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BUDDING pilots now have more opportunity to spread their wings and learn to fly thanks to an aviation degree being offered in Toowoomba at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).
For the first time, students in the Garden City will don the black and white pilot uniform with a Bachelor of Aviation on offer from February 2020.
The university currently teaches aviation at its Springfield campus, near Ipswich, but with a worldwide pilot shortage looming, USQ was propelled to expand its program to its biggest campus.
With Toowoomba located just 120km west of Brisbane's CBD, head of USQ aviation Professor Paul Bates said the degree would attract students from across the southeast.
"A career as a pilot can take you around the world," Prof Bates said.
"Whether you fly as a commercial pilot for an airline, training organisation, operate charter flights or as an instructor, the sky really is the limit.
"And where better to study aviation than Queensland's biggest inland city - home to the country's newest airport."
According to the latest statistics from Boeing's Pilot & Technician Outlook 2019-2038, 770,000 new pilots will be needed to fly and maintain the world's fleet over the next two decades - with nearly 40 per cent of those required in the Asia Pacific region.
"Aviation is one of the world's fastest growing industries," Prof Bates said.
"At USQ, we're doing everything we can to meet these future demands."
New USQ aviation degree to attract students from across the southeast.JULIAN PANETTA
First-year students studying aviation at USQ will train in a $1 million state-of-the-art flight simulator. Based on the Boeing 737-800 airliner, it is the only one of its type at a Queensland university.
"Featuring the most up-to-date equipment and technology in the world, the simulator provides our aviation students with the most realistic multi-crew simulated training in an aircraft cockpit, putting us at the cutting edge of aviation," Prof Bates said.
"Our students also operate the simulator in the first year of their degree which is not available anywhere else in the country."
Toowoomba's Bachelor of Aviation is one of several new course offerings at USQ, such as the recently-unveiled specialist Masters degree in cyber security.
Like aviation, cyber security is an in-demand industry.
Cyber-crime is one of the fastest-growing and most prolific types of crime in the country, but the sector faces a critical skills shortage - it is estimated that 18,000 more cyber security professionals are needed by 2026, according to the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.
USQ's new Master of Cyber Security provides students practical training in cyber protection and security, as well as transferable skills that can be applied to multiple professions.
"To learn more about USQ's new course offerings, including Aviation and Cyber Security, come along to an Open Day: USQ Springfield on July 27, USQ Toowoomba on August 18 or USQ Ipswich on August 24," Prof Bates said.
Become more at Australia's number one university for graduate starting salary, according to the Good Universities Guide 2019, at a 2019 USQ Open Day.
Visit usq.edu.au/openday to register.