Missouri City Hightower Graduate Soaring in TSTC in Waco Aviation Maintenance Program

From TSTC:

WACO, TX - People walking into the hangar at the end of the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center at Texas State Technical College in Waco can see learning in progress.

Small turboprop planes and a helicopter are positioned where wings and propellers do not touch. A person can see the exposed engines and dashboards as they duck under wings while walking through the hangar.

The hangar is used by students in the technical college's Aviation Maintenance department and is a place attracting students from throughout Texas to learn the inner workings of airplanes and helicopters, all within Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.

The department has grown from 80 students in the 2015-16 academic year to about 100 students for the 2016-17 academic year. Robert Capps, the department's lead instructor, said faculty members anticipate the department growing to 120 students next year.

"We want students who are good at technical reading and writing, have a grasp of high school algebra and, above all, a curiosity and a love of learning," Capps said.

Some of the department's students came to TSTC by way of having degrees in other fields.

Chris Smith, 31, a native of Missouri City and a 2003 graduate of Hightower High School in Missouri City, studied sports management at Metropolitan State University of Denver and worked for the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters.

But he discovered working with sports was not what he wanted to do the rest of his career. He wants one to day repair F/A-18 Hornets in the Denver or Dallas-Fort Worth areas. He is working toward an associate degree in Aircraft Airframe Technology.

"My affinity for aviation started kicking in," Smith said. "I wanted to work on airplanes. I wanted to learn how they worked and get a job and pay to further my education."

Capps said the department's students are sought after.

"Our college's reputation in the industry is such that employers come to us frequently to hire our graduates," he said. "Textron Aviation (based in Wichita, Kansas) came last semester and interviewed six people, offered jobs to four of them, and two accepted."

At least 121,000 aircraft mechanics and service technicians are expected to be needed through 2024, according to projectionscentral.com, a clearinghouse of short-term and long-term state labor market predictions.

"We are very excited about the growth of the aerospace industry," Capps said. "Flight hours are expected to double in the next 15 years. We are also excited about the space side of the aerospace industry. Commercial space flights are on the cusp of beginning. Our students are well-positioned to begin a career that will continue as future supervisors and management in the commercial space industry."

The Aviation Maintenance department also offers an associate degree in Aircraft Powerplant Technology certificates in Aircraft Airframe Technology and Aircraft Powerplant Technology.

For more information, go to tstc.edu.

Image via TSTC.