Author Archives: Nicolas

About Nicolas

Sophomore

Aviation Business Administration

**Nicolas** – Intern with Montreal International Airport, Finance Department
**Major:** Aviation Business Administration
**Hometown:** Montreal, Canada
**Campus Involvement:** Airport Management Club, National Business Aviation Administration, International Student Programing Council and student assistant in the College of Business
**Why I chose Embry-Riddle:** Its worldwide reputation, opportunities and everyone’s love for aviation

75th and Final Post

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Hi everyone!

These past two weeks have been very busy in Daytona Beach. After my last final on Tuesday, I only had a few days to pack everything in my apartment since I was moving out.  I needed to put all my stuff in my car and that was a challenge. I sold the larger furniture or else it would have been impossible to bring it all back to Canada.

Monday was the big day for myself and 702 other students from the Daytona Beach Campus. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation Business Administration in three years!

The next day after graduation, I was already on my way to Canada. I had done this route very many times so I knew what to expect. I also knew that traffic in the Baltimore/Washington and New York City area can be really bad. This time, I decided to take a different route that was a bit more inland. Instead of following the East Coast and passing through large metropolitan areas, I would go through  smaller cities such as Columbia, Charlotte, Harrisburg and Syracuse. The trip was slightly longer in distance, but I saved time without being stuck in traffic for hours.

Long journey ahead!

I arrived in Montreal a few days ago and now I am preparing myself to start my journey at Air Canada at the end of May as Manager, Planning and Scheduling. I will work with the North American Network Planning team. I will plan and schedule flights more than one year ahead of the schedule is actually flown. I am excited because the new Boeing 737 MAX will enter service in October! Air Canada has ordered 61 of the type to replace its current aging narrow-body fleet.

As you saw in the title, this is my 75th and final blog post as a student blogger. Whether I was sharing with you my study tips for finals or I was talking about my numerous trips around the world, I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs for these past two years! This is my last entry as an official blogger, but you might find me in the Alumni section from time to time.

Have a great summer!

Nicolas

Have you Thought About Taking Online Classes During the Summer?

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Have you ever thought of taking online classes during the summer to increase your chances of graduating early? It is not too late to register for this summer! That’s the path I took for the past two summers while also doing an internship. I have talked about Online vs. Regular Classes previously, but now I have gathered two stories of students who took online classes while also doing an internship or working a full-time position. Overall, they were great and recommended experiences:

“I took International Business during Summer 2016 while on internship with Alaska Airlines. My professor was great, and he posted video lectures online each week, so I would watch his chapter lecture, read the chapter, and do discussion posts. We could do the posts on our own time, as long as they were done by the end of the week. Additionally, we had a group project to do, which was challenging because one of my group members went on vacation and didn’t do her part. I believe we had also two exams, which were obviously open book. Lastly, we had a final paper, in which we had to write a business plan for how we would expand our American company into international markets.

I probably spent 30 min to 1 hour each night doing homework or reading the textbook (3 to 4 hours per week). Towards the end of the class I spent more time on the class, since I had a final paper to write. It was pretty easy to take a class during my internship. I started the online class a week before my internship, so I had a feel for it before I jumped into working full time. I worked 40 hours per week (typically 8am to 5pm) with an additional hour of commute each way. Once I got home I would do some homework for my online class. I spaced out my homework throughout the week so that I wouldn’t have to spend my weekends doing homework (since I had flight benefits and wanted to travel!).

I really liked combining an online class with my internship. I felt like I was being very productive over the summer. My manager at my internship was very impressed that I was able to take classes along with working full time.” – Lindsey Hanbidge, ERAU Daytona 2017 Graduating Senior

“During the summer of 2016, I took a Leadership online class as an elective while working full-time at an airport for a ground handling company. The class was straightforward and included weekly discussions and assignments. We also had a term paper and a final exam. I would say that I spent on average 3-4 hours per week on that class. It was crucial to set a side a time during the week to sit down with no distractions and knock out my class work. If you put it off until Sunday night each week, you will definitely regret it. With all that said, working full-time and taking an online class at the same time is totally feasible and totally recommended!” – Jake Neville, ERAU Daytona Class of 2016

Editor’s note: Current residential campus students must submit appropriate paperwork before enrolling in online courses through the Worldwide Campus. Consult with the Record’s Office, your advisor or program coordinator before deciding whether online courses are right for you. 

