PLTW Engineering Faculty
Email: Michael.Bridges@np.edu
Phone: 501-760-4384
Michael Bridges grew up in Hot Springs, graduating from Hot Springs HS in 1976. After
graduation he went to Louisiana Tech University, majoring in Electrical Engineering.
In his sophomore year, his head was imploding due to advanced calculus applications
in his EE classes, and God showed him that his brain is wired for computer programming
instead. So he changed majors to Computer Science and graduated with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Computer Science on May 17th, 1980.
After graduation and a wedding one week later, he started working on flight control
system software at General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas. He worked in that field
at that company (the company changed names 7 times but the location never changed)
for 32 years, retiring in January 2013 as the Software Safety Manager over the F-35
program. He would have continued to work there but the pull of family and friends
in the Hot Springs area pulled them back home.
Currently he is finishing up his second year teaching pre-Engineering classes at NPC
Career Academy. It’s a great 2nd career as it combines both his love of engineering
and his passion for teaching.
In addition to his work here at NPC Career Academy, he also leads a Weight Watchers
class out at Diamondhead Country Club on Monday evenings, teaches Dave Ramsey’s Financial
Peace University curriculum at First Baptist Church in Hot Springs, and he runs the
broadcast audio panel for First Baptist Church's on-line streaming Sunday worship
services.”