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The Innovators
A continuing series of profiles of individuals whose creation of unique products, systems, or better ways of doing things reflects Embry-Riddle's tradition of innovation.
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Lorena de Rodriguez
President of AviaEd: Adaptive Training Services
What do you do?
AviaEd conducts tailored training programs in dangerous goods recognition and handling, airport and airline security procedures, employee development skills, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) general safety rules, aircraft ramp safety, and airfield driver's safety training. Our clients are primarily airports, aircraft repair centers, and ground handling companies. We also offer compliance and new-hire training online. Learners log on to classes, watch embedded video or flash files that illustrate points, and take tests at the end of each module.
What needs do you meet?
Many medium and smaller businesses assign training duties to an employee who also is working in human resources, safety inspection, ramp operations, or general supervision. But just because a good employee has assumed a supervisory position or knows a job well doesn't mean he or she will make a good trainer and be able to teach the necessary skills to new employees. Subject-matter experts who are trainers and like to be in front of a classroom of learners can convey these topics best.
Many new aviation employees leave after only a short time on the job. Some of this can be attributed to poor training and employees not feeling comfortable with the job skills they have been given. AviaEd seeks to motivate frontline employees who may be new to the industry. If they can see the importance of their job to the industry as a whole, perhaps they will stay longer.
What is AviaEd's edge?
Our training is not traditional. Whenever possible, our instructors interject humor. Gaining and keeping the attention of students and soliciting their input is very beneficial. Our instructors' attention to student involvement sets us apart from others.
Our instructors seek training from competitors and seminars to ensure they have the most up-to-date information to answer student questions. We exceed the required training standard and retrain staff semi-annually to ensure that public safety, company policy, and employee understanding are consistently maintained.
For nearly three years we have taught dangerous goods familiarization at the facility of a client that once had a public history of violations, but has had no incidents since AviaEd began delivering their training.
How did you start?
When my employer, Aerolitoral, a regional carrier for Aeromexico, discontinued service to Phoenix, I was presented with a unique opportunity: look for a middle management position with another carrier or begin developing an idea I had. In 12 years of working for Aerolitoral, America West, Airport Terminal Services, Delta Air Lines, and Morris Air, I had sent employees to many security and safety training classes and I had conducted several training programs. Most of them relayed good information, but in a format or with instructors who didn't know how or were unable to reach the attention of learners.
Safety and security issues seemed to be taught in a "tribal lore" fashion by instructors who had never read the actual regulations they were asked to teach. Poor-quality, outdated videotapes are still a very common method of delivering security and safety information to new staff.
Because I had always enjoyed watching students learn and helping them reach their goals, the idea of creating a training company focused on aviation safety and security or issues necessary for regulatory compliance had potential for me.
After settling on a concept for my business, I began approaching people I had worked with over the years. In discussing with an operations manager at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport the idea of outsourcing their initial security and airfield safety training program, I realized this was an area of training that other businesses didn't focus on.
Our largest client in the first three years was Phoenix Airport. There we conducted almost-daily security and driving-safety briefings for new employees working around the aircraft on the airport ramps. We then did security training with a startup airline and Williams Gateway Airport and dangerous goods classes for a local aircraft repair station, Aviation Management Systems. We tailored a "Six Steps to Compliance" program to help repair stations that ship hazardous materials correctly identify dangers and properly mark, package, and label materials for shipping over the road or on air cargo carriers.
What was your preparation?
It is based on the jobs I've had and the reading I do to keep up on industry changes. The airline and ground handling jobs allowed me to practice most of the technical information in our curriculum and to teach from a podium of "been there, done that."
Because I began with the idea of creating a training company of subject-matter experts, it was important that my staff get specific training in their area of expertise. We attend briefings held by the Airports Council International-NA, American Association of Airports Executives, Arizona Airports Association, and other industry-service organizations. Because my undergraduate degree is in communications, not business or accounting, I sought the services of Arizona Public Service Academy for the Advancement of Small, Minority and Women Owned Enterprises and chambers of commerce. I also attended free seminars that showed me where to file papers, how to write proposals, and where to look for marketing assistance, tax advice and financial planning. These are invaluable resources to new business owners.
What was Embry-Riddle's role?
With the goal of improving quality, interactivity, and accuracy in our security and safety class, I restarted my master degree at Embry-Riddle. We are fortunate in Phoenix to have three Extended Campus teaching sites within commuting distance that offer advance-degree classes every semester. This allowed me to complete my degree faster than a smaller campus would have.
The fact that the Embry-Riddle faculty and students are professionals in their fields really is the biggest benefit. There is a lot of networking in the classes, and I was able to incorporate my interest in security and safety in nearly every project or paper throughout my studies. Did I mention reputation? In the field of aviation, it is very prestigious to hold a degree from Embry-Riddle.
What's next?
We're pacing our growth to accommodate our ability to train students efficiently. That means training staff, learning what our clients want, and delivering quality classroom-led instruction. We can't ignore the need for proper skills training and the benefits of online instruction either, so we're planning to use e-learning when it addresses the needs and accomplishes the clients' tasks more efficiently.