It’s Crunch Time

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Next week is the last week of classes of the 2017 Spring Semester! This also means that “It’s Crunch Time” before we head towards summer. It is time to finish those last semester projects/presentations and study for finals.

On Monday, I have a presentation in my Social Responsibility and Ethics Management class. During the semester, we had to volunteer and do ten hours of community service hours as part of a project called Civil Engagement Project.

The following day, I have a group presentation in my Strategic Management class. We will report on how our company did during the eight rounds simulation. During those rounds, we produced sensors and sold them on the market. We were competing against other groups in our classroom.

Thursday will be my last day of classes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University!

There are no classes on Friday as this day is dedicated to studying. My professor in my Aviation Labor Relations course will post our final exam on Canvas (online); we will have two days to complete it.

I will have a total of four “real” final exams that will take place during finals week (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). My other exams for my other three classes will be taken online.

In just about two weeks on May 8, I will be graduating!

Here are 10 Study Tips to help you prepare for your final exams:

  1. Do not look at the course material for the first time the day before the exam. Most professors mention the dates of assignments, quizzes, and exams during the first week of classes.
  2. Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
  3. Start looking slowly at the material a week or a few days before the test. You will learn and memorize a lot more if you study a little bit every day.
  4. If you created a study guide, try to break it up and study one part at a time. It will be easier if you study it in small chunks instead of reading the whole study guide again and again.
  5. Create a short song or a series of letters when you have to memorize things involving steps or chronology. One time I had to memorize the 6 types of religious conversion. So I just remembered the first letter of each word and it sounded like this IMEARC.
  6. Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
  7. Quiz yourself or get a friend to ask you some questions. I often use Quizlet to test myself. There is a test option where the website generates a set of questions from the data you have to learn.
  8. Get all the information possible you can from your professor. Sometimes, they will tell you the format of the exam (multiple choices, true or false, short answers, short essays and/or long essays) and the number of questions.
  9. Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
  10. The night before the test, don’t stay up late at night to study. You should have studied a few days before and be ready. You will do better on the on the exam if you have a good night of sleep.

Good luck on your exams!

Nicolas

Exploring the World’s Largest Model Railway

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Once Aircraft Interiors Expo and the World Travel Catering Expo were over, my friend and I had spare time in the afternoon to visit Hamburg. We used the Hamburg U-Bahn underground and headed to Miniatur Wunderland.

Opened in 2000, Miniatur Wunderland is the world’s largest model railway and also one of the most popular permanent exhibition in Northern Germany. As of today, there are nine sections of the Wunderland which are Hartz/Central Germany, Knuffingen, Alps/Austria, Hamburg, United States, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Knuffingen Airport and Italy. The work is far from over as the team is working on expanding the exhibition thru the following years to come.

The Knuffingen Airport was definitely my favourite section of Miniatur Wunderland. I wonder why?

The Knuffingen Airport was definitely my favourite section of Miniatur Wunderland. I wonder why?

I personally thought the airport was awesome. The designers paid attention to every detail. One thing that is amazing about this airport is that you can visually see the aircraft takeoff and land on the runway. Additionally, the planes can move around the airport and even head to a gate. Once the aircraft is parked at a gate, the jet bridge will move and align with the aircraft’s main door.

A Gate Gourmet truck loaded with beverages and meals.

A Gate Gourmet truck loaded with beverages and meals.

Even the baggage loading vehicles and the catering truck pictured above can move around the airport. The airport, the planes and the small trucks all had lights. You could even see the orange blinker of a truck that was turning left or right at an intersection.

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From back to front: Lufthansa (Boeing 747), Air Berlin (Airbus A330), Air France (Boeing 777), China Eastern (Airbus A330) and Emirates (Boeing 777).

The airport's schedule.

The airport’s schedule.

It was cool to see the actual schedule of the airport published. While looking at the schedule, you could anticipate what aircraft and airline would be the next departure and arrival.

Even though we spent most of our time at the model airport, we managed to visit the nine sections of the exhibition. There was a lot to see!

Grand Canyon, Nevada.

Grand Canyon, Nevada.

Pictured above is the Grand Canyon that can be found in the state of Nevada. It was fascinating to see the lively city of Las Vegas at night.

Train station.

Train station.

Visitors can find railways in multiple sections of the exhibition. Like the airplanes, the  trains move around the cities from station to station.

