Innovation Profile: Seneca College
Simulator Training Research Takes Flight at Seneca
Toronto-based Seneca College is partnering with industry and government to re-write the flight plan for aviation training and simulator R&D in Canada.
Supported by a $2.3 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's College and Community Innovation Program, Seneca's Innovation Through Simulation projects will evaluate different types of simulator hardware, from lowest to highest levels of fidelity. Partners include aviation hardware and software companies, Transport Canada, aviation colleges, and flight-training schools.
The research objective is to determine if future pilots can use simulator training to acquire some of the roughly 200 flight training hours required for their commercial licence. Simulation technologies at Seneca and at some 20 flight-training schools will allow students to recreate specific flight conditions, emergency situations and weather variances.
"Canadian aviation training has changed little in 40 years," says Dominic Totino, Director of Academics and Operations at Seneca's School of Aviation. "Through these studies, our student and faculty teams will be building research capacity to benefit industry and public policy." Seneca has Canada's only baccalaureate degree in flight training.
The first research project is evaluating hands-on skills training for 60 Seneca students using a lower-fidelity simulator. Other projects will develop measurement tools to determine the optimum combination of simulation to live flight hours and to assess pilot decision-making and crew communications skills in air emergencies. Design and testing of new simulation equipment will also be part of the R&D.
"Private flight schools are mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises," says John Davis, Manager of Flight Operations at Toronto Airways. "We need partners like Seneca College with the research capacity to help us conduct R&D. These studies will help us innovate in primary flight training with greater use of advanced simulators. We will be able to train more students to higher skill levels, while saving the tremendous costs of putting planes in the air." 
Located in the heart of Ontario's aerospace industry, Toronto Region is the place to be for advanced aviation R&D. Ontario's aerospace sector comprises more than 350 companies and 23,000 employees. With sales of almost $6.5 billion annually, this research-intensive cluster includes many of the world's leading aviation companies.
© 2011 Toronto Region Research Alliance