The first three years were growth years. In the past year we have diversified and focused on additional services. In May we launched the AviaEd Online Institute (http://aviaed.advanceonline.com) to provide compliance training and, eventually, training tailored to any online user. In another alliance, with a Swedish software company, we will be the U.S. distributors of a program for airport designers that runs simulations on any standard AutoCAD drawing. The simulation displays swept-path areas of operation for aircraft, vehicles, and boarding bridges, as well as aircraft jet-blast trajectory. It can be configured to nearly any number of vehicle types, whose operations are then quickly displayed and measured against ICAO or FAA standards.
What would you do differently?
I learned a valuable lesson last year when I became complacent and failed to realize our business growth depended on our offering additional services to clientele. We have expanded our services significantly in the past six months by finalizing alliance agreements and acquiring a diversified staff with increased skills. Our marketing efforts are ensuring that we gain new clients. Always looking for new business and offering additional services to our clients is now a primary focus.
Lorena de Rodriguez graduated from Embry-Riddle in 1999 with a master's in aeronautical science.
Kurt Nichol
President of Engineering Design and Analysis Solutions
Describe the software tools you developed.
While I was working at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), I led a team of folks that developed four analysis tools: BladeOPS, DatWizard, GageMap, and the Structural Dynamics Response Analysis Code (SDRAC). Each of these tools addresses a particular need in an overall turbine engine high-cycle fatigue (HCF) test methodology that I developed. High-cycle fatigue verification depends heavily on characterizing and understanding engine component dynamics. Until recently, turbine engine HCF verification relied almost exclusively on experimental methods. However, the uncertainty that new designs introduced to experimental verification sometimes led to catastrophic failures of turbine engines and the loss of an aircraft. To combat this, I sought to develop and "transition" an approach that combined the best from these experimental approaches with the best that modeling and simulation had to offer. The approach is holistic, because it uses data and information acquired during the entire development and verification process. It includes elements of analytical modeling, bench or laboratory component testing, rig testing, engine ground testing, flight testing, and material characterization.
What was your biggest challenge?
The tool-development process at AEDC was pretty straightforward. The biggest challenge to development of any of these tools wasn't technical. It was with that innocuous little step called "transition." Someone once said that technology transition is a full-contact sport. Indeed. The biggest single issue was that of building confidence in the approaches so they would become part of the standard ways of doing work. Once the methodology was accepted, the next hurdle was to make the tools available with the kind of support and documentation that users require. Because this isn't necessarily part of the Department of Defense mission, we eventually decided to form our own company, Engineering Design and Analysis Solutions, to provide these tools and develop them commercially.
How have these tools helped clients?
The tools we developed and the methodology they support have helped the U.S. Air Force and Navy to better understand the HCF capability of new engine components. Most of the benefit is the avoidance of costs, which is hard to measure. However, while the primary objective of the new verification methodology was to improve HCF avoidance of costs, a second important result was a measurable reduction in the costs of preparing for, executing and assessing test programs. One of our clients has indicated that pretest preparation costs have been reduced 90 percent. Test preparation time has been reduced by weeks, as well. Our data processing and analysis methods ensure that 100 percent of the data acquired is analyzed and archived, which makes tests more effective.
What is unique about your company?
We provide unique insights to processes and then produce the tools to make these new ideas a reality. Our primary focus is on consulting, so what we do is linked to a particular, relevant problem. This helps us transition our products and provides us with new insights that allow us to remain useful to our clients over the long term.
Who are your clients, and what do you do for them?
We are involved with the Air Force, Navy, and most major turbine-engine manufacturers. The tools listed above and the test methodology they support are now commonly used.
What was hardest about starting a business?
The biggest challenge to starting our company was courage. My partner and I both had bright futures in the organizations we were with. After careful consideration of all the options, however, we decided that we needed to move out on our own to achieve our long-term objectives. We did that nine months ago.
How did your Embry-Riddle degree help?
Embry-Riddle provided me with an excellent academic foundation upon which to build my career. After graduating from Embry-Riddle in 1983, I went on to get a master's degree and a Ph.D. I also serve as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. The application of engineering fundamentals to real problems is one of my strengths. I've seen many examples where application of engineering fundamentals has broken down the barriers. Our clients are sometimes bogged down by "rules of thumb" and ill-applied experience and simply need to be reminded of the fundamentals. I learned many of these fundamentals at Embry-Riddle.
What are your plans for the future?
We plan to continue to focus our efforts on providing consulting services for our clients and expanding our client base. We feel strongly that the tools we've developed are applicable in general aircraft, helicopters, space systems, automobiles, and computer disk drives. We also believe they will be a stepping stone to the advancement of other technologies, such as health usage monitoring, prognostics, and probabilistic design methods.
What would you have done differently?
Because our company is so new, it's difficult to imagine doing something differently. I guess the biggest thing I've learned through this is that we're generally more afraid of change than we need to be. All in all, my transition from employee to entrepreneur has been enjoyable. One thing is for sure: I can't complain about "the management"!
Kurt Nichol graduated from Embry-Riddle in 1983 with a B.S. in aerospace engineering.
NOTE: Would you like to recommend an Embry-Riddle innovator for a future issue of The Leader? Please contact the editor at robert.ross@erau.edu or 386-226-6198.
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