(WACO, Texas) – Employees from Firefly Aerospace have completed two weeks of accelerated training learning to work with composites at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus.
“TSTC is uniquely positioned to support the rapid growth of the commercial space industry in Texas by delivering highly customized workforce training across a wide range of technical disciplines,” said Robert Capps, director of alignment for TSTC’s aviation maintenance department.
The hands-on composites technician course was specifically created using the company’s needs as a basis for what to teach.
Rodrick Vann, a TSTC aviation maintenance instructor, taught the workers about damage appraisal, integrated and traditional layups, pre-impregnated fabrics, solid laminate repairs and personal protection equipment.
C.J. Green, of Georgetown, has worked for four months at Firefly Aerospace as a manufacturing engineer II.
“I act as a liaison between the mechanical and responsible engineers and the production floor,” he said.
Green said the accelerated training gave him the space to ask questions. He said learning more of the terminology to communicate was important to him.
“I think it’s been interesting,” he said. “A lot of my previous experience has been working with plastics and materials. It has been fantastic to come out and spend these two weeks here (at TSTC.)”
Lucas Francis, of New Braunfels, is a Firefly Aerospace composite technician III working with propulsion and payloads. Before he joined the company six months ago, he was an aircraft composite mechanic at a company in San Antonio.
Francis said he chose to undergo the training because he wanted to better his skill set working in a new environment.
Francis said growth in the aviation field is moving ahead of people who are able to work with composites. The growth can be seen in the rapid development of the aerospace and defense sectors.
Firefly Aerospace’s headquarters are in Cedar Park with a manufacturing and testing facility in Briggs in Burnet County.
For more information on Firefly Aerospace, go to fireflyspace.com.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.