| Issue 6 | Volume 146 | Tuesday, October 18, 2016 | theavion.com |
INSIDE - SPECIAL EDITION AVIOFF But first, regularly scheduled Avion content:
Dreams Soar to New Heights
Mike Shekari Correspondant
On Oct. 12, Shaesta Waiz, dual alumni of Embry-Riddle and the Founder and President of Dreams Soar, Inc., returned to Daytona Beach from San Diego in the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza. In California, Waiz spent a couple of months of intense flight training and aircraft modifications in preparation for the Dreams Soar global flight. Waiz, an Afghan native, estab-
lished Dreams Soar, Inc., a nonprofit organization, to inspire the next generation of STEM and aviation professionals. In spring 2017, Waiz will depart from Daytona Beach International Airport at Sheltair Aviation to circumnavigate the globe solo. The journey will have 30 stops across 18 countries on five continents, flying over 25,000 nautical miles, while aiming to be the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe.
Waiz and her family fled to the United States nearly 29 years ago at the height of the Afghan-Soviet war. After earning her private pilot certificate while attending Embry-Riddle, Waiz discovered she was the first civilian female pilot from Afghanistan. Making her desire to influence and empower more young women to pursue aviation and STEM even stronger. Supporting Waiz in this great endeav-
or is the “Dream Team,” which is comprised primarily of Embry-Riddle undergraduate and graduate students. The Dream Team assists Waiz on matters of flight planning, aircraft maintenance, climatology, marketing and social media strategies, international security planning and STEM-focused outreach events along the route. Dreams Soar was also once supported as an Embry-Riddle initiative.
Unfortunately, the university severed ties with the organization during the spring 2016 semester; around the same time that the university decided to cancel the bi-annual Wings and Waves Airshow. However, Waiz and the Dream Team persevered and have developed many partnerships with other members of the aviation community, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Bendix-
King by Honeywell, Textron Aviation, Garmin, JSSI, and Bose. Readers can learn more about Shaesta Waiz, the Dream Team, and Dreams Soar by visiting the organization’s website, www.dreamssoar.org, or by following Dreams Soar on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Dreams Soar will also be featured at the upcoming NBAA conference in Orlando with the Bonanza on the convention exhibit floor.
Billy Nguyen/The Avion Newspaper
Spotlight - Aviation Maintenance Science Located next to the Flight Operations Center near the flight line is a 48,000 square foot, state of the art facility. This building is the location of one of the founding departments of ERAU that specializes in one of the most important pieces of the aviation industry: aviation maintenance. In the Aviation Maintenance Science Department (AMS) students have
the opportunity to enroll in either the associate's or bachelor's degree program, or both. One of the advantages to the associates offered through the AMS department is that students can get their airframe and power plant certifications, and still pursuing a Bachelor's degree of their choice. The AMS program here at ERAU is unique when compared to over 170 other schools in the nation that offer the A&P certification. ERAU offers more
resources, a higher quality of instruction, and an unmatched combined 600 years of industry experience held by its instructors.
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Graduates of the AMS program have gone on to do amazing things and work for major industry players.
Students access to
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Henry Neiberlien News Editor
also have industry-lev-
el equipment and training materials. In the FAA part 145 certified engine repair station, part of the AMS program since 1956, students will be participating in the complete overhaul of engines used in ERAU training aircraft. This means that the students actually participate in real world scenarios as opposed to just to training aids. Students are also assigned a team and an operational engine in their turbines courses were
they disassemble the jet engine down to the last bolt, inspect it and reassemble the engine and test it in of the department’s engine test cells. Students also learn about the structure, maintenance and operation of propellers and turbine blades. When it comes to the airframe curriculum, the students in the AMS program will learn how to build a wing surface from scratch in a variety of materials that include composite
materials such as carbon fiber, and sheet metal. Students also have an option of taking an avionics minor, which takes one semester to complete. The avionics minor includes the installation, maintenance, and coding for digital and analog avionics systems. Everything from steam gauges such as an altimeter and attitude indicator to advanced digital system like the Garmin G1000 will be thoroughly covered. Continued on A5 >>