The last two weeks have been probably the best thus far at the American Airlines Internship Program. I have learned, experienced and met so many people that I can now say I have a better understanding of how an airline is managed. From the last journal entry, I spent my 4th July weekend with my family and friend Justin who came to visit me in NYC. We explored the city, toured a bit and went on fun excursions that led us to meeting new and quite interesting people. We even met a representative from Singapore Airlines and the Manager of a NY Museum. We were fortunate enough to get VIP invitations to an art exhibition later that week.

Work commenced at the office with Lauretta, Dee, Lorraine, Melissa and the Chief Pilot, Scott Meade. I spent most of the week working on the APU Project, preparing spreadsheets, and charts. These charts would go to Jan Paladino, a 767 FO who works in the Flight Office. From there, the work that I have done goes to the Chief Pilot and then to the Vice-President of Flight, John Hale. I feel very privileged to have an input into such a massive project that makes an improvement in American Airlines. That Friday I worked closely with Jan going around the airport and shutting down Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) on aircraft that have a long ground time. I even stayed an hour after work to continue this, as it was so much fun and exciting. Now I can turn on and off the APUs on the 737, 757, 767 and 777. The pictures to the right and above are from that experience.

The next week proved to be one filled with great experiences and interactions. I spent 3 days in the Maintenance Hangar learning about their operations, and hanging out with the mechanics. The first day I got a tour of the facility from the On-Duty Manager Fernando Whitehead. He made sure that I had a great time there through the observation of their operations and mingling with the mechanics and airplanes. It is quite impressive as to how the maintenance personnel work so intimately with the airplanes to ensure they are back in service in the most time effective manner with superior work. These mechanics are a wealth of knowledge and gave me a plethora of advice. They even tried to convince me to become a Mechanic. Lenny, Frank, Brian and Marlene were very welcoming, accommodating and made my stay there quite enjoyable. The picture to the left is from the 757 engine undergoing some maintenance.

I got the opportunity to taxi a 777 from the hangar to the gate as it was being returned to service and later that day a 757 also. The picture to the right is what the centerline looks like from the FO’s seat as you are taxing. Saudi Arabia usually parks at our hanger along with British Airways during their prolonged ground time. I was fortunate enough to get to do a walk around of these airplanes and get up close and personal with them. The mechanics explained a lot of things about these aircraft that I had never known before, such as if the 777 were to lose an engine, it could still do a full Autoland. The pictures below are from that experience:

The second day at the hangar was even more exciting. I got myself all greased up and dirty working on a 737. The first part of the day I spent over at the terminal maintenance department, which was quite different from the hangar. The operation is at a faster pace as the aircraft that required maintenance at the gates needed to be worked on immediately and expeditiously so as to prevent delays. The hangar was of a slower rate as the aircraft there needed larger maintenance requirement and were out of service. It was quite enlightening to see the difference in operations and a great learning experience but at the same time fun. The mechanics were also going to do a manual start of the 737 CFM-56 engine, but unfortunately I could see that as it was too dangerous.

Later that day I observed the operations at the Engine Bay in the hangar. Here is where they host a few spare engines, APUs and work on engines that have issues. It was so much fun as it brought back a lot of memories and information that I have learned in Turbines class at ERAU. I was able to go around the engines and find all the major parts and understand their importance. ERAU has educated me so well that it was quite easy understanding the engines, especially when the mechanics explained parts and concepts to me. I even got to participate in the Anniversary Party of a few mechanics who were celebrating their 20-25 year milestones at AA. The pictures to the left and above are from my time there.

In the afternoon, I stayed an hour after work to help the mechanics get a 737 back into service. There was brake line that needed to be changed on the left main gear along with an engine test. I was quite excited to help them accomplish this task. After we changed the brake line, the manuals required that the gear be swung to ensure proper operation. This was here I came in to the rescue! I had to hoist the airplane up into the air so that the gear could be cycled. The picture to the right proved it.

Actually we just jacked the airplane up but it was a good photo opportunity. After that, we taxied the airplane out of the hangar and did an engine run up. That was really fun and REAL! Not like the simulator but an actual engine start. The next day I stayed almost 2 hours after work to help get a 757 back into service after a line check. Talk about putting in over time. These mechanics are so dedicated it is unbelievable. They are passionate about their jobs and so motivated. I also spent a few hours in the Maintenance Training Department. I got some training on the Computer Based Training Systems and it so happens that the manager of this department knows my parents. Small world huh! The pictures to the left and below are from the 737 gear well and cockpit:

The Maintenance Crew is an amazing group of people and I had a blast with them. The picture to the right is just a small group of the wonderful people who ensure that the airplanes are well kept, maintained and safe.

The next day I headed to Dallas to spend some time in Dispatcher Training. ERAU really prepares you for this. If you are in the Dispatch Program like I was then the classes at Riddle are very good and probably the best training. While I was going through Dispatch Training at American Airlines, it was more like a recap of classes at school. I was able to communicate quite easily with the dispatchers as all the knowledge came rushing back. ERAU’s training like I always say is the BEST!

