FROM THE PUBLISHER
HOW DOES THE SEGWAY® RECOGNIZING AIRCRAFT MECHANICS? RELATE TO
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SEGWAY, YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD OF ITS INVENTOR DEAN KAMEN. ALTHOUGH KAMEN INVENTED THE SEGWAY, MANY PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE THAT THE SEGWAY IS A VERY SMALL PART OF WHAT HE DOES AND WHO HE IS. KAMEN’S FIRST SUCCESSFUL INVENTION WAS THE AUTOSYRINGE, A DEVICE USED IN HOSPITALS FOR AUTOMATICALLY ADMINISTERING MEDICATION. HE HAS SINCE SOLD THAT COMPANY, BUT THEN FOUNDED A COMPANY CALLED DEKA RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HE STILL OWNS. HIS (VERY SUCCESSFUL) COMPANY HOLDS MORE THAN 440 PATENTS, MANY OF THEM FOR MEDICAL DEVICES SUCH AS WEARABLE INSULIN INFUSION PUMPS AND HOME DIALYSIS MACHINES.
So how does the Segway relate to PUBLISHER
GREG NAPERT
gnapert@DOMmagazine.com
recognizing aircraft mechanics? Kamen launched an organization called FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). FIRST was created because Kamen felt that engineers were not properly recognized by the general public. FIRST was founded to “motivate the next generation to understand, use, and enjoy science and technology.” It was launched in 1989, and now serves more than 300,000 young people, ages 6-18, in more than 60 countries, according to its website. In addition, high-school-aged participants are eligible to apply for more than $16 million in scholarships from leading colleges, universities and corporations. FIRST’s annual competition now fills an entire stadium of participants and observers that enthusiastically compete in their national events. So you see, Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway saw the same types of issues with respect to the recognition of engineers and scientists that we as aircraft mechanics face. To help educate the public, he launched FIRST. And now for the segue (pun intended).
Like engineers and scientists, aircraft maintenance personnel work in the background and receive little recognition for keeping the flying public safe. Further, the complexity, skill and education required to perform the job efficiently is quite unknown by the general public and often under-appreciated. Several years ago, I was involved in
starting an organization that launched a skills competition. Today, I am proud
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to say that it has become the Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC) and for the last three years, it has been growing rapidly to become the premier aircraft maintenance competition in the world. The AMC was moved to the MRO
Americas tradeshow last year, and this year will take place at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, TX April 5-7. More than 50 teams will be competing in six different categories to include Commercial Aviation, General Aviation, Space, School, Military and MRO/OEM. The teams will be competing in more than 20 events that will be administered by industry experts, and the prizes include tooling and equipment from some of the most prestigious manufacturers including Snap-on, David Clark, DeWalt, Leatherman, Virgin America and more. D.O.M. magazine has, and will
continue to support this unique event. We encourage our readers to not only attend – but participate in this and future AMC events. It is only through your increased participation that we can raise awareness of the training and skills needed for providing safe and airworthy aircraft – and realize the recognition that our profession deserves. For more information about the AMC competition, go to
www.aerospacemaintenancecompetition.com. To register your team for the competition, click on the REGISTER NOW tab.
Thanks for reading. Greg Napert, Proud to be an A&P
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