Kristen Waldron
Staff writer
The annual aviation alumni and awards banquet was hosted at the Southeastern Aviation Eaker Field on April 6. This was a time for the old and new members of the aviation program to mingle and network with each other and for the current students to receive recognition.
This was also an opportunity for those current students of SE aviation program to receive awards and scholarships that were announced by George Jacox, chair of aviation flight/assistant professor. A total of 17 students received 21 different awards.
The top two seniors were given awards in the two fields that make up the aviation program. The Senior Aviation Management Award went to Zach Shamia, an SE aviation management major at Tinker Air Force Base. The Top Senior Professional Pilot Award went to Michael O’Dea from SE.
Current students were also awarded scholarships. According to Amanda Steele senior aviation major, the students who won had to complete the SE scholarship application and also turn in two-page essays stating why they deserve the scholarship, how their education will help them and why they chose aviation.
The winners of the ASI Faculty/Staff Scholarship were seniors Steele and Nikola Topalovic and junior Ryan Gornto.
The winner of the Gene Hetsel Scholarship was senior Ping Cheng.
The recipient of the Don Carpenter Scholarship went to sophomore Scott Sundstrum.
The Lt. Hugh Hall Scholarship and the Pearson/Rankin/Seigle/Matthew Scholarship was awarded to sophomore Morgan Hartwell.
The Tom Norcross Scholarship was recived by freshman Austin Ashlock.
George Clark Scholarship was given to sophomore Blake Martin.
The Rusty Allen Scholarship was awarded to freshman Jordan Brummett.
The Jake Marcum Scholarship was received by junior Dylan Hensen.
The Charles Patrick Sims Scholarship winner was sophomore Logan Sanders.
The recipient of the Eden-Campbell Scholarship was senior Robert Jacobs.
There were two winners of the Aviation Alumni Scholarship to Steele and Gornto.
The four winners for the Oklahoma Tuition/Fee Waivers are sophomores Elizabeth Cummings, Zach Everett, Cameron Hise and Martin.
Steele said, “I am honored to be chosen for these scholarships. It means a lot to me that the alumni and the staff of ASI believe I am deserving of these scholarships.”
While, emphasizing on how benifical the scholarships are, Steele said, “ In order to graduate with a B.S. in aviation, I must attain the required certification and ratings on top of the normal cost of attendance and classes. Flying is very expensive and can be very difficult to find funding for. These scholarships will help me to finish my flight training, so I may graduate.”
In attendance were several members of the past flight team and SE graduates.
Heather Knowles, associate safety engineer for Aerojet, graduated from SE 2010 with her bachelor’s degree in aviation management and again in 2011 with a degree in occupational safety. Knowles said, “I was on the aviation management track that helped me with knowing the business side of the corporate business of things as well as the safety track. I deal with safety everyday. I get to integrate both of my degrees everyday.”
Another alumnus Shukri El-Khayyat, a corporate pilot who graduated SE in 2005 with his professional pilot degree, said, “The networking with the current students and alumni enables you to break into the next step of your career. In this business it isn’t what you know; it’s who you know.”