$1.5 Million Grant to Fund New Florida Tech Training and Research Center at Melbourne International Airport
– The Florida Institute of Technology announced today the receipt of a $1.5 million gift from the Emil Buehler Trust of Paramus, N.J. The gift will fund
the new Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Education and Research at the Florida Institute of Technology. The Buehler Center will consist of a main building
and hangar, located on eight acres on the south side of Melbourne International Airport.
Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese said the center will provide the university’s College of Aeronautics faculty and students an excellent facility
for teaching, learning and research. “We’re delighted that the Emil Buehler Trust, has, in fact, placed its trust in us to build upon a strong tradition of
educating our remarkable students in the College of Aeronautics,” said Catanese. “This new center will provide the aeronautics students with the strength
of resources that our students in engineering and the sciences now take for granted.”
Site preparation for the new center will begin in the fall of 2006, and completion is estimated for the spring of 2008. In addition to flight training, the
building will house research centers in human factors and simulation research. The building will also house a fixed base operation, providing students with
valuable hands-on opportunities in the growing aeronautics field.
“We expect this facility to provide valuable training and research space for the college,” said College of Aeronautics
Dean Michael Karim. “The support of the Emil Buehler Trust will strengthen our ability to recruit the best and brightest students, and help to further
raise the university’s profile within the aviation community.”
Florida Tech’s Senior Vice President for Advancement, Thomas G. Fox, said the Buehler gift was an important first step in realizing the university’s vision
for the College of Aeronautics. “We are grateful to the Buehler Trust for their generosity,” said Fox. “This gift is a wonderful starting point for our
ongoing efforts to expand the College of Aeronautics’ facilities and scholarship endowment.”
The Emil Buehler Trust was established in 1984 to perpetuate the memory of Emil Buehler and his commitment to aviation science and technology. During his
lifetime, Buehler believed that the majesty and mystery of flight was a vision to be shared. This vision drives the continuing philanthropic involvement of
the Buehler Trust.
Florida Tech was founded in 1958, the same year as NASA, at the dawn of Earth’s reach into space. Established by professionals working in the space program
at what is now Kennedy Space Center, it is the only university founded by United States rocket scientists. Florida Tech is located about 50 minutes south
of Kennedy Space Center.
Florida Tech is the only independent scientific and technological university in the Southeast and was one of just five Florida schools selected in Barron’s
Best Buys in College Education. It is also named among America’s best colleges in U.S. News & World Report.