When I returned to NY on Friday, AA was celebrating it One World Alliance Anniversary with JAL. I got to partake in the festivities. There was a cultural show, amazing food and giveaways. AA also had their 777 One World Series on display. Once again I saw a photo opportunity. I may be going to Japan in September now.
The pictures to the right and above are from the party. As you can tell the past two weeks have been quite packed, fun and exciting. I can’t wait to continue learning and experiencing. Next week I’ll be in Dallas for a few days for flight training, a luncheon and when I return to JFK I’ll be spending some time with the MOD of Flight Service hoping from aircraft to aircraft learning about their operations. This weekend I’ll be heading to New Jersey to spend some time with my good friend

The past two weeks have been so hectic, traveling back and forth to Dallas. I even almost accidentally went to Narita, Japan but that’s another story. My seventh week on the internship was somewhat slow. Most of the time was spent in the office going to meetings and learning about general airport operations. It is definitely amazing to see how much input is needed to efficiently run an airport.

The week was spent working on the APU usage project, where I updated spreadsheets and created graphs, which had to be presented to the Airport Manager. It’s a lot of work but it will save the company millions of dollars and also increase the efficiency of the airport operations as it points out where flaws are.

The best part of this internship I’d have to say is the interaction  with the pilots. I probably chat with about 50 pilots daily and they all have advice for me. It is great to be surrounded by such an intelligent, supportive and fun group. Being a Safety Minor also, I got to meet some pilots who are on the AA Go Team, which are basically Accident Investigators. We were able to speak about things related to Accident Investigation and I learned so much. After taking SF330- Aircraft Accident Investigation class at ERAU, I was able to hold a conversation with the investigators and relate to some of the things they were speaking about. It may be something I’d like to pursue in the future.

The weekend took me to Las Vegas. It was amazing. I was there with two friends, one an American Eagle Pilot and the other an intern from Alaska Airlines. We hardly slept so that’s a testament of how much fun we had. The pictures to the left and above were from that trip. The one from the air shows the Grand Canyon from about 38,000 feet. I returned to NY on the Saturday and then met up with my good friend on Sunday for some fun in the city. It was an amazing weekend.

The eight-week began with so much 777s. This aircraft surrounded me. On Monday morning by 9:30 I had already preflighted two 777s. I almost made it to Narita also. That would have been funny to explain to my boss. I was chilling in the cockpit with the pilots after the preflight and the flight attendant almost closed the door with me in the aircraft. I wished she did! When I went back to the office I met two 777-check pilots and later that day had lunch with a 777 captain who was heading to Brazil later that night. The wealth of advice and knowledge you can gain from these pilots is unbelievable. The picture to the right is from the preflight and the picture below is of me enjoying the 777 First Class with a few of the crewmembers.

Later that week I headed to Dallas for a Luncheon with the fellow interns and Ms. Lauren Tascione- AA Senior Administrator FOQA and Accident Investigator. It was a fun time and she had a lot of great advice and stories to share. This internship has given me so much and there is so much more to learn too.

The following weeks will be so much more involving as the Chief Pilot asked me to give him my wish list and he will allow me to do everything on it. Next week I will be heading to the FAA Tower at JFK, and also working 2 night shifts at the Ramp Control Tower. In the near future I will be going to the New York ARTCC, have an airport and ARFF Tour, preflight Air Berlin’s A330, JAL 747-400, Finnair A340, and Qatar 777-300ER. I’ll also be working in the Maintenance Hanger too. So stay tuned and see all the pictures… Happy 4th July!

The past two weeks have been quite hectic but at the same time very interesting and proved to be quite a great learning experience. My fourth week at American Airlines commenced with the preparation for the Annual LGA Safety Fair, which I had to assist the Flight Department with. I was in charge of doing research and creating posters for the American Airlines Flight Department booth. My knowledge from Flight Physiology came in quite handy as I was able to create posters emphasizing the importance of good hydration in flight as it may lead to kidney stones, stress and stress management, vision and hearing for pilots, as well as emphasizing the importance of the advanced avionics which includes the Electronic Flight Bag. The EFB would reduce the large, heavy kit bags thereby reducing the lifting aspects for pilots, maintenance personal and flight attendants. .

The rest of the week was spent learning about the operations of American Airlines and managing the Flight Office. I was able to accompany the Chief Pilots on some meetings and it is quite extraordinary how much work they have to do and still fly the line. This experience has enlightened me on what I want to pursue in the future…. Maybe Chief Pilot of AA!

Within that week also I was given two projects to work on. The first was to create a presentation about EMAS- Engineered Material Arresting System for the Chief Pilot so that he may present to the Vice-President at a meeting in Manhattan. Hopefully I shall be attending this meeting. The presentation was made in order to convince the city of New York of the importance of EMAS and thus lead to its implementation at LGA.

