July/August 2023 - 18

40 UNDER 40
Ray M. Mosquera
Avionics Technician/Airframe and
Powerplant Mechanic, Flight-Deck
Avionics
Age: 22
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Years in the industry: 2.5
Favorite thing about aviation: The process of seeing a project through.
Ray M. Mosquera is the first in his family to graduate from college.
In 2020 he earned an Associate of Science - Aerospace/Aviation
Maintenance Technology from Salt Lake Community College.
Mosquera said his grandfather, who worked as an aircraft refueler
and handyman in Mexico City and loved the work, had a big
influence on him. In a way, he said, " I'm living his dream because
he wanted to be a mechanic. "
After learning the basics at Salt Lake Community College,
Mosquera gained hands-on experience working at Flight-Deck
Avionics. He describes his work as " helping aircraft go from ground
to air. " His work is anything but simple, but he is not afraid to
tackle challenges head-on and he especially enjoys complex aircraft
systems. And, he added, " I like going to work and not many
people can say that. "
www.AviationPros.com/53065955
Miles D. Anderson
Director of Maintenance, MindWinder
Aviation and NorCal Aero
Age: 27
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Years in the industry: 7
Favorite thing about aviation: If you're committed, there's
no limit to what you can achieve.
Miles Anderson is the Director of Maintenance (DOM) of two
Part 135s: MindWinder Aviation and NorCal Aero. He was named
DOM at the age of 25.
" Our primary operations are in firefighting, so it's not your
typical 135. We act as the air attack role for the US Forest Service
and sometimes CALFIRE, and my role is to manage, maintain,
and schedule fleet maintenance for all the aircraft, " Anderson
described. As the DOM for these operators, his role runs the gamut.
" Sometimes I'm the avionics guy, sometimes the maintenance
guy, and occasionally the pilot, " he said.
Anderson received his Bachelor's in Aviation Maintenance
Science at Embry-Riddle in Daytona, Florida. He then went into the
accelerated program, which didn't exist at the time but the school
helped craft it with Anderson, to receive his Master's in Business
Administration from the Embry-Riddle College of Business.
www.AviationPros.com/53065943
Steven Rider
M.A.S., Director of Operations, Cannon
Aviation Modification and Repair
Age: 39
Hometown: Jennings, Louisiana
Years in the industry: 13
Favorite thing about aviation: The constant innovation.
After graduating from LSU, Steven Rider took an apprenticeship
in the industry and found his niche and he would eventually
receive his Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle.
In his current role as the director of operations, Rider wears
many hats.
" Daily tasks starting with the customer, face-to-face interactions,
bidding projects, forming budgets, running the teams, and
assisting with recruiting, " he said.
Rider said they pride themselves on being able to do mods in
a very short time span with absolute quality. They've overseen
successful modifications of various aircraft such as B737, 757, 767,
777 and A319, 320, 321, 330. And they specialize in Wi-Fi, SplitScimitar
Winglets, Spar Mods, Large Display Systems, ADS-B,
MMR and EFB mods.
www.AviationPros.com/53065944
Aashish Grover
Senior Technical Ops Lead,
Archer Aviation
Age: 33
Hometown: New Delhi, India
Years in the industry: 16
Favorite thing about aviation: Aviation is an addiction.
Aashish Grover is senior technical operations lead at Archer
Aviation, which plans to bring electric aircraft taxis to the market
in 2025. Grover worked for Archer as a flight line maintenance
technician, supporting the flight test campaign of the first prototype
of Archer's first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)
aircraft called " Maker. " Now, on the integrated test team, he's
leading the team of technicians and building various test labs
for testing of hardware and software to support the certification
of Archer's first production aircraft " Midnight. " And that's just
his weekday job.
On weekends, he's an aircraft maintenance technician (A&P)
for Jett Pro Line Maintenance and does on-call maintenance at
San Jose International Airport in California.
In 2022 he was awarded the FAA Aviation Maintenance
Technician Gold Award.
www.AviationPros.com/53065946
18 JULY/AUGUST 2023
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.AviationPros.com/53065955 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065943 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065944 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065946
July/August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2023
