EL PASO, Texas (Aug. 21, 2023) – The University of Texas at El Paso is scaling up its role in preparing the next generation of engineers for U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturing sectors. The effort is supported by a new $5,300,000 grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
The funds will enhance a variety of training programs offered by the UTEP Aerospace Center’s Digital Engineering Aerospace and Defense Systems Design Centers (DEDCs) in El Paso; Youngstown, Ohio; and Huntsville, Alabama. The new funds are a follow-up investment to a fiscal year 2021 grant from the AFRL that supported the creation of the DEDCs.
“UTEP stands among the top 5% of research universities in the United States,” said Ahmad Itani, Ph.D., UTEP vice president for research. “That fact, along with the growing stature of our engineering expertise and instructional capabilities, make our University uniquely well-suited for the critical task of preparing the workforce that will ensure our country remains competitive in a world where design and engineering processes of systems of all kinds evolve at an unprecedented rate.”
Digital engineering entails the use of computing and software instruments to expedite and enhance various phases of engineering, including system design, production, testing, evaluation, adaptation and upkeep. This method holds the potential to accelerate design, reduce expenditures and facilitate collaboration. It can also substantially decrease the costs associated with long-term system maintenance.
“Digital engineering will allow America to keep and increase its technological advantage,” said Ahsan Choudhuri, Ph.D., UTEP associate vice president for the Aerospace Center and the grant’s principal investigator. “That is why innovation in digital engineering and talent development with advanced digital skills are crucial. This grant represents a substantial vote of confidence from AFRL in our ability to carry out this important task.”
The project will leverage the expertise of the UTEP Aerospace Center’s DEDCs. Using an immersive learning approach, it will provide pre-professional experiences to 200 engineering and technology students. Undergraduate and graduate students from various universities, as well as students from two-year colleges and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in grades 9 through 12, will be recruited for the program.
Many of these students will have the opportunity to work as interns and undergraduate and graduate research assistants at the DEDCs for a 12-month program.
In addition to student development, the DEDCs will offer a course in the principles of digital engineering. Approximately 100 participants from federal agencies, aerospace and defense contractors and small and medium manufacturers will have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in this field.
To learn more about the UTEP Aerospace Center and the Digital Engineering Aerospace and Defense Systems Design Centers, visit www.utep.edu/aerospace/Design%20Centers/index.html.
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving University. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 24,000 students are Hispanic, and half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 169 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
