Politecnico and the National Test Pilot School together for training young aerospace engineers

The Politecnico has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US National Test Pilot School-NTPS, one of the best international institutions of higher education for pilots and engineers, who are already experienced and interested in training and certifications in flight testing. The National Test Pilot School, in fact, other than being a School recognized by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), is certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission and by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

The agreement is focused on teaching and consists, above all, in a cultural exchange for the teaching staff of the two institutions. Specifically, the collaboration will see the participation of Manuela Battipede, Professor at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale-DIMEAS of the Politecnico, to a training program at NTPS. She will then take part, as an instructor, in the training activity of the US school as part of an academic module underlying the professional courses included in the rich course catalogue / training offer of NTPS. Commander Andrea Pingitore, NTPS certified test pilot instructor, will be one of the seminarists of the course in Aerospace Engineering, delivered as part of the Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering at the Politecnico.

The students of the Politecnico will have the possibility of performing Master Thesis projects and internships at the NTPS school facilities, within the Erasmus + Partner program. At the moment this agreement is primarily dedicated to the Aerospace Engineering curriculum, already unique in Italy thanks to the EASA Part 66 bachelor course. However, further future developments of the agreement in favor of other disciplinary sectors of the University are possible.

“We worked on this partnership with great enthusiasm – says Prof. Battipede - knowing from the beginning that it will represent a concrete and effective tool to positively impact the students of the Politecnico as to enhance knowledge and passion in flight testing, an essential phase in the development and certification of any aircraft.”