Future leaders learn aboard 'shuttle'

OREM — Who knew you could learn about what it takes to build homes by traveling to the moon?

Utah Valley State College student Michael Dyal thinks he can pick up things about his field of study — construction management — with a high-tech flight into space.

Well, he's not actually taking an out-of-this-world trip.

It's a make-believe flight in a NASA space shuttle simulator — but, he says, the lessons remain relevant.

"I'm going into a career that's very team-oriented," Dyal said. "It demands communication and it demands leadership."

Dyal is among a group of about 25 students in UVSC's Center for the Advancement of Leadership program who were in Henderson, Nev., last weekend practicing communication, leadership and teamwork at a place with the space-shuttle simulator.

"You're actually flying a real shuttle mission," said Bruce Jackson, the leadership center director. "You're in the cockpit, you're throwing all the switches, looking at computer screens, mission control, all those things."

The students will take turns piloting the shuttle and being members of the flight crew. Organizers of the event hope they will take those experiences into the real world.

For Dyal, that will be this spring when he graduates and takes a job in Northern California as a construction project manager for Kiewit Pacific. He'll be among a team that supervises foremen and their groups of four or five employees, as well as subcontractors.

In addition to Dyal's degree in technology management, he'll have a certificate from the leadership program. He was required to take four classes in leadership, perform service in the community and enroll in leadership seminars as well as activities such as the shuttle simulator program.

"I'm really looking forward just for the opportunity to experience a NASA flight in a simulator," he said. "Most likely that's going to be the highest I'm ever going to get into space."

Dyal and the other students paid $100 for the program. The remaining costs were picked up by the leadership center and the simulator facility in Nevada, called the Total Learning Research Institute.

Jackson recently took over the helm of UVSC's leadership center and has redesigned its programs for people in all stages of life.

In addition to the program for undergraduate students enrolled at UVSC, the leadership center has programs for students in elementary, junior high and high schools, and seminars and certificates for working professionals and community leaders.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com