Former "National Flight Instructor Of The Year" To Lead Melbourne, FL Program

Michael Gaffney, just named the new director of F.I.T. Aviation LLC, brings to his new post almost 30 years of experience in aviation management, education and executive consulting. A Master Flight Instructor and Master Ground Instructor, he has been interim director of F.I.T. Aviation since April 1, and prior to that he was director of aviation training. He has been with the university since February 2009.

Michael Gaffney

In his new position, Gaffney oversees flight training and operations at Florida Institute of Technology's Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Training and Research at Melbourne International Airport. He is also an adjunct professor in the Florida Tech College of Aeronautics.

"With his extensive experience and numerous accomplishments, Mike is the ideal person to lead F.I.T. Aviation. We are very confident of his success in this new role," said Winston Scott, dean of the College of Aeronautics.

Before coming to Florida Tech Gaffney was principal consultant and chief technology architect at Flightlogics. Prior to that he was president of Skyline Aeronautics, where he was responsible for operating one of the largest FAA-approved flight schools in the Midwest and general aviation piston aircraft maintenance facility in the St. Louis region. He also held many executive and consulting positions with such international software firms as Texas Instruments Software, Oracle and Compuware Corp. He began his aviation career in 1981 at Sikorsky Helicopter of United Technologies, moving from there to McDonnell Douglas Corp. as a section manager and systems analyst for the corporate artificial intelligence center.

Gaffney earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace management from Parks College of St. Louis University in 1981 and an M.B.A. degree from the university of Bridgeport in Connecticut in 1987. He is currently a doctoral candidate in human centered design at Florida Tech. He is an FAA-certified Airline Transport Pilot and certified single and multi-engine ground and flight instructor. He was named the 2007 FAA/Industry National Flight Instructor of The Year. He also received the 2007 Excellence in Pilot Training award from the National Air Transportation Association.

FMI: www.FITAviation.com