随着人们对罗伯特·w·石膏自由企业和研究中心（Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise and 研究 Center）的开放越来越兴奋，人们对它提供的扩大的教育和研究机会也越来越兴奋。
Among the building’s most eye-catching features is the three-story Motion Capture Lab and Flight Simulation Lab, reflecting the 计算机与工程学院’s expansion into aerospace engineering.
通过对无人驾驶飞机技术的研究，副教授特拉维斯·菲尔兹注意到，许多高层合同、拨款和研究计划都倾向于空域。 他还注意到，学生们需要在机电一体化等严格的跨学科领域有更多的实践经验，机电一体化是电子、电气和机械工程系统的交叉领域。
Fields和助理教授Mujahid Abdulrahim合作，在威尼斯人娱乐城设立了航空航天工程硕士项目。
“The courses Travis pioneered are things we would love our students to know, like system modification and guidance laws for aircraft — classes that address the research needs and lay the foundation for aerospace curriculum,” says Abdulrahim, who’s been flight-testing aircraft for 21 years. “Anytime students are tasked with designing something new or have a specific desire to go into aerospace, we’re teaching the philosophy behind it.”
无论学生是需要了解如何开发新事物，还是有进入航空航天工程的特殊愿望，菲尔兹和阿卜杜勒拉希姆都认为，飞机可以成为其他工程领域的一个很好的起点。 虽然两位教授都承认他们对飞机很着迷，但学生们也将学习如何将汽车与那些想要从事汽车测试和性能评估的人结合起来。
“There is a responsibility on you as an engineer to do good work. It’s not just optimizing the most efficient system possible, it’s also about the holistic design approach that aerospace engineering promotes,” says Abdulrahim.
That’s where the new Flight Simulation Lab comes in. The lab allows students to do complex and relevant tests in safe and accessible ways, teaching them all the things Abdulrahim says he wishes someone would’ve told him when he started out. 新空间将有助于提供学生真正需要的劳动力发展培训。