UCF AVIATION
CHALLENGE EXPO
The UCF Aviation Challenge Expo is a strategic offshoot of USAS, our traveling simulation showcase of flight simulators, that will further engage young people, before college, to pursue careers in aviation. Our goals for this expo include:
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UCF’s longstanding partnerships with state agencies and public school districts and our STEM education outreach experience will facilitate the success of this outreach to our target populations. Our Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) partners with Orange County Public Schools; the Cade Museum; Team Orlando; the [Florida High Tech] Corridor; NASA; the Orlando Science Center; the USAF; six state colleges (College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Lake Sumter State College, Seminole State College of Florida, Valencia College, East Florida State College), with whom UCF has direct-matriculation agreements; Disney; the City of Orlando; and many more city, county, and state partners. We also plan to broaden our impact in STEM aviation by adding school districts such as Osceola, Brevard, and Volusia counties.
These partnerships are helping us to create the UCF Aviation Challenge Expo, and we plan to grow this event to reach even more students in the future. To encourage repeat participants and visitors, we will update the exhibit content with live and recorded interviews from a diverse set of role models, including female pilots and pilots of color, and introduce new tech, software, and equipment through in-kind contributions from the aviation and aerospace community on a regular basis — all of which will help us enhance our current showcase and achieve our goal of increasing diversity within the aviation industry.
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Generating excitement about aviation with STEM applied to real-world flight scenarios.
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Increasing annual numbers of students reached through USAS.
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Fostering connection among schools, industry, programs, and workforce development.
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Creating momentum for future partnerships that will foster ongoing opportunities for our expo and STEM events.
UCF Aviation Challenge Expo Initiative
Our newest initiative is the development of an annual Aviation Challenge Expo hosted by the UCF STEM Aviation Showcase (USAS), which will feature speakers and exhibits from the aviation industry, military, and academia. The expo also offers an aviation-specific challenge for students to compete for awards and prizes. We are focused on Central Florida for our initial expo and planning to host approximately 160 students (40 students from 4 counties). Our goal is to connect K-12 students (with an emphasis on middle and high schoolers) and their families to resources, programs, and career-development opportunities to inspire the next generation of aviators.
To increase the diversity of the pilot and flight engineers pipeline and workforce, as well as continue our mission beyond the initial funded year, contributions from sponsorship funding will:
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Support our initial UCF Aviation Challenge Expo (2024).
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Seed our 2nd annual UCF Aviation Challenge Expo (2025).
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Support our podcast content production and supplement our existing USAS equipment.
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Expand partnership opportunities.
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Increase student support for event participation.
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In addition, funds will be used to augment marketing of the exhibit (digital and print materials) and cover operational costs, including transportation, location/venue fees, and staffing (organization and operation, recruiting of partners) for next year’s UCF Aviation Challenge Expo and annual activities. Currently, ~20% of these annual costs are offset through partnerships, grants, and donations, but we are working to increase that to 90% by 2025.
If you would like additional information about the program or to connect with us about event sponsorship, partnership, or volunteering, please contact us!
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