On July 1, 2005, Switzerland's first aviation competence center was founded at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). The following four institutes initiated and founded the Center for Aviation Competence (CFAC-HSG): the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance (IMP-HSG), the Insitute for Operations Research and Computational Finance (ior/cf-HSG), the Research Institute for Labor Economics and Labor Law (FAA-HSG) and the Chair for Logistics Management (LOG-HSG) at the University of St. Gallen.
The objective of the competence center is to support aviation by providing research and services, seminars and conferences on a scientific basis. The CFAC functions as a professional contact point for aviation-related queries. For the longer term, it provides basic and advanced aviation training for aviation companies. It focuses on the aspects of business administration, economic policy, air traffic law, labor law, logistics and corporate governance.
Today, the center is managed by the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance. Dr. Andreas Wittmer runs the CFAC-HSG's administrative office. The specialist council is made up of President Prof. Dr. Thomas Geiser (FAA-HSG), Prof. Dr. Christian Laesser (IMP-HSG), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stölzle (LOG-HSG), Prof. Dr. Karl Frauendorfer (ior/cf-HSG), Prof. Dr. Winfried Rugirok, Prof. Dr. Stefan Morkötter (SIG-HSG) and Prof. Dr. Roland Müller (President FFAC).
The competence center primarily operates in the business areas of research, training and services. In research, the center supervises doctoral, masters and bachelors theses on aviation topics. We publish our own articles in the most renowned aviation journals. In basic and advanced training, the center aims to have its courses adopted by the HSG and incorporated into the range of training programs offered by the University of St. Gallen. The initial negotiations for Diploma degree courses and an EMBA in aviation management have already taken place. In the third area, services, the CFAC focuses on the acquisition of various projects and studies. The CFAC allocates these assignments to its highly qualified participating institutes for completion. Efforts are made to encourage different institutes to work on projects in collaboration.