Caltech Teams with Northrop Grumman to Deliver Airworthiness Certificate Program

Northrop Grumman Corporation has engaged Caltech to deliver an innovative six-day program in Airworthiness Fundamentals, designed to help build capabilities for the company's aerospace engineers.

Today's aircraft—civil, military, manned, and unmanned—are increasingly complex and evolving more rapidly than ever before. As innovation in connected platforms, unmanned aircraft systems, and autonomy accelerates, there is a corresponding elevation in risk that requires thoughtful design for high-quality aircraft trusted to complete their missions and return safely.

"Caltech has developed an airworthiness fundamentals professional program that is timely and tailored to bring the right big-picture perspectives to seasoned engineers as well as professionals early in their career." said Doug Davis, Director of the Office of Independent Airworthiness for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector. "This six-day program can be offered where and when we need it, and it is flexible enough to allow for both US civil and military needs, while also being adaptable for Europe and other international regulatory environments. Northrop Grumman is committed to providing multiple educational opportunities for our employees to help them obtain the airworthiness skills necessary for our company to be the most trusted provider of systems and technologies, with the goal of supporting global security."

"This new program extends our decades-long relationship with Northrop Grumman. We've educated nearly 4,000 Northrop Grumman participants in our professional programs," said Dr. Rick Hefner, program director for Caltech's Center for Technology and Management Education (CTME). "Airworthiness is scalable to other aerospace markets and products. It's modular enough to couple with other certificate programs in our portfolio, including systems engineering, cybersecurity, agile hardware, predictive analytics, product development, operations/supply chain, innovation, and leadership." Northrop Grumman management nominates high-performing engineering professionals to join seasonal cohorts in attending the Caltech program, which can be delivered at the company's locations throughout the US.

The new Certificate in Airworthiness Engineering is conferred by CTME, the professional education arm of the Institute, which customizes learning programs to meet the challenges of technology-driven companies.

CTME is embedded in Caltech's Engineering and Applied Science Division, which includes seven departments: the Graduate Aerospace Laboratory (GALCIT), Applied Physics and Materials Science, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and the Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering.