Wednesday, March 31, 2010

UAF aviation students reach new heights!

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus is pioneering a method of training aircraft mechanics that is likely to set the stage for training programs nationwide.

TVC’s aviation maintenance technology program is the only organization in the nation that is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to deliver the training via simulcast. A record 11 locations participated in the training earlier this month.

“This will likely spread throughout the country, proving once again that Alaska is on the cutting edge of American aviation and UAF/TVC is a leader in aviation maintenance education,” said program coordinator Kevin Alexander.

The second-year pilot program delivers training to aircraft mechanics located around Alaska via two-way webcasting. The webcast is delivered from the Butrovich Building on the Fairbanks campus.

The goal of the program is to increase training participation by the 1,400 authorized inspectors in Alaska. Participating locations in the training included Fairbanks, Bethel, Kotzebue, Nome, Glennallen, Juneau, Sitka, Kenai, Ketchikan, Anchorage and Springfield, Ill.

"It's absolutely wonderful to be working with the FAA to help raise the level of safety and professionalism in the statewide aviation maintenance industry,” said TVC professional piloting program coordinator Roger Weggal. “The number of mechanics we're able to reach simultaneously and the ability to get real-time questions and answers from around the state is invaluable."

CONTACT: Michelle Renfrew, TVC information officer, 907-455-2833, mmrenfrew@alaska.edu

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Kevin Alexander, Aviation Maintenance Technology coordinator, at 907-322-5224 or via e-mail at akmechanic@aol.com.

Monday, March 8, 2010

8 days later.

What happened to me in the last eight days? Well...
- Purchased 72 lbs of rice pasta, 96 rolls of TP, 55 lbs of basmati and jasmine rice, 13 jars of spagetti sauces, 48 quarts of original rice milk, 20 lbs of potatoes, a dozen bottles of ketchup, and various other non-perishable items. (Not necessary because apparently they have food in Alaska.)
- Turned 30 years old somewhere while driving through British Columbia, Canada. (That's one way to celebrate a birthday!)
- Saw a buffalo, stone sheep, and deer licking pavement. (Not recommended.)
- Said good-bye to family and friends in Oregon, but found out my wife and I will be running a hotel in Fairbanks, AK this summer. (Every will be visiting us this summer.)
- Drove through a blizzard. (Okay maybe not an actual blizzard, but for about five minutes the snow flurry was pretty intense.)
- Packed everything we own in a 14 ft U-Haul. (Sadly, we could not fill it up.)
- And started a new job in Fairbanks, AK on Monday, March 8th. (Go Nanooks!)

Now wasn't that a better introduction than just saying: "Hi, my name is Christopher Wheeler and I just spent four and a half days driving from Oregon to UAF, along the Alaskan Highway, to begin my new job as an admissions counselor at UAF."

If you would like more details on anything I have written above or have questions about UAF, please feel free to leave your comments.

Until then, have a great day!

-Chris