Shaping Tomorrow's Air Traffic Controllers

For students in an Air Traffic Management (ATM) program, understanding theory is important, but practical learning from experts in the field who have experienced real-world tower/terminal and en route situations is vital — and it’s something that every ATM student gains when they study at Embry-Riddle.

In addition to our faculty, Embry-Riddle also supports students through the Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program, a selective partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that enables students to be placed directly into an FAA Facility after graduation, eliminating the need for further training at the FAA Academy.

FAA Expertise to Educational Excellence

Clyde Rinkinen, associate professor of Applied Aviation Sciences at the Daytona Beach Campus, has been teaching at Embry-Riddle for almost 20 years. Before making the transition to education, he worked as an air traffic controller and in other operational roles with the FAA for nearly 25 years.

Though Rinkinen had initially been interested in becoming a pilot, his journey eventually led him to the air traffic control (ATC) program at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. Rinkinen then served as an air traffic controller at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Flint, Michigan, where he specialized in TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach Control, operations.

“The most fulfilling part of working for the FAA was the operational aspect,” he said. “I was operational for almost my entire career, and I enjoyed going into work and solving problems while still being home every day with my family.”

After retiring in 2006, Rinkinen spent a few months golfing, playing tennis and enjoying the Florida weather. However, he felt a call to give back to the aviation community, choosing to pass on his knowledge and experience to the next generation of air traffic controllers.

Rinkinen returned to higher education, earning his master’s degree in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle and joining the College of Aviation as a member of its faculty.

Throughout his time at Embry-Riddle, Rinkinen has taught most of the ATM courses offered by the university, but his specialty is advanced TRACON courses. He also teaches tower courses and an ATC course for non-ATM students, impacting students across other aviation disciplines.

“The ATC course for non-ATM students gets our Aeronautical Science students into the tower simulators where they learn what air traffic controllers are looking for from them as pilots and what they don’t see while flying the aircraft,” he said.

For Rinkinen, Embry-Riddle's high-tech simulators are part of what gives students the necessary knowledge and confidence to succeed as air traffic controllers. Coupled with faculty experience, these simulators provide students with realistic scenarios and challenges they might encounter in their careers.

“I can develop scenarios in our simulations that mimic the real-world National Airspace System and really make the students feel that they're truly moving air traffic,” he said.

Rinkinen also fosters experiential learning through the ATM study abroad program, which he helped to develop. During the program, students compare ATM operations at airports in the United States with operations in Europe and Asia.

For his students and the future of the program, Rinkinen hopes that Embry-Riddle's ATM graduates can bolster Embry-Riddle's reputation in the aviation industry through their hard work and excellence in ATC environments.

“My hope is that our students going direct hire perform at the high level that they're expected to from all of us,” he shared. “We are always evaluating the course design and how we present material so we can meet the objectives of the FAA and make our students more successful.”

Developing Innovators and Building Resilience

Kyle Wilkerson, assistant professor of Applied Aviation Sciences and ATM program coordinator at the Prescott Campus, has a long history with aviation and Embry-Riddle. Taking his first introductory flight with the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program at the age of 12, Wilkerson knew that flying was exactly where he wanted to be.

Wilkerson grew up in a small manufacturing and farming town in Wyoming and received a full-ride scholarship to attend a four-year university of his choice, making him the first member of his family to attend college.

Naturally, his love for aviation and his desire to work in a fast-paced and challenging field led him to Embry-Riddle, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Air Traffic Management and his master’s degree in Unmanned Systems (now Uncrewed Systems).

Now a professor, Wilkerson understands the importance of always being willing to learn something new, develop and adapt.

“Developing an attitude of constant development in the classroom is pivotal for my students to succeed in their progression through higher education, as well as throughout their careers,” he said. “We learn with each other and from each other. The mutual respect developed in a learning environment like that will far outperform any other.”

Wilkerson also highly values the resources Embry-Riddle offers, from high-tech simulators to opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research.

“Students develop incredible levels of understanding and confidence, as well as resilience for the workforce ahead, through the use of physical equipment and simulators and collaboration between pilots and professionals from a plethora of backgrounds, ethnicities and experiences,” he said.

“I push for innovative thinkers and new ideas to solve current and potentially up-and-coming problems we may or may not see soon. My undergraduate students participate in multiple research projects and opportunities each year, ranging from studying the human factors in controller/pilot interactions to cybersecurity in air traffic control systems and the human interface.”

Looking ahead, Wilkerson hopes that Embry-Riddle will continue to train students with the industry's innovation and forward thinking in mind.

“Whether it’s ATC, piloting aircraft or designing and engineering new aircraft components, there are always different and better ways to solve a problem,” he said. “Inviting the next generation to be innovators, providing solutions to problems we could have never imagined, is the most rewarding thing Embry-Riddle can be a part of.”