Tag Archives: ALPA internship

Wrapping up Summer 2017

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Hello everyone!

I know it’s been quite some time since I blogged. I have been so busy with ending my internship and going back to flight training before classes start in fall! I ended my internship about a week ago and had 2 back-to-back conferences during my last two weeks.

The first conference was the Brooke Owens Fellowship Conference. This conference brought together 36 young women in aviation and aerospace industry in DC- from solving a Grand Challenge with 5 astonishing colleagues and JPL’s head of Mars mission to meeting Pamela Melroy, former NASA astronaut and one of two women to command a space shuttle mission, to performing spoken word poetry in honour of Dawn Brooke Owens, to partying on a pirate boat with the leading aerospace experts.

 

The second one was the ALPA Air Safety Forum held in Washington DC. This forum featured panels and discussions with aviation safety and security experts, recognition of outstanding pilot contributions and more. I was able to  interact with many of the pilots and industry stakeholders that I had met at other meetings during the course of my internship, and I also got to hear from Robert Sumwalt during the Keynote Lunch Speech. I even celebrated my 21st birthday (July 17th), which was the first day of this conference by going out for dinner with some friends!

 

Soon after my internship, I came back home to Bradenton, where my family gave me a surprise birthday cake and gifts! It was great to see them for a few days before starting my flight training.

I am currently working on my private pilot and just finished my first solo last week. I hope you all are having a great summer and are ready to start classes in a few weeks!!!

 

Until next time,

Maryam

#WeareALPA

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Hello everyone,

I am currently on my fourth week at ALPA, and it’s been such a rewarding experience so far! I was very fortunate to attend the Pilot Assistance Forum (May 22-24). We had a banquet too, which was held at the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum. I got to talk to some of my biggest role models in the aviation industry about my future career goals and their experiences- Honourable Robert Sumwalt, Acting Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Lori Garver, General Manager of ALPA, who also served as the Deputy Administrator of NASA!

Photo with Lori Garver in front of Space Shuttle Discovery

Photo with Honourable Robert Sumwalt- Acting Chairman of the NTSB

In front of the Air France Concorde at the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum

Brent (my boyfriend) spent Memorial Day weekend with me. We drove to D.C., and then rented out bicycles since parking can be super hectic! We visited many memorials there, and also visited the National Archives Museum. As an international kid, it was pretty cool seeing all the actual documents (Bill of Rights, Constitution, etc.). We also visited the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum (which was my second time then). It was pretty cool since his favourite aircraft is Lockheed SR- 71 aka “Blackbird”.

In front of the SR- 71

Brent and I in front of Discovery

Posing with Brent near the Franklin Roosevelt statue

 

One of my meetings last week was at Capitol Hill. It was pretty interesting. We talked with the House Aviation Subcommittee about reauthorizing and making some changes to the existing bill. I also had a great opportunity to attend a meeting with GoogleX this week to talk about their plans of incorporating UAS technology in their industry.

 

Meeting at Capitol Hill

 

Meeting at Google office in D.C.

 

I have so many more events coming up, and I’m definitely excited to be with ALPA for the rest of the summer. In addition to my internship at ALPA, I am currently doing an independent study course with Riddle. My first exam was on Tuesday, and I did great!!!

I hope you all are having a great and relaxing summer!

Until next time,

Maryam

First week at ALPA

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Hello everyone!

I just finished my first week of my summer internship at Air Line Pilots Association, International. My dad and I drove from Florida to Virginia. It was a fun drive, and we made on stop for the night in South Carolina. My housing for the summer is paid by the institution, and the apartment is gorgeous! I really love it! We even got to tour the facility last Sunday, and I was super excited to start!

Driving to ALPA for the Sunday tour

Photo taken outside the ALPA office in Herndon, VA

On Monday, I had an orientation and basically completed all my paperwork. I got to meet a lot of the employees and talk to them about their careers in the industry! I also got to meet Lori Garver, who is the General Manager of ALPA and the co-founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Before working at ALPA, she served as the Deputy Administrator at NASA from 2009-2013. Her efforts at NASA focused on advancing U.S. aeronautics and space activities through technology development, partnerships and innovation. This was her second time serving at NASA, having previously served in a number of positions from 1996-2001. Other public roles have included being the lead civil space policy advisor to Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and the head of his transition team for NASA. She also served as the lead space policy advisor for the Hillary Clinton and John Kerry presidential campaigns (Brooke Owens).

On Tuesday, Chad Balentine, the Supervisor of Engineering and Accident Investigation, talked to me about ALPA’s policies and strategic plans. On Wednesday, we went to Washington D.C. for a meeting with some of the FAA investigators. It was very informative, and I definitely learnt a lot.

On Thursday, I got to attend the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) Executive Board meeting, where I got to network and meet a lot of aviation professionals. I learned a lot more about the ASIAS program, but also had to sign a NDA (non-disclosure agreement) since the information is confidential. Friday wasn’t as busy, since we had to prepare for the Pilot Assistance Forum next week from May 22nd-May 24th. I am super excited to attend this forum!

ASIAS Executive Board Meeting

I will definitely keep you all updated on how it goes in my next blog.

Until next time,

Maryam