By Gary Watson | December 18, 2012 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 44 seconds.
Lisa Weatherby was recently named as Aviation Programs Academic Chair at Canada’s oldest aircraft maintenance training institute, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Weatherby is responsible for three training programs: aircraft maintenance, avionics and aircraft structures.
The road to the top job in the aviation program was both interesting and challenging for Weatherby. She graduated with honours from the SAIT avionics program in 2000, and started working for a small avionics AMO in Calgary to gain experience and obtain her AME licence. In 2001, she taught her first course at SAIT as a contract instructor. In 2004, coinciding with the opening of the new airport campus and expansion of the three programs, Weatherby became a full time instructor at SAIT. In her spare time she studied and obtained her Provincial Instructor’s Diploma, then her Master’s Degree in 2011.
Twelve years after graduation from SAIT, Weatherby is now head of the aviation programs and responsible for 16 instructors and approximately 225 students.
“One of my first goals is to improve the selection process so we can get students who show the aptitude and willingness to succeed in the three programs,” Weatherby told Canadian Skies. “I also hope to create closer ties to industry for our advisory councils; and, with their support, show students the types of jobs that are available in aviation maintenance.”
