Program helps laid-off aerospace workers land in cyberspace

Osborne

May 9, 1998
Web posted at: 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Ron Osborne has made the journey from aerospace to cyberspace.

The 59-year-old former aerospace engineer earned a master's degree from the University of Southern California as part of a special program to retrain ex-aerospace workers as cyberspace engineers.

"Going back to school, I made the joke a lot of times that my original degree was older than most of the people I was going to school with," he said.

Osborne, who was once laid off, now does high-tech computer work in the entertainment industry.

"The kind of candidates we're looking for in this particular aspect of our business is somebody with strong programming skills and extensive knowledge of different computer platforms," said Jeannine Patton of Panasonic Disc Services.

"If they get that training in the defense or aerospace industry, then we'd like to be able to benefit from that."

USC's program was designed for the thousands of aerospace workers who lost jobs as part of defense industry cutbacks in the late 1980s and early '90s.

The program is part of the Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at USC. It offers students a degree in electrical engineering or computer science, with a specialization in multimedia and creative technologies.

"We could design some unique educational experience for dislocated workers and hopefully help them to get back to work with new skills," said Max Nikias, director of IMSC.

The multimedia program is partly funded by the city of Los Angeles, which wants to keep the highly trained but suddenly unemployed aerospace workers in the local job force.

"Someone that is not earning a paycheck is not spending money, therefore they're not doing anything for the local economy," said the city's Jasper Williams.

Erin Ballew, a student in the program, said she's finding her future in the program after losing her aerospace job.

"It's like the world is open to me ... through this program," she said. "It's just amazing. I feel like I can do anything I want. I can leave my history behind and do something new and exciting." ( 112K/11 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Correspondent Jim Hill contributed to this report.

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) Home Page
• The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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