UND celebrated the ten year anniversary of its aviation partnership with Tokai University on Oct. 22. Photo by Nick Nelson/The Dakota Student

The University of North Dakota John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences celebrated a decade long partnership with Tokai University this month, according to a UND news release.

Tokai University is a private university with campuses located throughout Japan. Founded by Shigeyoshi Matsumae in 1942, the Tokai University Educational System was founded as an aviation school. It currently has over 30,000 students in a variety of academic disciplines, making it one of the largest education and research institutions in Japan.

Tokai University has been sending students to UND for training in commercial aviation since 2005. In the spring of 2014, UND and Tokai University extended the agreement another four years.

According to the release, over 200 students from Tokai have gone through the fifteen-month training program and over 150 of those students are now working for airlines back in Japan. When Tokai students complete training, they have both a certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Japan Civil Aviation Bureau certifications. 

According to Tokai University’s webpage for the program, it is the first training program of its kind in Japan to educate and train university students to be professional pilots. Tokai utilizes partnerships with universities around the world in many different fields of study to help expand its students access to higher education.

The agreement between UND and Tokai University has even inspired a Japanese weekly drama in Japan, “Miss Pilot”, about two women going through pilot training. Last September, Fuji TV, the company producing the show, brought 40 cast and crew to UND to film episodes for the show, which aired earlier this year. 

UND Aerospace also has had a similar training agreement with Air China, a major airline based in Beijing, since 2007. In addition to academics, students from Air China each complete a 250-hour training program which includes 20 hours of flight in a BeechCraft King Air aircraft. Upon completion of the 12-month long program, the students return to Beijing with FAA certifications. They then begin advanced simulator training at the Air China Training Facility.

Students of UND aerospace also have the opportunity to study aviation abroad. UND is partnered with the Korean Aerospace University(KAU), the only university in South Korea that specializes in aviation and aerospace technologies and management. KAU offers students the opportunity to train with Korean Air and Incheon International Airport.

UND Aerospace is an international leader in aviation education with over 1,900 students from around the world studying at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. The school currently offers degrees both undergraduate and graduate degrees in aviation, atmospheric sciences, computer science, earth system science and policy and space studies. 

Flight training services at UND fly over 115,000 hours per year with more than 140 aircraft. Aircraft used by UND include the Cessna 150, Cessna 172s, Piper Seminole, and Beechcraft King Air. UND also uses a variety of simulators to train aviation students including Cessna 172s and Piper Seminole training simulators, as well as the CRJ-200 training simulator, which is used in the senior capstone course for students in the commercial aviation. 

Students studying Air Traffic Control at UND have access to radar as well as both 180 degrees and 360 degree control tower training simulators. In addition to the variety of training technologies, the recently constructed Robin Hall will house the rapidly expanding unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program. In addition to a training center at Grand Forks International Airport, UND operates training facilities in Crookston, Minn. and Phoenix, Az.

Elliot Golden is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]