Organization Represents Aviation Education To Government, Industry, And The Public

Kurt Barnhart, professor and head of Kansas State University's Department of Aviation, has been elected president-elect of the University Aviation Association. He will serve a one-year term.

The announcement was made at the UAA Fall Education Conference Awards Banquet in Wichita, KS.

The UAA represents more than 525 members consisting of educators, students, high schools, two- and four-year collegiate institutions offering aviation degree programs, and organizations and industry representatives that support collegiate aviation. The UAA also serves as the voice of collegiate aviation education to government, industry organizations and the general public.

Barnhart has an extensive background in aviation, having worked as a flight instructor, an A & P mechanic, a charter pilot, an R & D Engineering Test Inspector for Allison Engine Company, an Aircraft Systems Instructor for American Trans Air, and prior to coming to Kansas State University, he was an associate professor in the Aviation Program at Indiana State. Since arriving at K-State, he has worked to establish the K-State at Salina Applied Aviation Research Center, which he now directs. This center has attracted nearly $650,000 in grants to date, including a $380,240 grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research focused on mission planning for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Barnhart has published extensively in refereed aviation journals such as the Collegiate Aviation Review, the Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education and Research, the Journal of Air Transportation and others, and serves as a consulting editor of the Journal of Air Transportation and the International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies.

FMI: www.sal.ksu.edu