Jetrader - Autumn 2015 - 55

ISTAT foundation

The Next Generation
of Talent
Damon J. D'Agostino
ISTAT Foundation
Chairman
In this quarterly update, I want to talk
about the future of our industry and how
the ISTAT Foundation is helping cultivate
the next generation of aviation professionals. As the former ISTAT Foundation
Education and Internship Committee
chairman, I have witnessed firsthand the
positive impact that the foundations' educational programs have on students. The
foundation is in a very exciting season, and
it is my pleasure to keep you, our members,
informed on the work that is being done in
three distinct, yet related, areas.

ISTAT Foundation
Scholarship Program
The ISTAT Foundation Scholarship
Program continues to provide support to
students worldwide. This year, the foundation awarded 46 student scholarships for
a total of $335,000, with 44 percent of
these scholarships going to students in
operations, business or management degree
programs. The students represent 24 universities in 11 countries on four continents.
It is anticipated that the new ISTAT Latin
America Forum will increase participation
from universities in the Latin American

The first ISTAT University class in spring 2015.

region. ISTAT is truly a global organization, and the foundation is continuing that
trend with our commitment to diversity and
international influence.
As a father myself, I understand the cost
of higher education is rising; ISTAT is committed to making education goals attainable through scholarships to students with
a passion for aviation. Our future focus will
be to funnel support to students who have a
desire to work in our industry and carry the
ISTAT flag in the future; as such, pilots-tobe are less reflected. As this year's selection and candidate award season comes
to a conclusion, I want to recognize the
Scholarship Committee for their hard work
It is a monumental task sorting through
the scholarship applications and selecting worthy candidates. The Scholarship
Committee chair is Peter Huijbers, and its
members are Julian Balaam, Jon Batchelor,
Kristen Chmielewski, Mohamed El-Borai,
Andy LaStella, Roland Moore, Satoru Ohki,
Murrae Ross-Eskell, Betsy Snyder and
Konrad Walter. Thank you!

ISTAT Internship Program
Moving on from scholarships, this is the
second consecutive year the ISTAT internship program has been active since it was
re-launched in the summer of 2014. The
program provides internships with ISTAT
member companies and grants up to a $2,500
stipend to help offset the cost of travel to

The ISTAT University class in action.

the internship destination, as well as housing cost while participating in the internship. As the summer comes to an end, it is
apparent that this program will continue to
succeed in its mission to provide industry
experience to its participants. Kelly Houser
had this to say about her experience as a
technical support intern at Aviation Capital
Group: "I've learned quite a lot about the
aircraft leasing world as I work alongside,
not only employees in the technical department, but also those in contracts, configuration management, legal, treasury and global
strategy. This internship has really given
me an overall snapshot of the important
role that aircraft leasing companies play
in the aviation industry. I hope to find
myself somewhere in either technical or
global strategy and marketing someday."
Students are not the only ones with
positive feedback about the internship
program. Haseem Vazhayil, president and
CEO of Leaseworks, spoke very highly of
the program saying, "The ISTAT internship
was one of the best sources of talent for
us. We hired a student from the ISTAT U
program who had a very strong foundation in aviation finance. So we were able
to very easily teach him nuances of our
business such as how to model aircraft
leases, do future projections and return
conditions. The candidate had the right mix
of intellect and eagerness to learn. These
Jetrader * Autumn 2015 55

Jetrader - Autumn 2015

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