What a blast! I had the opportunity to represent Arizona State University at the University Aviation Association’s annual conference. I spent a week in our nation’s Capitol rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in the aviation industry.

I was tasked with developing a presentation on “NextGen,” the FAA’s latest project. In essence, it is a project that will bring our aging Air Traffic Control system to the 21 century, utilizing more GPS based navigation rather than old ground-based facilities.

My team met with several aviation organizations including the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers (NATCA), the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). We were allowed to explore DC on our own after seminar each night. We caught dinner in China Town and took our time walking amongst the monuments. We even got to tour DC via Segway (which was totally awesome until I ate it on the Smithsonian Mall…. Talk about embarrassing) !

Before I knew it my week on the hill the was over. We were able to sneak over to the National Air and Space museum annex in Virginia before we left. It was so incredible to be standing in a room with the aircraft that made history. It was a nice reminder of how important my Antelope Valley is in the aerospace industry – several of the aircraft are “hometown heroes” such as the Space Shuttle test vehicle Enterprise, the Rutan Long-EZ and the SR71 Blackbird

Off to the next adventure – I hear next year’s conference is being held in Nashville…. “Yes please!”