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GRADUATING Engineers of the Art Williams and Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School (AWHWAES) have been told that their professional career outlook is “very exciting.” This is so, given global expansion of the air transport industry and local emphasis on tourism as a new growth area for Guyana.
Speakers at the annual Graduation and Induction Ceremony of the school made this prognosis last Friday at the Wings Aviation Ltd’s Hangar at the Ogle Regional & Municipal Airport, East Coast Demerara, when twelve students graduated from a three-year programme in aeronautical engineering amidst plaudits by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the AWHWAES, Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue MS; US-based Airline Operations Specialist Mr. Linden Hiliman; Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Lt. Col. Oscar Derby; CEO, Wings Aviation Limited, and CEO, Fly Jamaica, Captain Ronald Reece; and the Hon. Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
Several first and second- year students of the same programme were also given awards for good performances in those stages of their training during the three-hour-long ceremony.
The programme also included presentation of a token of appreciation to Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue, founder and CEO of the AWHAES, for his sterling contribution to the development of aviation in Guyana over the years.
This was done by US-based Guyanese Mr. Linden Hiliman, a pilot with the world famous South West Airlines in America.
The attentive audience included members of the Diplomatic Corps; Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Mr Zulfikar Mohamed; Deputy Manager of Air and Maritime Transport at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Pauline Yearwood; a delegation from the Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA); and parents, relatives and friends of the graduates.
Captain Malcolm Chan-a-Sue disclosed that, since 1997, the school has churned out a total of 222 graduates in aeronautical engineering, 104 of whom are fully licensed engineers working in the air transport industry at home, in the Caribbean, and well beyond.
The AWHWAES is approved by the GCAA and its Airworthiness Inspectors, and by the Jamaican Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA).
It is currently undergoing certification by the Trinidad & Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (T&TCAA) and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (EC CAA).
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds told the graduates that a very exciting future awaits them. He said government has identified tourism as a new growth area, and was, as such, cognizant of the need to modernize the aviation sector.
The PM said: “We know that tourism needs aviation. Government has expended more than one billion dollars for modernization & enhancement of air navigation and communications equipment at Timehri and at the Ogle Control Tower; and an investment to the tune of US$150M will also be made available to extend the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and to put in the new terminals.
“Given your critical role in the sector, you will therefore get ample opportunity to help develop your country, or to be very good ambassadors of your country.”
Lt. Col. Oscar Derby told the audience and graduates that exponential growth was taking place in the air transport industry, and a shortage of skills currently exists therein “even as we speak.”
He said that, in fourteen years’ time, the global fleet of aeroplanes is expected to increase by an additional 25,000; and by 2030, by an additional 33,500 aircraft. In twelve years’ time, there will be a need for an additional 480,000 aeronautical engineers; and by 2030, well over 500,000 additional aviation professionals will be needed to man airports and do the many jobs that are in the industry.
“So I want to tell you, the parents of these graduates, as well as the sponsors of these graduates, that their training is a sound investment in the air transport industry, not only in Guyana, but in the CARICOM region and beyond,” he declared.
Best Graduate
Cleveroy Patrick was adjudged ‘the best graduating student’ of the three-year programme. He also won ‘the best third year student award’ for Avionics, and ‘the best third year student for oral examination performance’.
Mark Ricknauth won ‘the best third year student’ award for mechanics.
The roll call of certificates was done by Executive Manager of Quality and Administration of the AWHWAES, Mrs. Nalini Chanderban, and prizes to the third year graduates were delivered by Mrs. Patricia Reece of Wings Aviation.
Captain Ronald Reece, Vice-Chairman of the AWHWAES, advised graduates that success in aviation is based on honesty, discipline, the ability to pay attention to small details, good memory of facts and figures, and the ability to ‘think outside the box’.
He said Guyanese aircraft engineers are providing efficient services all over the world, and this new batch needs only to have the power to dream, and then the discipline to act to make individual dreams become reality.
He congratulated them on their achievements, and wished them every success in the future.