The second project is the larger of the two and I will be heading this up over the summer. AA is looking at the APU usage of their aircraft on the ground and monitoring its inappropriate use. We are trying to reduce the ground operation of the APU, thus allowing a savings of almost 10 million dollars annually on fuel. My job is to input and analyze the data, determine trends and come up with solutions/recommendations for the problem. It is quite a tedious project but proves to be very beneficial and a great learning experience. I also have the opportunity to turn off the APUs on some 757, 767 and 777 aircraft. I couldn’t be happier!

The weekend led me to Los Angeles. It is a beautiful city with a bustling metropolis. I toured a bit, walking down Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard, visiting Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and meeting up with friends. The picture to the left was form that excursion.

The next week commenced with me attending the daily debrief meeting at JFK. This is a meeting where all the heads of departments meet up in the morning to go over problems that arose the day prior. Discussions involved delays, AA Operations and reducing passenger inconveniences. We even discussed CAT I accuracy of some of the aircraft. I was able to learn so much about the operations of AA. This meeting also allowed me the opportunity to meet Miss Universe 1970, 1993, 2001 and 2006, all from Puerto Rico. American Airlines invited them to attend the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC.

The next couple of days I found myself in Dallas at Headquarters doing ground school. It was the international ground school and it lasted for 2 days. I was in a class with two captains and two other interns. This proved to be very informative and a great learning experience. ERAU classes are so in-depth that the classes taught at AA were just a refresher for me. Topics that we covered included Mach Technique, Strategic Lateral Offset Procedures, Weather Deviation, International Altimeter Reset Procedures, Fuel Planning, Volcanic Activity, Cold Temperature Operations, ETOPS Training, Foreign Airport Operations, Mountain Terrain Clearance Program, and Depressurization Planning. The picture to the right is from class. There was a lot of information that we covered. This class covered the topics that we would have studied in Flight Technique Analysis and Airline Operations.

The classes even dealt with Regional Differences between the Atlantic, Far East, Central Pacific, Latin America and India. Focus was on weather, terrain and operations. This proved quite interesting as I had previous knowledge of the topic from Weather for Aircrew class at ERAU. That class at ERAU was very in depth and detailed so the information presented in International Ground School became quite easy and more so of a refreshers. Once again, our education at ERAU is above average and this is why we are the best Aviation School in the world.

In class we also went through plotting Atlantic, Pacific, Polar and Latin American routes, with emphasis on North Atlantic and Latin America. Seems like International and Domestic Navigation came in handy.

While I was in Dallas, I also went to System and Operational Control (SOC), which hosts all the dispatchers and crew scheduling persons. There I chatted with some dispatcher to further understand their jobs as I had completed dispatcher training at Riddle also. It was so amazing to see how the training goes into practice. The pictures below are from SOC. The first one is an overview of the department and the second one is with the north Atlantic dispatchers and myself.

The picture to the right is from the JFK Ramp Control Tower. The view is amazing, especially when you have 747s and A380s passing by. Operations here are quite different from that at LGA. As such, I will be given the opportunity to work the night shifts at the Ramp Control Tower so as to learn about these differences, especially with working with bigger airplanes such as the 777, 767 and A330 for Air Berlin and Finnair. The wonderful thing about the JFK American Terminal is that there is no need for Air Marshals. The gates are all equipped with DGS- Digital Guidance System, which allows the pilots to follow a guidance system into the gate. You may even send messages to the pilots via this system. I was able to see it in full action as a 767 came into the gate and I sent the pilot a message reminding him to turn off the APU after the GPU was connected. Amazing huh!

This weekend I’m heading off the Charlotte to see a friend. Here is hope for it being a great weekend. I’ll be back on Monday for work with more exciting experiences. Never underestimate the wealth of knowledge you gain at Riddle. You are getting the best education possible.

Seems like we are one our final descent into Charlotte. Do stay tuned for my next update! Maybe I’ll be writing it on my flight into a city near you…

These past two weeks have been really exciting and amazing. There was so much I saw, did and learned. This Internship has opened my eyes to the world of the airlines. Many of the things we learn in school I am seeing in full practice. Just this past week I attended a meeting on behalf of the American Airlines Flight Department with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The safety culture here at AA is very unique and strong. Terms and practices learned in Human Factors and Safety classes are being implemented right in my field of view. As I kept saying, the education at ERAU is unmatched and has prepared me very well for the future in this industry. The OSHA meeting focused on electricity safety and safety audits.

Other meetings that I attended were the LGA JTL (Joint Team Leadership) Meeting where Customer Loyalty as it relates to revenue was emphasized, and the Safety Contact meeting, which once again supports the extraordinary safety culture of AA through safety recommendations.

The really fun parts of the internship are still ahead but over the past two weeks I was given the opportunity to preflight the 737-800 and MD-80 aircraft. It was quite a thrill! Two very different aircraft in terms of design, performance and handling characteristics but quite similar in operations. The pictures to the right and below are from the preflights. There was so much to learn and see with these two airplanes and the pilots were very knowledgeable and willing to teach me. As I write this journal right now, I am on my way to Chicago in a MD-80 that I preflighted and programmed the FMS for. Amazing!

