Summer camp to expose students to aviation careers

Tarrant County College and the University of North Texas will allow high school students and 2021 graduates across the state to explore aviation and aerospace careers during an in-person ACE (Aviation Career Education) Academy Camp being held June 14-18 at TCC Northwest. Sessions will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Participants will practice with flight simulators, learn about the science of flight and aviation history, visit an air traffic control facility and co-pilot a small plane with an FAA-certified instructor. The camp—open to incoming high school juniors and seniors as well as 2021 graduates—is based at TCC’s Erma C. Johnson Hadley Northwest Center of Excellence for Aviation, Transportation and Logistics at Alliance Airport (2301 Horizon Dr., Fort Worth). At 163,500 square feet, the Hadley Northwest Center of Excellence is the largest aviation education facility in Texas.

This is the seventh summer that TCC and UNT have partnered to host the camp, which also is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration and US Aviation Academy.

According to a report from Texas Workforce Solutions, seven in 10 aerospace jobs and six in 10 air transport jobs in the state are located in the North Texas region.

In 2010, UNT became the first Texas public college or university to offer a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Logistics. The program, housed in UNT’s G. Brint Ryan College of Business, gives students the education and experience needed to pursue career opportunities in all facets of aviation. Curriculum focuses on the value of integrating aviation and aerospace activities to move people and cargo. Students also benefit from the strengths of the nationally ranked logistics program at UNT.

Meanwhile TCC’s Hadley Northwest Center of Excellence trains students for careers as pilotsaircraft maintenance specialists and logistics professionals, offering associate degrees and certificates. Aviation students learn with professional training equipment, including a fuselage mockup of a G-280 Gulfstream aircraft donated by Gulf Aerospace and aircraft windows donated by Southwest Airlines, and are well prepared to directly enter the workforce or continue their education at a university.

The cost of the ACE Camp is $350. For more information and to register, visit COB.UNT.EDU/ACE-CAMP