FAA Partners With Two Oklahoma Colleges For Air Traffic Control Training Program
The Federal Aviation Administration is partnering with two Oklahoma colleges to get more air traffic controllers in the workforce.
The University of Oklahoma and Tulsa Community College are the first schools approved for the FAA’s new Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative.
Students will learn the same curriculum and advanced technology offered at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.
Graduates will skip the previously mandatory Academy and go directly to facility training.
Administrators say the collegiate initiative will increase the controller training pipeline.
The agency has struggled for decades with a shortage of air traffic controllers.
The FAA hired more than 1,800 controllers this year and plans to continue taking aggressive action to reverse the decline.
State Lawmakers Looking Into What To Do About E-Waste
Oklahoma lawmakers are exploring ways to tackle the state’s growing electronic waste problem.
During a recent interim study, Rep. Trish Ranson highlighted the need to improve how E-waste is managed to prevent harmful materials from reaching Oklahoma’s landfills.
E-waste includes devices like computers, smartphones and TVs. And more tech is taking advantage of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
Patrick Riley with the state’s Department of Environmental Quality spoke about the increasing issue with those batteries.
“Think about the number of rechargeable devices that you have. Unfortunately the proliferation of these devices far outpaced the strategies we have to manage them when they reach their end of life,” Riley said.
Riley said often the batteries are simply thrown away, posing fire dangers in trash collection trucks and in landfills.
Riley recommends lawmakers update current laws to make E-waste recycling more accessible and effective in the state.
Oklahoma Utility Workers Helping Restore Power In Florida’s Hurricane Devastated Areas
More than 100 OG&E workers are helping to restore electricity in Florida following Hurricane Milton.
The utility company says crews are working to bring the lights back on in the Sarasota area.
The workers are repairing and rebuilding power poles and lines, and removing downed trees.
Local electric companies estimate that most Florida customers who can accept power safely will be restored by midnight Tuesday.
Researchers Using Technology To Study Environment That Creates Tornadoes
A team of scientists at the University of Oklahoma is using machine learning to better understand tornado formation.
The researchers are looking to improve the accuracy of tornado predictions by studying atmospheric simulations.
Senior research analyst Nathan Snook told News 9 that the goal is to enhance public safety.
“The knowledge we are discovering here will help to make people safer and make warnings more effective and help us understand this threat we all have to live with,” Snook said.
Over the next three years, the team plans to run hundreds of simulations to either confirm or expand current scientific understanding of how tornadoes form.
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