I would call it a "Centre of Operations."

I would call it the “Centre of Operations.”

It was intriguing to see “behind the scenes” of how everything worked to make this Miniatur Wunderland an attractive place to stop by. I believe these employees were  controlling and monitoring some of the trains, cars, boats, airplanes, aerial tramways, chairlifts, etc. I am sure there is automation involved but they need humans to make everything work perfectly.

I really enjoyed spending a few hours in this “miniature world.” If you visit Hamburg, I would totally recommend you to go take a look. Tickets are only €9 per person!

Until next time!

Nicolas

Aircraft Interiors Expo #AIX2017

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Last week, I was in Germany to attend Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg Messe. The event welcomed more than 550 exhibitors from all around the world. Every year, more than 14,000 aviation professionals, airlines and international press go to Hamburg for AIX. The event is huge and covers approximately 24,000 metres square (258,334 feet square) of flooring. As you can see below, the large floor plan includes different buildings that are a walking distance from each other.
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Below is a list of the major products you can find at Aircraft Interiors Expo:

  • Seats (First, Business Premium Economy and Economy)
  • Seats fabrics
  • Seats armrests
  • Seat power ports (110V and USB)
  • Racks that hold seats on the floor
  • Carpets for flooring
  • Cabin lighting
  • Galley carts
  • Lavatories
  • Inflight Entertainment (IFE)
  • And more!

Major News Announced

  • Zodiac Aerospace unveiled an economy seat for the Boeing 777X.
  • Hawaiian Airlines showed their future A321neo cabin interior by JPA Design
  • Recaro presented the Smart Cabin Reconfiguration for the A320 family. It revealed a quick way to swap seats between higher-density economy and more spacious Eurobusiness seats.
  • Airbus announced a new cabin version of its jumbo jet to accommodate an additional 80 seats.
  • ATR partnered with Geven to offer an increased seat width from 17″ to a more comfortable 18″.
  • Molon Labe updates its Slide-Slip Seat: the aisle seat slips over the middle seat for expedited boarding process.
  • Altran presented an autonomous robot trolley that can drive itself through the aisle.
  • HAECO Cabin Solutions offers a cocktail tray and PDE holder that will be offered on the Vector premium seat.
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Hawaiian Airlines A321neos will feature both First Class and Economy seats manufactured by B/E Aerospace. (Photo: Hawaiian Airlines)

World Travel Catering Expo (WTCE)

A l'Olivier, based in Paris, provides olive oil dressing for salads to airlines such as Air Canada.

A l’Olivier, based in Paris, provides olive oil dressing for salads to airlines such as Air Canada.

On the other side of the road was held the World Traveling Catering Expo (WTCE). On-site, visitors had the opportunity to try and sample anything from munchies to First class level cuisine. Many of the major airline catering providers (gategroup, dnata and LSG Group) were at the event. There were also many smaller companies I have never heard before.

There were many small firms that provided important products for the food catering industry, such as the aluminum foil that cover the hot meals in economy. You could also find different sizes of aluminum containers for meals, plastic cups for drinks and various sizes and shapes of cutlery. There were also providers of amenity kits for premium cabins, as well as companies that design crew uniforms.

Overview of one of the two WTCE exhibit.

Overview of one of the two WTCE exhibits.

While walking, I saw a cleaning machine that was spinning vertically to clean galley carts. It sprayed water and soap and the centrifugal force disinfected the beverage trolleys for their next flight. It was pretty amazing to watch!

As an #avgeek, it was impressive to see all those providers. There are so many that you would not think at first. I definitely hope to go back next year for the 2018 edition!

Until next time!

Nicolas

Two Days in Berlin

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Victory ColumnHallo!

Early this week, I travelled to Europe with my friend to attend Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany. Before we arrived in Hamburg, we spent two days in Berlin to visit the city. Here are the cool things we did during our stay:

Victory Column
The first activity we did once we arrived in Berlin was to visit the Victory Column (pictured on the right). From the top of the monument, you are able to view the city. It is located in the centre of a roundabout very close to the Tiergarten, one of the most popular park in Berlin. 

East Side Gallery
The following morning, we took the U-Bahn (subway) and headed to see the Berlin Wall, which is also known as the East Side Gallery. The 1,316 metre (4,318 feet) long section of the wall is covered with various paintings. Many portions of the wall have been damaged by erosion with time and graffitis since some parts are not protected with a fence.

