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December 2017

• Event Reports:

o ATC Facilities Tour – Group 2

o UTIAS Flight Simulator Experience November

• Event Announcement:

o Aviation Presentation Competition 2018

• People in the Aviation Industry: Interview with Samarth Bhasin

• Happy International Civil Aviation Day!

In this issue:

‘Level at FL340’

Ladies and gentlemen,

Can you believe that it’s almost the end of the semester? That means we are approaching the

half-way point of our flight already!

We hope you enjoyed our events this semester! With the Toronto Pearson Runway Run in

September, ATC facilities tours in October and November, guest talk by Captain Kurchina in

October, and UTIAS Flight Simulator Experience in November – this is the largest number of

events we’ve ever had in one semester.

We promise that next semester will be just as exciting or even more so! We will have more

ATC tours, more simulator sessions, another guest talk, a presentation competition and a

networking event, so keep tracking our flight on our website and social media for updates.

There will be no events in December, as final exam season is shortly upon us. Events will

resume next semester. In the meantime, we invite you to start thinking about participating in

UTAC’s first Aviation Presentation Competition. Prepare a 15-minute presentation on any

aviation/aerospace topic and enter the competition, adjudicated by a panel of aviation

industry professionals. Winners and runners-up will receive prizes and get a chance to have

their presentations entered into the Royal Aeronautical Society’s international Young Persons

Lecture Competition for another chance of winning a prize. And to make the day even better,

there will be a Q&A panel with the adjudicators following the competition. Interested? Why

not start preparing your presentation over the winter break?

Finally, do you know about the aviation holiday on December 7? Happy International Civil

Aviation Day!

We hope to see you all next semester! Good luck on your exams!

Sincerely,

UTAC executives

Website: www.utorontoac.org

E-mail: info.utorontoac@gmail.com

Facebook: University of Toronto Aviation Club

Twitter: @utorontoac

Instagram: @utorontoac

Level at FL340: UTAC’s Second ATC Tour

On Sunday, November 19, the second group of participants from UTAC visited the Toronto

Area Control Centre and the NAV Canada Control Tower at Pearson International Airport. It was a

once in a lifetime experience, made possible by Elevate Aviation and NAV Canada. We owe them

a huge thank you for the opportunity!

We’d like to particularly thank Debby Stasko for taking the time to guide the group through the

Area Control Centre (ACC), the ATC training school, as well as the control tower. They had the

chance to see how the ACC radar screens functioned, the roles of the teams controlling each

particular airspace, coordination of traffic flow around the Southern Ontario region, and not to

mention the breathtaking view from the tower! The school was empty this Sunday, but they still

viewed the training equipment and heard about what training is like. Unfortunately it was a bit

chillier on the tower balcony this time compared to the October tour, and the group did not stay

outside too long, but the view was just as fantastic.

If you’ve missed this semester’s tours, don’t worry. We will be holding more in the new year.

Spots fill up fast, so make sure to keep an eye out on Facebook for the application form. For those

of you who applied for a spot this semester, but were unable to go, make sure to indicate to us if

you’re still interested and available to participate as the new dates are announced.

You Have Control:

UTIAS Flight Simulator Experience

At this semester’s UTIAS Flight Simulator Experience once again participants had a chance to

fly the Bombardier Q400 simulation in UTIAS’ simulator. The Q400 is one of the most common

regional aircraft flying in Canada, and is a starting point in many pilots’ airline careers, which

makes it especially interesting for UTAC members to try flying this simulation. Taking off from runway

8L at Honolulu, participants had 20 minutes to fly around the island and come back to the airport.

They had a chance to practice a visual or ILS approach.

It was a fun yet challenging experience to fly in the simulator. Participants had the opportunity

to taste how it is like to control a commercial turboprop. UTAC executives assisted when necessary

by monitoring the view and instrument displays on screens outside the simulator and performing a

hybrid pilot monitoring/navigator/air traffic controller role, talking to the participants through a

headset. Although most participants do not have real flying experience, they all performed well.

We hope everyone enjoyed the event, and we look forward to more simulator sessions next

semester!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aviation Presentation Competition 2018

Saturday, March 24, 2018

We are pleased to announce UTAC’s first Aviation Presentation Competition. Students and recent

graduates are invited to make 12-15-minute presentations on any aviation/aerospace-related topic.

The competition will be adjudicated by a panel of aviation industry professionals. Winners and

runners-up will receive prizes and get a chance to have their presentations entered into the Royal

Aeronautical Society’s Young Persons Lecture Competition1

.

The competition will be followed by a Q&A panel with the adjudicators, where participants and

audience members will be able to ask their questions about the industry and careers in aviation.

Presentations can be on any topic, as long as it is related to aviation/aerospace. Evaluation will be

on a 60-points scale:

- Keeping to the allotted time of 12-15 minutes (5 points)

- Structure – introduction, development of the topic, conclusion (10 points)

- Oral presentation – spoken delivery, audibility, speed, flow (10 points)

- Audience engagement – eye contact, interaction, keep attention (5 points)

- Visual presentation – relevance, ease of reading, complement to oral presentation (5 points)

- Ability to answer questions post presentation (10 points)

- Content, grasp of subject, originality (15 points)

There will be two age categories: 21 and under, and 22-29 years old. With sufficient entries, age

groups may be broken down further.