The picture to the left is from the AA ramp control at LGA, where I began my Ramp Operations Training. It really brings to light the importance of CRM and the training that Riddle has instilled into me. On that day, I was giving an American 757 clearance to push back for its flight to MIA while talking to Flight Ops. The amount of people and work that goes into a flight from one gate to another gate is remarkable and each one of them must be appreciated.

On the right is a picture of the ORD crew that I was chatting with one day. I just went to their cockpit, introduced myself and chatted a bit. Sometimes you never know who you might find, and that day, the Captain was a Riddle Grad., and the FO is a Union Rep. Looks like I’ll be chilling with the pilots at the Jets game in July just from stopping by and saying ‘Hi, I’m the intern Ryan….’

Last week I completed my SIDA Training and will be the first AA intern who has ramp access at both LGA and JFK. Also, I was very fortunate to get a tour of the LGA FAA Control Tower. There I saw many practices that I have studied while doing my minor in ATC. It was so amazing to see the training in full practice.

The picture on the right is from the tower. As you can see the queues are quite long at LGA for take-off as it is on of the busiest airports in the country. Today, I was 15th in line for take-off but it looks that we’ll be landing in ORD on time.

The picture on the left is from my office at JFK. You have to love your job when you come to work with a view like this everyday. When I have lunch the view is a queue for take-off with 747s, A380, A340s and 777s. I just can’t wait to be actually flying one of them.

In two weeks I will be beginning my flight training so I’ll be heading up to DFW. I begin with the International Ground School, which lasts for a couple of days then onto 737 Ground School and Sims.

The best part of the Internship is the travel benefits. There are so many places to go, so much to see, do and learn. These two weeks I have been to Fort Lauderdale, Miami and now Chicago. On my way to FLL I met a FedEx MD-11 FO who gave me some good advice and information about Cargo Flying and flying the MD-11. The picture to the left was from my first non-rev flight.

You never know where I’ll be next week so stay tuned for more updates and I might be in a city near you…

Safe Flying!

I was very skeptical as to what the American Airlines Internship would have planned for me but to my surprise and excitement, I would be having the time of my life. I was unable to attend the orientation process on the 13th and 14th of May as I was graduating but I was able to make the second class on May 16th and 17th. The picture to the left was taken at the AA Flight Academy in Dallas just before Orientation commenced. There are so many people that make an Airline run efficiently and at American it is quite evident. The people are great and friendly and they work together to ensure the airline is at its best.

During orientation, I was given a tour of the Flight Academy and Headquarters. At the Flight Academy I saw the dispatchers’ room aka ‘Mission Control’. This is where they host all the dispatchers who control the flights that are in the skies and about to enter the skies. I had the privilege of chatting with 3 dispatchers who were in charge of the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights.

This experience brought back so much knowledge and training that I have done in International and Domestic Navigation, Airline Operations and Dispatch Training. I could have spent the entire day with them just chatting and learning about their jobs and dispatching. My tour guide practically had to beg me to leave so that we could continue the tour. I guess when you learn so much in classes and then actually see it in the practical sense is quite fascinating and exciting.

The Dispatcher, Stephen, also taught me how they choose certain routes, their planned NAR’s, NAT Tracks and European Routes. We chatted about ETOPS, reporting points such as Shemya in Alaska and the fact that AA can get a 757 from ORD to LHR. I learned so much from just an hour with them. This just shows how superior ERAU’s course work and training is!

I stayed at the Park Inn while in Dallas and it was quite comfortable. Breakfast was even free with my AA ID Badge. Later the following day I flew down to LGA, my base for the next 3 months. My flight was delayed into LGA due to weather but I eventually made it and I started work on the 19th May.

On my first day at LGA little did I know that I would be having the best first day ever! Melanie Rodriguez, one of the friendliest AA employees, greeted me at LGA. She took me to my office where I met my supervisor, Ellen Barbaro. Melanie oriented me around the facilities and gave me access codes and keys to different departments and rooms.

There wasn’t a lot for me to do on the first day so she took me for a tour of the AA Operations Tower. The picture on the right is from the Tower. There I met some really nice people who, without them, flights would not be possible. They ensure aircraft are parked at their gates, they clear aircraft in and out of gates, approve delays and turn-around times, and even change aircraft if need be. This brought to light the importance of CRM and I value our training at Riddle so much more now. I will be getting training in this in a few weeks and will be able to execute all their duties. Yay!! I will also be getting to see the FAA towers at LGA and JFK.