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Brandenburg Gate
This is the city’s only ancient gate remaining. The construction of this landmark started in 1788 and was completed in 1791. What is interesting about it is that it is aligned with the Berlin Victory Column. You can see the tip of it on the picture below.

IMG_4012Topography of Terror
This outdoor and interior museum housed the headquarters of the Gestapo (secret police) during the Third Reich.

Photo: Topography des Terrors

Photo: Topographie des Terrors

Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the checkpoint between the American and Soviet sectors of Berlin. After the construction of the Berlin Wall, it primarily served as a crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

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Reichstag
The Italian High Renaissance building served as the seat of parliament in the German Empire. Today, it  functions as the seat of the federal German parliament. 
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Berlin Tempelhof Airport
This was probably one of my favorite part of Berlin. The Tempelhof Airport is an abandoned airport that ceased operations in 2008. The airfield has two parallel runways (09R/27R and 09L/27L) with a length of more than 6,000 feet. It only had one taxiway that was basically circled the runways.

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We rented bikes for about one hour and rolled down on the runways and taxiways! We saw a Douglas C-54 of the USAAF parked under the terminal  (pictured above) and a Let L-410 Turbojet that was used for fire training purposes. The hour flew by really fast!IMG_0006

 

After our passage through the abandoned airport, we headed to the city’s main railway station (Berlin Hauptbahnhof) to take a train to Hamburg. In my next post, I will talk about Aircraft Interiors Expo 2017 in Hamburg!

Nicolas

Spring Break in the Mountains

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Hey all!

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada

For the second part of Spring Break, my family and I went to ski for a few days in Mont-Tremblant, which is just a bit over 80 miles north-west of Montreal. I believe it was time to something else in the snow after shovelling snow for a few days due to Winter Storm Stella. I had already been to this skiing resort when I was younger.

I think it is my favorite mountain on the East side of North America. It is not comparable to the height of the Canadian Rockies or Colorado in the West, but it is a great mountain. The village is awesome and you have the feeling of being in Vail or Whistler.

Beautiful sunset over the Mont-Tremblant village just after our arrival at the hotel.

Beautiful sunset over the Mont-Tremblant village just after our arrival to the hotel.

The village has all sorts of restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, boutiques and ski equipment stores. While we were there, it was also Spring Break for many high schools and universities in Ontario. I felt like I was in the United States since I was only listening to people talking in English.

The village during day time.

The village during daytime.

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The village at the bottom of the slopes becomes lively in the afternoon.

The Fairmont Tremblant is right by the slopes and is "ski-in ski-out."

The Fairmont Tremblant is right by the slopes and is “ski-in ski-out.”

Even though Mont-Tremblant is mostly a winter seasonal destination, I heard many tourists come visit in the summer. There are many activities to do in the warmer months of the year such as golf, mountain biking, wall climbing and hiking. The is also a lake where you can  fish, go canoeing and kayaking. I have not been in the summer but I hope to do so next summer!

If you want to visit Mont-Tremblant, you can either fly to Montreal (YUL) and drive to the resort, or you can fly directly to YTM seasonally via Montreal, Toronto-Pearson (YYZ) or Toronto City (YTZ).

Until next time!

Nicolas

Spring Break with my Friend Stella

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Hi all!

As I mentioned in my last post, the northeast of Canada and the United States received a lot of snow at the beginning of last week. Winter Storm Stella cancelled and delayed thousands of flights while airlines and airports were working on reestablishing operations. I spent the first part of the week home, in Montreal.

The winter storm arrived on Tuesday but snow continued to fall until Wednesday. I basically shoveled snow for three days in a row. On Tuesday afternoon, my mom and I tried to take the car to go buy salt at the store. We wanted to melt the snow in the driveway which is in a hill. It never happened since we didn’t even pass the first stop sign on our street. The car got stuck in the street that was covered with snow. After a few minutes, we just decided to go back home as the streets downtown would be slippery and narrow due to the snow. The snow on our street eventually got removed a few days later.

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The snow plow truck pushed the snow on the sides of the streets making walls of heavy snow. The snow blocked the sidewalks and the entrance to my house.

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We weren’t able to even pass the stop sign with the car because the ice and snow between the car’s tires and the asphalt was making the car slip to the right of the street in the snow walls.

