by Melissa Trevizo
The San Jacinto College EDGE Center offers aerospace training and a pathway to careers in the aerospace industry under instructors who work at the top of their fields.
“We are partnering with companies like Intuitive Machines to offer our students the very best, up-to-date knowledge about the aerospace industry,” said Janis Fowler, director of the College’s aerospace education and workforce department. “Students will have the opportunity to work on projects side by side with professionals who are working on NASA-level projects, including the lunar lander.”
Steve Altemus, president of Intuitive Machines, is looking forward to making space available to the next generation.
“We’re creating training programs to develop the workforce we need right here in Houston,” Altemus said. “We want to make sure there is a workforce to choose from that is trained and skilled.”
The certificate-based programs are open to all who are interested, whether they are recent high school graduates or have spent decades in the workforce, said Fowler.
Located at the Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport, the 10th commercial spaceport license in the United States awarded by the FAA, the EDGE Center offers programs in composites manufacturing and repair technician, aerospace electrical assembly technician, aerospace structures technician, and mechatronics, and industrial automation technician students at the EDGE Center will join a massive workforce in the Houston area.
“In addition to the programs we offer, we also work heavily with school districts for outreach in STEM through our Pathway to the Stars afterschool program,” Fowler said. “We teach the children about circuitry and space and how things work.”
The EDGE Center is in its beginning phases, but big things will start as early as spring 2020.
To learn more about the EDGE Center, visit sanjac.edu/edge-center.
