National Formosa University and BCIT Work Together to Train Future Air Transportation Personnel

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education promotes international exchange programs for engineering education, and sponsors students to study and do internships overseas. This year, National Formosa University once again partnered with the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), the largest Aerospace Technology School in Canada, to offer students from Taiwan an intensive 5-week air transportation learning-experience program this summer, for the 8th consecutive year now. Students find the program very rewarding.
Thirty students recently completed this year’s program: 27 National Formosa University students from its Aircraft Engineering, Applied Foreign Languages, Mechanical Design, Automation, and Business Administration departments; two from the Department of Commercial Design and Management at National Taipei University of Business; and one from the Feng Chia University Department of Aerospace and Systems Engineering. Their diverse academic backgrounds made the program even more valuable.
The students arrived in Vancouver in early July, accompanied by associate professor Dr. Frank Lin from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at National Formosa University. The first week and a half of the program focused on English aviation terminology. The next two and a half weeks was divided into two key areas: aviation maintenance and airport management, covering such aspects as composite materials manufacture, structures and materials, and airport operation practices.
The most exciting part of the program was a visit to the Pacific Flying Club Flying School, which collaborates with BCIT, when students had the opportunity to fly a trainer aircraft. This unforgettable, invaluable experience reaffirmed their individual decisions to work in the air transport industry sector, and their career goals. After the program finished on August 3, the students took the train to Seattle and went on a tour of the Boeing Factory, visited an aviation museum, and attended a professional aviation show.

Photo:The student participants in the air transportation learning-experience program at BCIT Vancouver International Airport campus.