MAE Professor Ann Karagozian was quoted in the KCET article “The History and Revival of Southern California’s Aerospace Industry,” which examines Southern California’s central and pivotal role in the history of aviation and aerospace.
Excerpts and quotes:
“In the past decade, there actually has been a resurgence in investments and in programs that for which Southern California companies are major contributors,” said Ann Karagozian, professor at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and director of the Collaborative Center for Aerospace Studies. Having grown up in Los Angeles and attended local universities UCLA and Caltech, she has watched how the industry reemerges and impacts the surrounding region. Its growth and evolution have always been closely tied to the culture, politics, and geography of Southern California. As such, it has had a great influence on the area.
Karagozian believes that this synergy of technology between industries is something to look forward to in the future as developments in other fields are having a big influence on aerospace, from autonomous vehicles to virtual reality. “All of these industries that are burgeoning nationwide and also in many parts of Southern California have a direct impact in the aerospace industry. And young people are learning these new methods and techniques in their engineering education, and they’re enthusiastic about applying them in many different fields, including aerospace,” she said.
There is something about the West that has always drawn in the innovators, the creative thinkers, those who push the limits of what’s possible. Perhaps that’s why the city boosters of 1910 pushed so hard for the air meet. They saw how the airplane was going to change the world and wanted to be the center of it. “There was sort of a cowboy-like, can-do attitude in Southern California because it was where a lot of young people were moving. And I think that had an impact on the establishment of novel concepts in aviation and in space,” said Karagozian.
Article by Ashleen Knutsnen | Images courtesy of CSUDH and Space X