After I returned from the Tower, I ran into a 757 Crew who gave me a tour of the pilot operation. They taught about their flight release, how to read it and what to pay special attention to. I had previous knowledge from classes, so it was quite easy for me to read it. They were impressed by how much I knew and complemented ERAU’s training. The FO was a Riddle grad also. They then took me on the preflight of the 757and that was the highlight of my first day. Not only did I learn about how to preflight a 757 but I also got to program the FMS. Riddle has prepared me very well for this. After taking AS435, programming the FMS came with ease. It was so much fun to actually put what I learned in class to practical use. The pictures below are from the preflight.

The second day was filled with chatting with pilots and crewmembers. I met Chief Pilot, Mark Cronin, and it so happens that we share the same birthday. He’s a really nice and friendly guy. The second day was as eventful as the first. I leaned so much about the company and pilot procedures. I received my 737 checklists and calculations/limitations information.

Next week should be also quite fun, as I will be starting work at JFK and also doing my SIDA training. Travels begin next week also, and I maybe headed to MIA or SFO. If you are there, hit me up. Stay tuned for more updates and until then, fly safe!

Hi again! It’s my last month here in Germany. I think I’m ready to be back in the U.S. by now. I’m sorry to say that this entry won’t have pictures because this week is a company shut down week at MTU so I’m actually sightseeing now in the Czech Republic for the week and I don’t have my computer with me. I’m also typing this in notepad (on the guest computer at my hotel), so hopefully I won’t make any spelling errors.

Of course this month I’ve been getting more work than ever and I’ve been actually more on the shop floor than anything discussing drawings with the machine operators. I’ve been upgrading some of the older drawings and that means completely using UniGraphics to change the layers of everything to MTU’s standard system. Because the machine operators don’t actually need all the dimensions of the part (most are there for the inspectors), any useless dimensions for them go on a specific layer, which is hidden on the shop floor version of the drawing. So I’ve needed to check all the dimensions with them and have them figure out what they need.

Last week though I actually got a really great surprise. An engineer in my office arranged for me and the other intern in our office to have a tour and explanation of the EJ200 jet engine. MTU Munich is responsible for assembling the EJ200 engine for all of the German military’s Eurofighter jets and MTU manufactures all High Pressure Compressor (HPC) and Low Pressure Compressor (LPC) sections for every Eurofighter jet. The Eurofighter is a massive joint effort between Italy, German, England, France, and I forget if there are others involved. Each country manufactures components for the EJ200 (Italy’s Avio makes the gearbox for the engine, Germany’s MTU makes the HPC and LPC sections, etc) and assembles and maintains its own Eurofighter EJ200 engines (because I imagine France wouldn’t want Germany assembling its military engines, etc (though MTU does a good job at it)). A German military officer who spoke excellent English showed us where they perform maintenance on the engines and where they assemble the engine parts.

He was an engineer too actually, so as he was showing us the various parts of the engines he was explaining aspects of the engine design. MTU actually has impacted and helped improve the design significantly because of its unique ability to manufacture “blisks”. Blisks are just “bladed disks”. In conventional aircraft engines the disks and blades are manufactured separately and fitted together afterward. MTU has refined several techniques to attach the blades directly to the disks, which saves a significant amount of weight.

It was a lot of great information and the officer explained everything from avoiding harmful harmonic resonance to thermal bowing with the EJ200. Then he took us over to where they test the EJ200 engines and arranged for us to see a test the next morning. Seeing the EJ200 test was great. The best part, of course, was seeing the flames shoot out of the back of the engine during the few seconds that the afterburner was being tested, but the rest of the test was interesting too.

The MTU person responsible for all EJ200 tests was there and he was explaining even more about the engine and the test. He took us outside to see the length of the building because even though the length of the engine is only 4m, the afterburner flames shoot 50m out so the testing building actually extends about 60m from where the actual testing takes place (unfortunately though the window in the observation room doesn’t let you see the whole thing). Last week also was the last week for the other American intern, the other intern in my office and the two Canadian interns that I had made friends with here, so my last week at MTU I’m pretty much on my own (it’ll be just like my first weeks at MTU, fun).

So last week I got to attend the presentations of the two Canadian interns, in which they presented the accumulation of their work here at MTU (I don’t have to do one, it’s only their department that required them to). They were working more on design (which is actually more what I’m interested in) so they were working on MTU’s main project with Pratt and Whitney, the Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) engine. The GTF engine is one of the two “future engine” technologies, with the other being Rolls Royce’s Open Rotor engine. The GTF engine has a gearbox that allow the fan and the LPC to operate at speeds independent from each other so that each can operate at their optimal speed.

The presentations were on the work they had done for the GTF program. It was almost like being back in school, a Powerpoint and a lecture with some crazy math equations and figures. As for other things I’ve been up to this past weekend me and my fellow interns were in Nuremburg, a medieval town about an hour’s train ride from Munich. We went and saw the castle there and just had fun wandering around the town. It’s amazing how well everything was preserved there…I think I’ll wait until next week to talk about the Czech Republic so for now I’ll end it here (someone else is waiting to use the computer so…). Sorry again for the short and abbreviated entry again, but I explained the important stuff I think the rest is just traveling which I can get into more next time. Can’t wait to get back to the States!

