Avionics Professor Among Presenters at National Conference

A faculty member at Pennsylvania College of Technology's Lumley Aviation Center was a presenter at the recent Association for Avionics Education conference in Battle Creek, Mich.

Thomas D. Inman, associate professor of avionics in the college's School of Transportation Technology, presented an "Alternative Methodology for Aviation Communication Receiver Selectivity Testing" during the Oct. 26-27 conference at Western Michigan University.

"The method described in factory-provided maintenance manuals doesn't always work very well, and students have a difficult time grasping the selectivity concept," Inman explained.

Selectivity is the ability of a radio receiver to choose the appropriate frequency and reject other nearby signals. "The method I describe takes longer, but, in the end, the students get a clear picture of what selectivity is, how radios typically exceed specifications and why the factory procedure may not be sufficient," he said.

Conference participants also heard presentations on avionics education in industry, installation of avionics in home-built aircraft and creating a new aeronautical engineering program. In addition, conferees toured Duncan Aviation, Centennial Aviation, Western Michigan University College of Aviation and Kellogg Community College's avionics facility.

The AAE promotes avionics education and operates as a forum to exchange ideas and information to help the overall quality of avionics education.

Inman has served as its president since 2005, and, during the conference, turned over the post to Blair Balden, an associate professor at Western Michigan University. He will stay on as an officer, however, volunteering to act as the organization's treasurer for the coming year.

For more about avionics and other academic majors in Penn College's School of Transportation Technology, call (570) 327-4516, send e-mail or visit online.