Aviation Student Awarded Scholarship From Helicopter Association

A senior in Pennsylvania College of Technology's aviation maintenance technology major has been awarded a scholarship from the Helicopter Association International.

Jason M. Smith, of RR 1 Hillsgrove, is among the winners of HAI's 2005 Bill Sanderson Aviation Maintenance Technician Scholarships. He was one of more than 35 applicants for the award, which was founded by the organization's technical committee to promote the choice of helicopter maintenance as a career.

As a fourth-place winner, Smith is entitled to $600 to assist with travel and expenses associated with attending American Eurocopter manufacturers' training school in Grand Prairie, Texas; complimentary registration to HELI-EXPO 2006 in Dallas, including an invitation to the "Salute to Excellence" awards banquet; a one-year membership in HAI; and an invitation to attend an upcoming meeting of the association's technical committee.

He will be formally introduced during HELI-EXPO, billed as the world's largest trade show dedicated to the civil helicopter industry.

Smith earned his Federal Aviation Administration Airframe and Powerplant license (one of the scholarship criteria) and has been an intern with Sterling Helicopter in Philadelphia.

"HAI's scholarship is very competitive. To place so highly in the competition reflects well on Jason as a young professional technician and highlights his dedication to the exacting standards of aviation maintenance," said Brett A. Reasner, associate professor of aviation in Penn College's School of Transportation Technology.

"The manufacturers" training school will provide him with knowledge of a state-of-the-art helicopter that will not only benefit him, but also his future employer, Sterling Helicopter," Reasner added.

For more information about aviation maintenance technology or other majors in the School of Transportation Technology, call (570) 327-4516, send e-mail or visit online .

Photo by Thomas D. Inman, associate professor of avionics