Terraka Garner
Staff Writer
Students travel from all around the world to join Idaho State University’s aircraft maintenance program. The attraction to the program lies within the fact that it is a Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, approved program.
This college of technology program is a two-year program.
After graduation, students are qualified to work on “any US aircraft, which includes: hot air balloons, dirigibles, gliders, jets, ag planes and helicopters,” said Aircraft Maintenance Program Coordinator Gary Shipley. “They all require inspections on a scheduled basis and our graduates are qualified, once they get some experience, to inspect and maintain all of those different types of aircraft.”
Mahesharatnam Sujieevan transferred from a school in Sri Lanka, India to partake in the ISU aircraft maintenance program.
Sujieevan believed that his engineering program only allowed him to do a limited amount of what he would like to accomplish.
“Education is kind of the same here as [in Sri Lanka], but here is more practical,” said Sujieevan. “The degrees [are] so good over here, so it’s good to get a job from the degree over here.”
Sulaiman Al Amri transferred from the Sultanate of Oman to come to ISU’s Aircraft Maintenance Program.
“Since I was a freshman in high school, I’ve already decided on a career,” said Al Amri. “I’ve already [known] what I wanted to do. I knew that aircraft maintenance is the passion I wanted to be, regardless what system in the world.”
Al Amri enjoys his time in the program and intends to earn first a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree.
“I’m getting my pilot license soon. I’m looking for more than that. I’m looking for trainings. I’m looking [to] be in aviation education for like five, six, seven or eight years,” said Al Amri. “I’m not in a rush. I love being here. I love being a student for a long time because I’m looking for something bigger than an associate’s.”
Victor Vasquez is a transfer student from Mexico. He believes that in order to be successful in the aircraft maintenance program, “you have to like what you are doing and you have to work hard at it.”
“I like pretty much everything. It’s either you like it or you don’t and there’s nothing in between,” said Vasquez. “You got to be all in or not at all because it requires a lot from regulations and it saves people’s lives.”
Alexis Hamell is a student from Idaho. She formerly taught middle school students but said she has always dreamed of becoming a pilot on a plane but had too many complications achieving her dream without going to school.
“I’d been teaching middle school for 10 years and I was working on getting my pilot’s license. I’ve always wanted to do that and I realized I wanted to understand more about airplanes and what not and I went and visited with the Mish Aviation Fellowship about getting some hours there,” said Hamell. “They basically said that unless you’re an [aircraft maintenance] mechanic, you can’t fly their airplanes. I realized that there was some importance in understanding how they work and being able to fix them.”
According to Shipley, the aircraft maintenance program is designed to show students the ropes to successfully completing their federal airframe, general and power plant written oral and practical tests.
“When you [are] with great instructors like those three [at ISU], instructors like an airliner, commercial pilots and [Gary Shipley] who’s been in the business for 40 years, you know you will be improved,” said Al Amri. “Just to be talking with them every single day, it’s a huge knowledge.”
Shipley believes that the instructors and employees of the aircraft maintenance program have a huge effect on the success of the students. He said that he has a unique perspective in teaching the program because he was a student in the same program. The instructors include: Kent Roberts, Michael Evans, and Shipley, along with aircraft maintenance instructional assistant Tonya Bolliger.
“We have great students across the board from all parts of the state and the world and we’re very proud of our student population,” said Shipley. “We couldn’t teach the program without the well-educated staff.”
