Page 22 - ATC Special Bulletin Series - Training & Simulation 2022-01

22 Figure 2. MUAC airspace sector groups: red – Brussels, blue – DECO, green - Hannover endorsements in one or two sector groups. Reduced operational activities during the pandemic also allowed MUAC to work on cross training of controllers. This means that MUAC has been training controllers not only in their own sector group, but also for an endorsement in half (1⁄2) of the neighboring sector within MUAC’s area. Currently, there are 11 controllers who hold licenses in two sectors, with a further 22 either undergoing or scheduled to commence their training in the second sector group for their third endorsement. This allows for a more flexible and efficient utilisation of controller resources. NEW TRAINING METHODS PROPELLED BY THE CRISIS MUAC has always prided itself on its innovative spirit and has been known in the industry as a leader in trying new technologies and methods. It is no coincidence that the motto chosen for its 50th anniversary in 2022 was “50 years of passion and innovation”. COVID-19 acted as a catalyst in certain areas and while operational traffic was low, other developments accelerated at the Centre, including ATM training. Remote training gave way to more autonomous simulator features, such as the use of speech synthesis (text to speech) and faster generation of exercises on the simulator. Future developments include a system that is able to give automatic initial feedback to a trainee, automatic speech recognition and full flexibility for students and ATCOs to select their own training exercises. This enables students at MUAC to train in a partially automated way when training staff are not available and gives trainees the ability to gain greater exposure to traffic scenarios without expending additional resources associated with this effort. MUAC also took this opportunity to redesign its training programme, rework its simulator exercises and make its training more robust by redefining a clear learning curve and its building blocks for the best possible progress. The overarching intent is | SPECIAL BULLETIN SERIES | 2022 | |