AIM Center for Excellence at Salina airport graduates first set of students

Nine students, their friends and family, aviation and industry leaders and more gathered as the first cohort of the Aviation Innovation and Maintenance (AIM) Center of Excellence in Salina graduated Thursday.

With the backdrop of a locally-owned and maintained Cessna Citation jet, the graduation ceremony was hosted in Hangar 600 and was the culmination of a six-week pre-apprenticeship program at the Salina Regional Airport that exposed the nine students to the growing industry of aviation maintenance.

During the AIM program, students learned basic information about aviation maintenance, with hands-on experience in areas like sheet metal, paint, composites and electronics and avionics.

AIM sets 'new milestone' for students and for Salina airport

Tim Rogers, executive director for the Salina Airport Authority, said this graduation of the first cohort of students is a "new milestone" for the airport.

"They have (also) achieved a new milestone in their lives," Rogers said of the graduates. "This...will lead them to new accomplishments and will be something they take with them. The experience here, we hope, in many ways will be life-changing and something they carry forward and pass on to others in future years."

AIM was possible because of the assistance from several sources, including the Kansas Department of Commerce through its Aviation Learning Opportunities and Funded Training (ALOFT) grant program.

The department was represented at the graduation by Mike Beene, assistant secretary of commerce, who spoke and gave words of thanks to the Salina community for investing in this program and thanks and encouragement to the students.

"(We want to thank the students) for taking a chance on a program that you may or may not have not a lot about," Beene said. "Now, from what I've seen...you have skills related to real-world industry."

Beene said the state has been on a "hot streak" when it comes to bringing new business and industry to Kansas, including significant commercial growth in Salina. With that growth comes the need for talented people with specific skills.

"(This is one way) we are ensuring that we have talent to meet the need of the business and the industry, but more importantly ensuring we keep our talent here within the state," Beene said. "My plea to each of you (students) is I want to stay in Salina, and if you can't stay in Salina, please stay in Kansas."

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AIM graduates thankful for opportunity to gain new skills

For the students that took part in the first section of the AIM program, there was a sense of joy in coming out of it with not only competency-based microcredentials through Kansas State University-Salina, but more importantly skills than can shape their potential path forward in industry.

One of those students is Ell-Saline High schooler Dayton Linenberger, who took part in the AIM program at the suggestion of his mother.

"She sent me to the (information), knowing I was interested in transportation stuff," Linenberger said.

Linenberger said that he believes this program was impactful for the knowledge he gain in more than just one area of industry.

"(It gives me) a wide range of skills," Linenberger said.

Another student, Dinah Roth, said she decided to take part in the AIM program after discovering a love of aviation through her time with the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.

"I got to fly prop planes, gliders and got to work with the Air Force... and a whole bunch of pilots," Roth said. "I found out I loved working with airplanes."

Roth thought about joining the K-State aviation maintenance management program at the Salina campus, but discovered it was a very male-dominated industry and took a step back to think about it.

"I kind of put that aside and then out of the blue in October, my dad saw an article about the AIM program," Roth said.

Discovering it was a short, six-week, but somewhat intensive program that might get her foot in the door of the industry, Roth decided to take a chance and sign-up, being the first female in the program and the only female member of this first cohort.

Despite a love of aircraft, Roth said the program introduced her to many firsts when it came to learning skill sets.

"I had absolutely no mechanical knowledge (other than basically) stripping wire and running wire," Roth said.

Now, she has learned and used skills like bending and shaping sheet metal, riveting, creating composites, circuitry, soldering and more. Like the other students she has a real-life example of putting all of these skills together and creating a small lamp cube made with sheet metal cut and manually bent by the students, composites that the students fabricated and shaped and finished with acrylic glass and paint.

"Everything worked out great, and now I have a fully functioning lamp," Roth said.

After getting through these six weeks, Roth now has the opportunity to use these new skills in practical ways and has K-State Salina issued microcredentials to take with her if to pursue opportunities like possibly taking up an apprenticeship at Salina-based maintenance and repair company 1 Vision Aviation, one of the benefactors and now benefiters of the AIM program.

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Next AIM course begins later this month

As for the future of the AIM Center of Excellence at Salina Regional Airport, the next cohort of students are set to begin their six-week course beginning March 25 and ending in May.

More courses are scheduled through the rest of 2024, and people interested in the program are encouraged to apply by visiting the AIM website, www.aimcenter.aero.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina airport's AIM Center for Excellence graduates first students