Research Facility To Aid in Defense, Space Engineering

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Boeing announced a new partnership that will see the manufacturer move into a new "center of excellence" colocated within the school's research park.

The news was well-received by locals, since it will reportedly bring about 400 white-collar jobs to the Volusia County, Florida, in 2026. Boeing will be leasing the entire Cici and Hyatt Brown Center for Aerospace Technology, and use the location as an engineering and design hub for a range of projects for their defense, space, and security programs. They should be right at home in the Embry-Riddle Research Park, with neighbors from around the space, tech, and aviation sectors. Even better, Embry-Riddle has a 14,000-square-foot wind tunnel facility with a special low-speed tunnel, right down the road. Boeing expects to begin work at the Center by the fall of this year, with 200 workers already earmarked for jobs there.

“Today is a momentous day — not just for Embry-Riddle or for the city of Daytona Beach, but for all of Florida,” said Mori Hosseini, chairman of Embry-Riddle’s Board of Trustees. “Four-hundred people and their loved ones will live and work here, invest in our local economy and, more broadly, in the future of aviation and aerospace. It’s an incredible impact, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the State of Florida, and Cici and Hyatt Brown.”

Cici and Hyatt Brown bankrolled much of the construction with a $25 million pledge in 2022. That was matched by Florida legislators not long after, giving Embry-Riddle a nice little piggy bank to create a 'revolutionary business makerspace' for students to soar.

“Our focused mission, now and in the future, is economic enhancement of entities in Volusia County that positively affect the quality of life for all our citizens,” Hyatt Brown said, after making the gift. “Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and other fine academic institutions are economic growth engines that augment and embellish local median family incomes and prepare citizens for productive, sustainable and visionary careers for generations to come.”

FMI: www.erau.edu