Ph.D. in
Aviation

Bruce Conway, Ph.D.

Title: Professor and Associate Dean
Email: conwaybr@erau.edu

Dr. Bruce Conway began his professional career in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, working for 37 years at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. At Langley he held positions ranging from research engineer working on advanced spacecraft control system research to service as Chief of the Instrument Research Division. In this latter position, he was responsible for sensor and measurement technology R&D in a wide variety of disciplines, including electro-mechanical instrumentation, nondestructive evaluation techniques and instrumentation, thermal instrumentation, nonintrusive gas parameter and optical spectroscopy measurements, photo-optical techniques, and pressure measurement instrumentation; Prior to this, Dr. Conway served as Assistant Chief, of the Flight Electronics Division at NASA - Langley, where he managed electronics and instrumentation research and applications to spacecraft and aircraft flight experiments. In the early 1970's he was a Principal Investigator and project engineer for a Skylab space flight astronaut-manned experiment (Experiment T-013) to assess disturbances to spacecraft control systems from onboard crew movements.

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David Esser, Ph.D.

Title: Professor
Email: esserd@erau.edu

Dr. Esser was a member of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Flight Department from 1981 to 1995, and has been a member of the Aeronautical Science Department since that time. His undergraduate degrees are from Embry-Riddle in Aviation Management, Computer Science, and Aeronautical Science. In 1989, he was awarded the M.S. in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle, graduating at the top of his class. Professor Esser completed the Ph.D. Degree in Organization and Management Leadership from Capella University, again graduating at the top of his class. His dissertation pertained to airline Advanced Qualification Training and Line Check Safety Audits to validate Threat and Error Mitigation techniques. It also involved Flight Operations Quality Assurance and Aviation Safety Action Program data collection. He holds FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate with a Type Rating in Airbus A319/320: Advised Graduate Research Projects and Thesis in Topics of CRM, AQP, Flight Data Monitoring, and FOQA.

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Mark Friend, Ed.D.

Title: Professor
Email: frien9b8@erau.edu

Dr. Mark A. Friend, CSP, Professor of Doctoral Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) with more than thirty-five years in higher education. He is a former Director of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals BCSP) and Professional Member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) where he helped establish the Academic Practice Specialty. He has worked as a safety consultant, trainer, expert witness, and author. His text, Fundamentals of Occupational Safety and Health, a top-selling book in the field, is currently in its fifth edition. He has received the PPG Safety Educator of the Year, the National Safety Management Society/West Virginia University Alumni Achievement Award, the ASSE Culbertson Award for Volunteer Service and the ASSE Academic Practice Specialty Safety Professional of the Year Award. He and his wife Kathy live in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

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Steven Hampton, Ed.D.

Title: Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, College of Aviation
Email: hamptons@erau.edu

Dr. Hampton was a member of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Flight Department from 1974 to 1995, and has been a member of the Aeronautical Science Department since that time. He served as interim Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Programs from 2000 - 2003. His undergraduate degree from Embry-Riddle is in Aeronautical Studies and he holds both pilot and maintenance certifications from the FAA. In 1989; his major Applied Research Proposal on flight training was the basis for much of his research through the 1990's resulting in changes to Federal Advisory Circulars, training methodologies, and developmental training programs/curriculums for emerging technologies.

Hampton has received and managed multiple research grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA, been a board member of the National Safe Skies Alliance (NSSA), National Coalition for Aviation Mobility (NCAM), and is currently a member of the Institute Management Council (IMC) for the NextGen Institute (NGATS) supporting the Joint program Development Office (JPDO). Executive Director of the Southeast SATSLab (NASA) (2001 - 2005). Currently, Steven is the Executive Director of the FAA Center of Excellence for General Aviation leading a coalition of four established universities conducting some 65+ research projects supporting the FAA and the Aviation Industry.

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John Sabel, J.D.

Title: Professor
Email: sabelj@erau.edu

John Sabel is an attorney and airline pilot, currently flying as an Airbus A-320 Captain. He served eight years as a Check Airman and FAA Aircrew Program Designee at a Part 121 air carrier. Sabel holds a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law, and Aeronautical Science and Aviation Management degrees from Embry-Riddle. He has logged over 15,000 hours of flight time and holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate (EMB-110, DC-9, B-737, B-757/B-767, A-319/A-320/A-321), a Flight Engineer certificate, a Certified Flight Instructor certificate, and Ground Instructor certificate. He represents pilots in FAA certificate action matters and serves as a consultant and expert witness for aviation-related litigation. Sabel is a member of the US Airline Pilots Association’s Safety and Accident Investigation committees, and the Air Carrier Safety and Pilot Training Aviation Rulemaking Committee. He has taught aviation law courses for the past three years. His article, Airline-Airport Facilities Agreements – An Overview, is published in the SMU Journal of Air Law and Commerce.

