Students get hands-on experience with flight sim

By The Daily Times

PRINCESS ANNE, MD – (The Daily Times) High school students enrolled in the Summer Transportation Institute program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), got some firsthand experience yesterday, with a flight simulator used by the UMES aviation program.

UMES partnered with the Federal Highway Administration nine years ago to begin their annual summer program in an effort to restore interest in the transportation workforce. The Summer Transportation Institute, or STI, encompasses air, water and roadway transportation.

UMES faculty along with several civil engineers and an architect showed high school students from Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties about the many opportunities offered in the transportation industry.

Students use a flight simulator that the university has housed since 1997. It resembles the inside of an airplane cockpit to fly from one airport to another using authentic flight instruments and coordinates.

The students also listened to a speech from Maryland State Police officer Ivan Barkely on his background as a trooper and the practice of safety on the roadways.