Welcome back! Hope everyone’s summer is going well. For all of you getting ready for orientation it will be a great time and for all coming back for classes, well you know the drill already!

My internship at the Prosecutor’s Office has really proved to be an exceptional experience! For one, I was able to take a tour of the Ocean County Jail last week. For any of you that watch the Jersey Shore television show, this is the jail that they take one of the cast members to in the first season. In addition to seeing the jail, and feeling extremely unwelcome by the inmates there, I was able to see “Pauly D” of the Jersey Shore, while on a ride-along with the Sea Side Heights Police Department. The cast member “Snookie” was also arrested the Friday night I was there. Even though I was not involved at all with these people, I still thought it was pretty cool to have “been there.” Going back to the topic of jail, I am not sure how many of you have been to jail (hopefully none), but it really is an awful place. No matter how many T.V. shows you may have seen, or stories you have heard, nothing can replicate the shear feeling of being inside a jail. Typically people avoid places of high crime where criminals live during their daily lives, but in jail, this is the home to many of those criminals. Aside from the whistling, the sneers, cursing, yelling, etc. the jail was a great educational experience.

The other major highlight of my past two weeks was being able to do a ride along with the New Jersey State Police. Thankfully my boss was able to set up the NJSP taking me out and showing me the “ropes” at Troop D, which covers the Turnpike. For a link to the NJSP Troop Map, click here. In addition here is also a picture of me standing with a State Police patrol car. I know some people may be saying, “that’s corny” or “who cares – it’s a car?” But for me, this is like being with a celebrity or famous athlete. Being a state trooper is the type of thing I dream about. It may be strange, but it’s me! I also attached an action picture for all you too see. Without going into details the trooper and I responded to a medical emergency, within his zone. After finishing up the ride along with the State Police I knew that this is the job/profession I want to be in. Unfortunately the NJSP has not been hiring, but I am willing to wait until they commence hiring again.

That’s about it for this issue. Tomorrow is the last day of my internship with the Prosecutor’s Office so this will be the last report to you all on that subject matter. Maybe the school will allow me to keep reporting and writing these journals, maybe not. The choice is yours. If you would like to hear more from me please email myself and I will forward the email onto the appropriate persons. I would like to hear from you all either way rather good, bad, or just any type of question. Until next time, stay safe.

Time seems to be going by so fast here, I can’t believe I’ve only one and a half more months here. I’m really going to miss Munich and MTU when I have to go back to Daytona for class, but right now I miss home too so it’ll be good to go back to the States. I’ve been insanely busy at MTU recently. We have a new intern in my office as well. She’s a first-year engineering student from France, but she talks with us in English. Things are a bit new to her so, for the most part, she’s starting out how I started my internship, scanning papers and updating databases, but she seems to be picking everything up pretty quickly and it must be harder for her since English isn’t her first language.

As for me, I’m getting ready for an FAA audit of MTU’s software systems the first week of August (which hopefully I’ll get to sit in on as well, sitting in on the Pratt and Whitney audit was interesting). From what I understand, it will be the same kind of audit, but I’m still reviewing everything and revising the presentation we made for Pratt. Right now there’s not a lot of work with CAD to do, so I’m mostly just helping my boss with some of the tasks he’s been put in charge of. We still haven’t made any concrete conclusions about acceptable tolerance variations for parts being manufactured in Poland because they want to run more Try-Outs which take time, so for now that project seems to be stalled. So aside from working on the FAA audit, I’ve been collecting information and analyzing data taken from two of the shop floor controller machines (the machines that create the engine parts) that have been operating with an upgraded software/sensor system.

It’s a LOT of data, charts, graphs, etc to go through and the reports are ALL in German. MTU wants to look into upgrading its machines to this software in the future and is trying to determine the benefits. It seems pretty promising…it measures the power being used by the machining tool and the force it is exerting on the part and determines the variance of these while the part feature is being machined. The (very) basic idea is that the greater the variance of the power/force used during machining, the more likely the tool is to break. MTU hopes to save money by preventing tool breaks which, when they occur, can damage parts to the point where they must be scrapped ($50,000~ worth of scrap approx.) or cost money because the damaged part must be reworked.

My boss and I met today with the engineer who has been taking the data from these machines and who wrote the reports. The first thing my boss told me was “Take notes for later,” then he proceeded to talk in really fast German with the engineer. Very fun. Luckily, I managed to get a few words in and get some sparing information in English which will have to be enough for me to draw my conclusion on the feasibility of this software (it costs $10,000~/machine). If not, I’m going engineer hunting on the shop floor lines tomorrow…

Anyways, that’s what’s been happening at work…but for a good 5 days since the last time I wrote I was in Paris! It was amazing. The last time I was in Paris I was with a tour group and we had to go where they went, when they went…it was so much better just being there by myself and making my own schedule. I mostly did the cliché tourist things anyways…climbed all the stairs of the Eiffel Tower (I wish you could climb to the top though…), saw the Statue of Liberty replica, saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, saw Notre Dame, saw the Sacre-Coeur, and the Catacombs. I took 6 years of French in Jr. High/High School so for the most part I could communicate, except I kept mixing German in my French… And I even got to go to Disneyland this time! It’s interesting seeing Disney here, I’m so used to Disney in Orlando. It’s strange how they mix English phrases into the rides and shows. The Tower of Terror was in English, the exact same audio as in Orlando Disney…it was kind of nice because it *almost* felt like being home.