Presentations can be made individually or in groups, but not all prizes are divisible.

The competition is not limited to UofT students. Anyone under 30 years old from anywhere in

Canada is eligible to participate.

1 Presentations will be video recorded and forwarded to the RAeS along with 2000-3000-word written submissions that

will have to be prepared by those whose presentations are selected. To be entered into the RAeS competition, participants will be required to become RAeS members. Current students are eligible for free student membership.

People in the Aviation Industry

Interview with Samarth Bhasin

This month we speak to Samarth Bhasin who is an engineer for Bombardier Aerospace in Toronto

specializing in Aeroelasticity. He completed his undergraduate degree at Bharati Vidyapeeth University

in Prune, India, and his Master’s of Engineering at San Diego State University.

UTAC: What sparked your interest in

aerospace? Did you pursue engineering

with aerospace in mind from the start or

did it come after?

Samarh Bhasin: As a child, I was

fascinated by the life and engineering

jobs in the merchant navy, and so I

pursued a mechanical engineering

undergraduate degree, as I believed that

would allow me to work on a ship and

also pursue other industries in case I

changed my mind and decided to stay

onshore. Over the years, during the

program, my aspirations evolved. I took

a few aerospace-related courses, and

did a 6-month industrial project designing

an airplane wing structure, which is what

really sparked my interest in aerospace,

and by the end of the undergraduate

program I was determined to pursue a

master’s in aerospace engineering.

UTAC: Could you briefly describe your

career path?

SB: In 2008 I graduated with an

undergraduate degree in mechanical

engineering in India. In 2010, I

completed a M.Sc. program in aerospace

engineering from San Diego State

University in California. I then went on to

work for a small 15-person aerospace

engineering company in Arizona called

Zona Technology, focused in R&D

activities and scientific software

development, specifically for the

Aeroelasticity discipline. I worked at that

job until 2012, when I got hired at

Bombardier Aerospace in Toronto, with

the Loads & Dynamics group where I

worked until 2014. I’ve since moved to

the Advanced Design group (R&D) within

Bombardier, again focused in the

Aeroelasticity discipline.

UTAC: What is your favorite part of your job?

SB: Within the R&D group at Bombardier

Aerospace, I work with a very multi-

disciplinary team where I get to

experiment with many new technologies

and gain new knowledge outside my own

specific discipline.

Samarth Bhasin

People in the Aviation Industry

UTAC: Could you tell us an interesting

story from your career?

SB: Back in the day, even though I had

spent 2 years completing a master’s in

aerospace engineering, doing research

and writing a thesis, and another 2 years

doing complex R&D at my job in the

Aeroelasticity discipline, I had never

actually physically seen an airplane in an

assembly line. That was something that

really bothered me, and I had almost

started to lose motivation because I never

really got to see or touch the final product

that I had put so much research into. Until I

accepted the job at Bombardier’s Toronto

site, I found myself completely in awe (like

a child) when I first walked through the

assembly line of the Global Express. I

knew I was in the right place.

UTAC: What do you think the future of

aerospace looks like?

SB: From a purely commercial application

point of view, a lot of interesting

experiments are being undertaken in the

aerospace industry these days. Even

traditionally non-aerospace companies are

investing in aerospace R&D to benefit new

ways of air travel (flying taxis, space

flights) and delivery applications. Drones

are entering the commercial space in a

big way. It is almost certain that in the

very near future commercial aerospace

will not be limited to just passenger jets or

business travel. I believe we are going to

witness some never-before-seen

applications in aerospace engineering in

the coming years. So overall, I’m really

excited about the future of aerospace.

UTAC: What advice would you give to

aspiring aerospace engineers and those

currently studying?

SB: Continue doing what you’re doing,

only if you find yourself to be really

passionate about airplanes and absolutely

love engineering. As is understandable,

engineering curriculum can be really time-

consuming, but I would advise you to

keep yourselves updated on the current

trends and applications in aerospace.

As a student, working for a large

aerospace OEM comes with some

associated prestige and some pre-

conceived notions, and no doubt one gets

to learn a lot at such organizations. Since

such opportunities are limited, I encourage

you to broaden your horizons and explore

the many other exciting avenues these

days to apply your aerospace engineering

skills to. There are a ton of drone and

satellite companies these days within the

Toronto area and across Canada, looking

for smart engineers with a combination of

skill sets including aerospace engineering.

I strongly recommend that you expand

your knowledge base and pick up

practical skills in a variety of disciplines

such as electrical engineering and

computer science. This will allow you to

contribute to some really exciting and

innovative real-world applications in

aerospace.

And lastly, down the line if you truly find

yourself in love with airplane engineering,

I encourage you to pursue a higher

education (even a PhD) in aerospace, it

would be a great life experience for you.

International Civil Aviation Day is celebrated on December 7 – the

anniversary of the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation

which established the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAO

introduced the International Civil Aviation Day in 1994, on its 50th anniversary.

UTAC joins the world in celebrating this holiday and would like to wish

everyone involved in civil aviation all the best for the years to come!