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Alan Stolzer, Ph.D.

Title: Dean of the College of Aviation and Professor in the Department of Doctoral Studies
Email: stolzera@erau.edu

Dr. Stolzer is the Dean of the College of Aviation and a Professor in the Department of Doctoral Studies. Stolzer has been in academia for 28 years in administrative positions including department chair and associate dean. Stolzer holds a Ph.D. in Quality Systems, an M.S. from Embry-Riddle, and a B.S. from the College of the Ozarks. He has over 8,000 of flight time, an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate, a Certified Flight Instructor Certificate, and an A&P mechanic's certificate. He also holds professional certifications from the American Society for Quality - Quality Engineer, Quality Manager, and Quality Auditor, as well as a Project Manager Certificate from the Project Management Institute. Dr. Stolzer's teaching and research interests include Safety Management Systems (SMS), aviation safety programs such as Flight Operations Quality Assurance, and project management. He has published two books on SMS - Safety Management Systems in Aviation (2008), currently under revision, and Implementing Safety Management Systems in Aviation (2011), both published by Ashgate Publications. He is widely published in aviation safety and quality areas, and has won and managed several grants. Stolzer has served on the Board of Trustees of the Aviation Accreditation Board International for 15 years, and chaired its Accreditation Committee from 2002 to 2012.

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Dothang Truong, Ph.D.

Title: Professor
Email: truongd@erau.edu

Dr. Dothang Truong is Full Professor of Doctoral Studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL. He received his Ph.D. in Manufacturing Management from the University of Toledo in 2004. He is an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and a member of Transportation Research Board (TRB)’s Economics and Forecasting Committee. He has strong expertise in transportation management, risk assessment and modeling, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, supply chain and logistics management, e-commerce, decision support, data mining, and research methodology. He teaches data mining, operations research and decision-making, advanced statistics, structural equation modeling, logistics and supply chain management, and transportation management. His research interests include airline efficiency evaluation, airline and passenger segmentation, low cost carriers, the Internet of Things (IoT) for aviation, data mining for a complex and dynamic system, risk assessment model for sUAS, risk perception and behavioral intention models for passenger choice for airlines and airports, and data envelopment analysis model for SMS effectiveness. He has worked in FAA funded research and has been active in submitting research proposals to the FAA, NSF, and TRB. He has established a strong record of publication in top-tier journals including Journal of Air Transport Management, Transportation Journal, International Journal of Aeronautical Science & Aerospace Research, International Journal of Business Analytics, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Electronic Market, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Entrepreneurship, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, among others. He received the Blackboard Exemplary Course Award in 2014, and the Best Research Paper Award by International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines in two consecutive years 2006 and 2007.

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Dr. Scott Winter

Title: Assistant Professor
Email: WINTE25E@erau.edu

Dr. Scott R. Winter is an Assistant Professor of Doctoral Studies in the School of Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His primary responsibilities involve teaching graduate level courses in research methods, quantitative data analysis, and qualitative data analysis. Dr. Winter maintains an active research agenda, which focuses on pilot decision-making and consumer perceptions toward automation. Dr. Winter completed his Ph.D. in the Aviation Technology department at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana (2013), and he completed his undergraduate and master’s degree at Minnesota State University, Mankato in Minnesota. His Bachelor’s degree was in professional flight with a minor in geography (2005), and his Master’s degree was in Cross Disciplinary Studies (2006) with emphasis areas on aviation and education.

For his time in industry, Dr. Winter was employed with Cirrus Aircraft in Duluth, Minnesota from October 2006 until December 2009.  While employed with Cirrus, he worked as a member of the Flight Standards and Operations Department.  In that role, he served as a company check airman and provided initial and recurrent training to company pilots. Dr. Winter also wrote a monthly website called Pilot’s World that addressed safety and pilot training issues. His time at Cirrus offered him the opportunity to gain experience working for one of the world’s leading general aviation manufacturers and to fly one of the most advanced single-engine piston aircraft. He completed international training at Cirrus where he flew training missions in South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the Caribbean, England, France, Germany, and Poland.

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