac and inside the massive hangars of the school's new Aviation Centre of Excellence Confederation College, which opened its doors in 1967, offered both the Aircraft Maintenance and Aviation Flight Management programs at the Thunder Bay International Airport since the late 1960s, however they were located at separate hangars. (ACE) in early November to marvel how far the program has come in the last 30 years. The new 60,000-square-foot campus at Thunder Bay International Airport Thunder Bay Airport or Thunder Bay International Airport, (IATA: YQT, ICAO: CYQT), is an airport in the Canadian city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. With 100,154 aircraft movements in 2006 it is the fourth busiest airport in Ontario. is the new combined home of Confederation's flight, maintenance and manufacturing program containing leadingedge aviation training technologies, laboratories and classrooms. Besides the increased space and new training opportunities for the airport community, aviation program academic director Rick Potter describes ACE as the only facility in Canada with a "holistic perspective" integrating pilot, maintenance and manufacturing training under one roof. With about $3 million in injected investment from industry partners such as CAE (1) (Computer-Aided Engineering) Software that analyzes designs which have been created in the computer or that have been created elsewhere and entered into the computer. Inc., the education centre will house their existing Frasca twin-engine simulator and will make room later this winter for the installation of a new Frasca Baron flight simulator flight simulator, device providing a controlled environment in which a flight trainee can experience conditions approximating those of actual flight. A simulator generally consists of an enclosure housing a working replica of the interior of the cockpit of an , one of the most advanced devices in the industry. The highly sophisticated $1-million unit comes with an 11-foot high projection screen and offers a realistic 220-degree display dome and custom visual database, says Potter, "right down to opening the air flow duct into the cockpit varying according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the air speed." Other technologies include a gift from Montreal-based CAE--the world's largest producer of flight simulators-of three Simfinity flight simulators. Configured to a Dash 8 cockpit, the two-level simulators feature touch sensitive screen displays with accurate-looking throttles, gauges, switches and instruments working in real time. Potter explains what is learned as theory in the classroom can now be demonstrated to students of all programs on the simulator. "They can see in real time, in real life what it would be like to lose a hydraulic system Noun 1. hydraulic system - a mechanism operated by the resistance offered or the pressure transmitted when a liquid is forced through a small opening or tube in a Dehavilland Dash 8 aircraft. "It's very much a quantum leap forward in procedures, in new technology and turbine technology." On the aircraft manufacturing side, Confederation has installed a Catia 3-D Computer Aid Design (CAD) program allowing students to design parts, which can be sent directly to a computerized milling machine to make the component. The centre also houses a full composites lab, "one of the biggest growth areas in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance" says Potter, and an autoclave autoclave Vessel, usually of steel, able to withstand high temperatures and pressures. The chemical industry uses various types of autoclaves in manufacturing dyes and in other chemical reactions requiring high pressures. to cure manufacturing materials for specific times. The school has also invested a half million dollars in the aviation manufacturing side in various destructive and non-destructive component testing equipment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With just short of 300 students registered in the aviation programs this fall, Potter says they will likely increase the number of seats in the next few years by 25 per cent once people realize the industry is growing and offering high-paying jobs. With representatives from Bombardier, Boeing and Air Canada on their program advisory boards, the campus should provide the industry with top-notch graduates with up-to-date skill sets. The skills gained are in demand and are easily transferable to other areas like rail car manufacturing, marine and the automotive sector, says Potter. www.confederationc.on.ca/ace/ By IAN ROSS Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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