Catching Up at AeroTech: 5 Minutes with Folks on the Floor
Posted: March 15, 2022
There’s so much happening at SAE International’s AeroTech 2022 (presented jointly with ASM’s AeroMat) and we’re keeping up with it all—as are our attendees! We stopped and chatted with a few to see what they’re getting from the experience so far, and their outlook on what’s to come for the world of aerospace. See what they had to say!
Jerry Weems, UPS, Aircraft Operations (Load Planning Engineer)
What brought you to AeroTech?
I’m giving a presentation on something I put together on my computer—an idea I had for small cargo aircraft to design a low-cost single piston powered aircraft to deliver cargo around the world.
What gets you excited about this event?
I like receiving criticism to help me make my ideas better and seeing what other people are up to. There’s a lot of future opportunities out there, and I like looking for opportunities to go forward.
Speaking of the future, what area or technology are you most excited about?
Composite manufacturing. I took courses in composite manufacturing, and I am looking to learn more about that. As it gets cheaper, it’s easier to manufacture and people find these materials easier to utilize and to access.
Edit Ovasapyan, PPG Aerospace, Global Process Engineer
What brought you to AeroTech?
A lot of the program looks very exciting! I’m excited to learn about what people are doing. I like to be informed about what’s going on in the industry, and this is the place where that happens.
What gets you most excited about this event?
I really like the app! You guys do a great job in organizing; I’ve already starred a bunch of sessions I’m interested in and I’m looking forward to some of the sessions on additive manufacturing and flying vehicles.
How will you apply what you learn here to your work after the conference ends?
Already there was a really interesting session on the supply chain crisis, and that’s directly applicable to every industry right now. I’m an engineer, but this is something that anyone in any industry could benefit from.
This is my first AeroTech, but I’ve been to a few G-9 meetings, and my SAE connections have been really helpful for my work in sealants. I’m excited to see what else I can learn.
Timothy Sharobem, Oerlikon Metco, R&D Coatings Engineer
What brought you to AeroTech?
It’s a great grouping of people in relevant companies to the aerospace industry, and Oerlikon is in the exhibit hall to share some of what we’re doing and letting people test it out.
What gets you most excited about this event?
I do R&D work, and where I’m situated is in high entropy alloys. I think it’s an interesting field for this industry, and I’m interested in learning more and helping to develop that area. There’s the high temperature materials talk that I’m looking forward to learning about certain alloys and how engines are affected by temperature and corrosion from things like heat and sand.
What challenges do you see ahead—and how is this event addressing them?
People are just starting to fly the way the did pre-pandemic, but the industry is looking very different now than it did just a few years ago. I’m looking forward to the keynote on that challenging period during COVID and what it means for the future. Are the goals that were set in 2018 and 2019 coming back, or will goals be different?
