Manufacturing Sciences in Aerospace Partnership

John Queenan, Fanshawe's Mechanical Program coordinator, has partnered with simulation specialist Anne Barr from Carleton University in an exciting aerospace research project.

Carleton's Department of Cognitive Psychology is home to an Advanced Cognitive Engineering (ACE) lab that features an in-house flight simulator. One of the simulator's components is a navigational system that uses radio signals to direct aircraft to their desired destination; pilots tune into the frequencies to follow signals.

"It's when things fail that we step in," explains Queenan. "Our manufacturing students reproduce components and provide the lab with the parts they require for the simulator's instrumentation."

Queenan took the initiative to form the partnership between Fanshawe and Carleton: "I wanted to provide this service to Carleton's ACE lab and work the construction into our program's curriculum," he explains. "The manufacturing of these components is a real-world project … it's a meaningful engineering challenge for our students that will nicely complement their curriculum."