Nothing much new to report other than that, I believe…I’ve done a few things with my friends from work and am *terribly* glad that the world cup is over, because I’m tired of discussing it at work (but I am sad that Germany lost and America…well we knew we were going to lose, didn’t we?). I’m planning (tentatively) some more trips but I’ll see what’s feasible…traveling is way too expensive (but worth it!)

Hi again! I’ve been up to a lot since my last entry. I’ve had some great times with the friends I’ve made here in Munich. It was really hard for me when I first came here because I didn’t know anyone and I couldn’t speak any German. Now I’m actually speaking a bit but my German’s still terrible. However, there’re actually quite a few people here I can speak English with. MTU takes interns from literally everywhere. There’s actually two other Americans here and we’ve been hanging out with two Canadian interns (sort of an English-speaking club?). It’s really great to be meeting people from all over the world. There’re quite a few interns here from France, one I’ve met from Switzerland, another from Austria, and of course a lot from Germany (but northern Germany too, which is like a completely different place). It’s surprising how many of them speak English (which is bad, because I can’t practice German). Even most of the engineers in my building speak English really well…but they keep trying to get me to speak German with them. (Actually they’re teaching me Bayrisch, which is the southern German accent – imagine German with everything shortened and rougher sounding). This weekend some of the other interns and I learned how to make crepes from one of the Canadian interns (Or rather crepe roll-ups as we called them, to the (mock) ire of our Canadian co-worker) and I learned the great value of real Canadian maple syrup (from a can…?!). It’s great I have a lot of friends here now.

At MTU the audit from Pratt and Whitney went well. I had put together the presentation from the material that Pratt had given us, but the inspector had so many questions that it took us two hours to get through it. The language barrier was a bit difficult. My boss and the engineers who were at the meeting speak English pretty well, but there were some expressions that they just didn’t quite get the meaning of. It’s the same for me with German, and worse here in Munich because southern Germany has its own dialect altogether. The day after the initial presentation my boss took the inspector around the factory and showed him all the operating procedures MTU goes through to verify the programs in the controller machines that create the engine components. I had a few more CAD conversions to do (converting the old CATIA drawings to UniGraphics, the program MTU uses now) and I finished up the correlation analysis I was doing on the tolerance values of the parts being made in Poland. Last week my boss was at the factory in Poland conferring with the engineers there. The dimensions of the pre-turned (the step in the machining process prior to the final part) test parts that they’d been making were varying too much from what they should have been (aka they were outside of set tolerances) so they had to figure out a solution. A compromise was reached though, where Poland could deviate slightly out of tolerance, and had to increase material on some areas so that the minimum dimensions of the part could be maintained. And the parts will have to pass inspection in both Poland and Munich to ensure quality. I’m sure a lot of these problems will be worked out eventually. Poland only just started operations a year ago. Complete compatibility with the Munich headquarters will take time, but that’s fine as long as the quality of parts doesn’t suffer.

This week I’m so excited! I have 15 days of vacation that I get with this internship so I planned a few trips, and one is coming up later in the week. I leave on an overnight train Wednesday night for Paris! I’ll be there until next Tuesday, so I’ll definitely have a lot of great pictures for the next entry. For now though, these are just some more from Munich…the statue and the plaza are in Theresienwiese, which is where Oktoberfest takes place every year. The statue is actually the “Bavaria Statue.” Southern Germany was actually the kingdom of Bavaria before it became part of Germany, so there’s a whole slew of culture and history here that’s completely unique to the area. The yellow building is the palace at Dachau, which is really close to MTU and which I finally got to see the inside of last week (the first time I went it was closed). Then another picture in the gardens of Nymphenburg palace, and the one in the cave is from the Deutches Museum. They have a massive exhibit on underground mining, and it is literally a giant fake cave…it goes on for quite a while too. I definitely need to go back there, there’s way too much to see… Anyways though, til next time!

I’m not quite sure how to start this but hello and welcome to my blog, and I’m glad to share my experiences with you! I’m currently a senior in the Aerospace Engineering degree at Embry-Riddle, with a concentration in Propulsion. That has a lot to do with my current internship actually at MTU Aero Engines.

