Mark Blanks
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MARK T. BLANKS
Assistant Professor
CONTACT:
Office: BAS-S234
Phone: (615) 898-5832
Fax: (615) 904-8273
Email: mtblanks@mtsu.edu
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Mark Blanks was born and raised in Middle Tennessee and has been involved in the aviation
industry for most of his life. He began flying at the age of 16, earned his private
pilot's license at the age of 17 and his instrument rating two years later. While
attending MTSU he worked in various aviation positions from line service to apprentice
aircraft maintenance technician.
Mr. Blanks graduated in 2004 from MTSU with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Maintenance
Management with a minor in Industrial Studies. Following graduation he was offered
a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) with the University of Tennessee Space Institute
(UTSI) in Tullahoma, TN. His work as a GRA involved maintaining UTSI's fixed-wing
and rotor-wing aircraft, as well as designing and installing flight test instrumentation
for the university's flight test aircraft. He was eventually offered the position
of Project Engineer for a major U.S. military contract conducted at UTSI's Flight
Research facilities. After graduating with a M.S. degree in Aviation Systems from
UTSI, Mr. Blanks worked as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) for a local general
aviation shop and rose quickly to become the General Manager of the company.
In June 2008, Mr. Blanks accepted a position with a local aircraft manufacturer supervising
their new aircraft certification program. He was responsible for the design and implementation
of both structural and flight tests to substantiate aircraft design standards. In
addition to his maintenance and flight test experience, Mr. Blanks was also the Project
Lead for the installation of ADS-B units in MTSU's fleet of Diamond DA-40 aircraft.
Mr. Blanks accepted the position of Assistant Professor for MTSU's Aerospace Department
in the fall of 2009. He is a federally licensed Airframe & Powerplant (A & P) technician
with an Inspection Authorization. He is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational
Leadership and his two primary research interests are aviation maintenance human factors
and aviation ethics. Mr. Blanks resides in Murfreesboro with his wife, Emily, and
daughter, Lillian.