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Snow piles make the streets in the city very narrow.

I remember when I was a kid that I always loved snow storms. I’m sure you have an idea why? Because schools sometimes closed due to the snow fall! But that rarely happened as school only cancelled once or twice per year. In Canada compared to some parts in the United States, it has to snow a lot to make classes cancelled for the day. A few inches of snow won’t make you stay home for sure!

And you, what did you do for spring break? Did you go skiing or did you enjoy the beach and the sun in the south? In my next post, I’ll talk about what I did for the rest of the week. Hint: it involves a mountain!

Nicolas

Winter Storm Stella – Travel Tips

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As some you know, Winter Storm Stella has made its way to the northeast of the United States and Canada. It is the worst snow storm of the season and some areas got up to three feet of snow! The worst of the blizzard came yesterday but it is still snowing here where I am in Montreal, Canada. According to FlightAware, close to 6,500 flights were cancelled by U.S. airlines yesterday. Today (Wednesday), flight operations are getting back to normal slowly but there are still 1,000 cancellations and more than 3,000 flights delayed.

Checkout the video above and learn how airports remove snow on taxiways, runways and other movement areas!

Thousands of airport and airline employees are working very hard and doing their best in order to get passengers safely and as quickly as possible to their final destination. If you are flying in the next few days, look at your flight status before heading to the airport. Your flight(s) might have been delayed or cancelled.

If you flight is delayed or cancelled, stay calm and be patient. Do not be angry at the airport customer service employees. Airlines and are not responsible for weather related delays. The employees are just trying to help passengers to get to their destination. I doubt that they will be willing to help you more if you shout at them!

Airlines are receiving more calls than usual during this period so the wait time will be very long. Your best bet might be to try to contact the airline via social media, such as Twitter. They might be able to assist you. Once your flight has been cancelled, some airlines have a system that automatically rebooks you to the next available flight.

If you don’t have to go anywhere, just stay home and stay away from streets as some of them are still covered with ice and snow.

Until next time!

Nicolas

Last Minute Career Expo Tips

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Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! For those of you who are attending the Industry/Career Expo, I have prepared a few last minute tips that you can use before, during and after the event!

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I got my Fast Pass!

Before
Here is a list of things you can do before the event:

Fast Pass pick up: Today is the last day to get your Fast Pass early to avoid long lines at the day of the event. Stop by Career Services with your Eagle Card to get your Fast Pass. It just takes a few seconds!

Download the Embry-Riddle Career Fair Plus app: The app is available on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. You will have access to the list of employers, which includes their company description, the job positions available, and any type of work authorizations required. The app also offers a map of the fair so you will not get lost the day of the event.

Do some research: Get to know the companies you are interested in working for. Navigate on their websites to know what jobs are currently offered and what are the requirements. Review the job requirements and qualifications. Companies want you to show them that you are interested in working for their company.

Review your resume: Take a look at your resume one last time to make sure that it is properly formatted and free of spelling errors. Click here for resume tips!

Practice interviews: Practice your elevator speech that you will use to introduce yourself to the employers. Make good impression. Additionally, get together with a friend and simulate an interview. Practice answering questions about the company or about the position you would like to work for. If you are applying for a particular position, go look on Glassdoor to see if there are any sample interview questions. Click here for other interviewing tips and sample questions!

Attend the info sessions: You should attend the information sessions of the companies you are interested in. From past experience, many of them gives you important tips such as how to approach an employer and how to shake hands. Below is the schedule of the Company Information Sessions prior to the Industry/Career Expo.

Overall-Expo-Company-Info-Sessions-1

Spring 2017 Company Info Sessions

On Site
Dress Code: During the event, you should look professional. You should wear clean, pressed business attire and be properly groomed.

What to bring?: You should bring your EagleCard, a notepad/portfolio to take notes and to hold copies of your resumes, a list of the companies you are interested in, and business cards.

After
Following the event, you may want to send thank you notes to the employers you had significant interaction with or whom you interviewed with.

It’s definitely okay if you don’t get an interview during your first year of college. I used my first time at the Expo as practice. I did not get any interviews, but I went to talk to the various recruiters to get more information. You can ask them what the company is looking for to hire students. They are usually looking for extra curricular activities, clubs and past work experience. Use the following year to boost up your resume!

Hope this helps!

Nicolas