But before I start talking about that, let me give a bit more of my background and why I am here at Embry-Riddle. Aviation has always been a big interest of mine and it started when I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid. My goals have shifted quite a bit since then, but have generally stayed in the Aerospace industry. In high school I decided to pursue Aerospace Engineering after talking to a counselor and started searching universities. Embry-Riddle was recommended to me by a teacher of mine who had a son attending. The ‘AU’ of ERAU (“Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University”) caught my interest immediately and as I researched further into the school, looked at the course offerings and locations, and visited the campus in Daytona Beach, I was set on attending. And so I have been, and it’s been a great experience so far. The best thing definitely is how much connection to the professional aerospace industry you can get at ERAU. Aside from hosting a series of speakers talking on topics varying from rockets to relativity, the half a dozen or so professional engineering organizations and groups on campus are amazing. I’ve made quite a few great contacts just from being a member in the campus chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). And not to mention also, the ERAU Career Services, which has helped me get both of my internships, including my current internship in Munich, Germany.

And (finally) speaking of my internship, currently I am a “Praktikantin” (German for intern) at MTU Aero Engines in Munich, Germany. This is my second internship, and at 6 months it is also the longest one I’ve done. I actually started this internship March 1st, and I will be here in Germany until August 31st. Getting this internship was really a massive change for me. The position was posted on ERAU’s career site in the middle of November with a deadline at the beginning of December, for the position starting the 1st of January…in Germany. By November, I’d already signed up for my spring classes and was thinking mostly of getting finals over with, already making plans for the winter break and spring thereafter. And yet I applied for an internship that supposedly would have me moving to Germany for 6 months in just one month. However, as it turned out, I did get some extra time because I had to get a residency permit and a working visa before I could start at MTU, and those things takes some time. Thus my start date moved to March 1st.

A bit about MTU: MTU is an independent aircraft engine manufacturer and engine maintenance service provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. They partner with other engine manufacturers like Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney, GE, etc, to create components for engines that power everything from the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Eurofighter to passenger jets, like the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A310. Working here is amazingly exciting for me, I’m really learning so much and Germany is great.

I was hoping this wouldn’t get too long, but it seems I’ve failed at that already…anyways let’s get to what I’ve been up to for 2 months! I work in the TFR Rotor Production department at MTU’s Munich factory. My job is primarily to update and work with CAD drawings for machining operations. MTU uses a CAD software called UniGraphics, so the first thing that I needed to do was to learn that program. I had about a week of tutorials and instruction in the program before I started actually editing any drawings. At ERAU we learn a CAD program called CATIA, so learning UniGraphics wasn’t so bad, because the two programs are pretty similar. The second day of my internship was an introduction for new hire employees, which MTU does at the beginning of every month. They give you a tour of the facilities and the MTU Museum (yeah they have their own museum), which happens to be the only place in the company where pictures are allowed, so the pictures of the museum here will be the only ones of MTU I post. Unfortunately, I didn’t really understand most of the tour (my German is still terrible) but it was interesting going through the factory. MTU is a maze of buildings (Aircraft engines were made here during WWII also, so there’re even underground tunnels).

There are 20 or so production lines (that I’ve seen), each designated to create a specific part, and having all the specific machines needed to create that part. My department is responsible for specific lines, and part of what we do is use UniGraphics to create the programs that tell the machines what operations to perform. I haven’t done this yet, but I have received the training to. It’s not something that changes daily, it’s better not to change the programs too often for the sake of consistency. In my time here in MTU I have made several operation sheet revisions, but none that would require a new machining program (In other words, no revisions where dimensions or materials were changed). I’ve since seen a lot of MTU beyond the production lines and shop floor, including where they do the chemical inspections of parts after they are machined, and the “other” engineering building where they use simulation programs to analyze heat build-up and other factors on engine components in operation.

Currently I am working on helping my boss prepare for an upcoming audit (next week!) by Pratt & Whitney (basically they want to make sure we’re following their standards when we manufacture their engine components) and analyzing tolerance values for certain components of two kinds of engines. (In 2009 MTU opened a plant in Poland, and they’re switching certain operations to the factory there. However there’re some deviations from the set tolerances on some of the test parts they’ve made there, so I need to find if those deviations are acceptable or not. All parts are supposed to be in general exactly the same, which is why each component has specific tolerances-to keep everything uniform.)

But I’ve been up to a LOT more than just WORK in these two months! Munich is an amazing city, and I’ve been all over the place here (There’s a palace here, an Olympic Stadium that has a flea market on Saturdays, several castles you can get to by train, LOTS of gardens and parks, etc). I’ve been to Rome, Italy (had some REAL Italian pizza), Salzburg, Austria (where the “The Sound of Music” was filmed and the birthplace of Mozart), Ulm, Germany (birthplace of Einstein), and the Neuschwanstein castle (the model for the Disney castle). I’m learning German, which is really tricky to do with no proper class or teacher, but easier since I’m here in Germany. Also I’ve gone out around Munich with some of my MTU co-workers a few times and I try to go to as many city-sponsored events as I can. I definitely want to get as much as possible out of my time here in Europe as I can, while I’m here doing this internship. I’m posting a few of my pictures from these trips with this entry, so you can see a bit of what I have these past few months!