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An artist’s rendering of a proposed $9 million Aerospace Building on the Nunez campus. Nunez is currently raising funds to build the facility to host Aerospace alongside other MADE initiative programs including Maritime, Defense manufacturing and Engineering.
Nunez Community College in Chalmette harnessed some of the rocket power of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which successfully concluded with the Astronauts’ safe return on April 10, to lobby for a new Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Building on the Nunez campus. Since its inception in 2018, Nunez’s Aerospace Manufacturing Technology program has awarded more than 300 credentials, with program graduates moving on to work at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Vivace, Blue Origin and other prestigious aerospace leaders.
On the morning of May 28, to kick off St. Bernard Day at the Capitol in Baton Rouge, Nunez hosted an advocacy breakfast for a room full of influential guests, including lawmakers, industry representatives, education leaders and supporters from St. Bernard Parish, in the apartment of Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, who generously offered up his home in Baton Rouge to support Nunez’s Aerospace program.
“Through innovative programs like the Aerospace Manufacturing Technology program at Nunez Community College, students can see firsthand how education leads to exciting careers in a growing industry that is helping power our country’s space exploration,” said Lt. Gov. Nungesser. “Louisiana has a proud history of contributing to the space program. With work on future NASA missions happening just minutes away from Nunez at the Michoud Assembly Facility, it’s inspiring to see so many young people discovering they can be the next generation of innovators, engineers, and explorers who will help shape that future.”
In order to expand the pipeline of engineers and technicians flowing from Nunez, home to the only Aerospace Manufacturing program in Louisiana, to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and the larger aerospace industry, Nunez has embarked on a mission to raise $9 million for a new Aerospace building. The facility would be multi-use, housing other high-tech courses alongside Aerospace as part of Nunez’s MADE initiative, which will encompass Maritime, Aerospace, Defense manufacturing and Energy.
Hands-On History
The advocacy breakfast came just weeks after Nunez watched the hard work of its Aerospace Manufacturing Technology program pay off in real time during a ‘NASA Official’ watch party on campus for the launch of Artemis II on April 1.
Nunez had personal stakes in the success of Boeing’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, which propelled the Orion capsule and four NASA astronauts to space to begin their trip around the moon. Many graduates of Nunez’s Aerospace program have gone on to work for Boeing and some had a hand in assembling critical components of the SLS at Michoud before the rocket was moved by barge to Cape Canaveral in Florida, where it launched.
Among the components that comprise the SLS, much of the electrical and wiring systems were assembled by Nunez graduates. To celebrate the historic contributions hand-built by Nunez alums, the Nunez community gathered in the Student Testing and Career Counseling Center on the Nunez campus to watch the live stream of the launch.
“Watching Artemis II launch and being a part of that story was an incredibly proud moment for Nunez Community College,” said Dr. Tina Tinney, Nunez Chancellor. “Our Aerospace Manufacturing Technology graduates quite literally helped build the pathway to the moon, and this launch is a powerful reminder that world‑changing innovation can begin right here in St. Bernard Parish.”
80-plus guests filled the STCCC, with many wearing complementary, specially designed Artemis II T-shirts created for the occasion. Some younger guests got into the spirit by attending in themed outfits, including one boy in a full astronaut costume. Guests enjoyed free food and giveaways and, in the final moments before launch, heard brief remarks from Dr. Tinney and Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Instructor Lloyd Norton, who highlighted his impressive Aerospace students and alumni and expressed his immense pride in the Nunez program.
“I’m very excited to see the Artemis II launch, knowing that some of the workers that made this possible are my former students,” said Norton. “I wish my students and the Artemis program a long and successful relationship.”
The excitement extended well beyond campus. Multiple local television stations broadcast live from the watch party throughout the evening, spotlighting Nunez’s unique role in America’s space program and capturing the pride and anticipation in the room as launch time approached.
The crowd, filled with Aerospace students and instructors, Nunez administrators, faculty and staff, and community members of all ages, waited with anxiety in the minutes leading up to the launch. Dr. Tinney and members of the Nunez team led the crowd in a countdown, with the party erupting in cheers when the SLS boosters ignited and lifted the massive rocket off the pad. Tension lingered as the rocket ascended, while the crowd watched NASA’s livestream on two large projection screens in the STCCC. Minutes later, when it became apparent that the launch portion of the mission was a success, the mood in the room shifted back into celebration, and the specialty cake was cut for the crowd to enjoy.
