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HKUST Alumni News 2014
T
he Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology and Dragonair airline
are similar in a number of ways: both are
youthful organizations, both are well known
Hong Kong “brands” that have gained
international acclaim in rankings and awards,
both are helping to shape the future of the
city, and both are imbued with Hong Kong’s
spirit and energy.
Several HKUST alumni are pursuing
careers with “KA”, as Dragonair is known to
its staff after the airline’s IATA designation
code, and among them are Claudia Sin,
2007 BEng (CIVL) and Freddy Lam,
2005 BBA (MGTO) – not only is Claudia
unusual in being a woman in what is still
predominantly a man’s world, but Claudia
and Freddy are also a married couple. Both
are First Officers and currently operate
A330 Airbus aircraft.
Despite being HKUST graduates, the
couple did not meet on campus, but while
at flight training school in Adelaide, where
Claudia was taking her Private Pilot License
(PPL) and Freddy was on Dragonair’s cadet
pilot course. In fact, they both took quite
different paths to becoming commercial
pilots with an award-winning airline.
Claudia mapped out her career path
early on. “When I was 15, at the time when
most Hong Kong students choose their
academic stream, I read an article in the
South China Morning Post
about a female
pilot and this inspired me,” she says.
Claudia chose science subjects at school,
and was accepted into HKUST’s School of
Engineering. “My choice was between civil
engineering and mechanical engineering,
because both include fluid mechanics,
which is related to aviation. I joined the Hong
Kong Air Cadet Corps in my second year at
HKUST, and I also received a scholarship
from the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators
to achieve my PPL in Australia.”
Freddy studied business management
at HKUST with not a thought about aviation
– until he found himself with a roommate
who was determined to become a pilot. “He
was very keen and he was always playing
on a flight simulator. I was intrigued as to
what was so interesting about it,” says
Freddy, adding that he needed to “acquire
as much knowledge as possible” in a short
time to get up to speed once he decided
that flying was his goal, too. Freddy’s
roommate, incidentally, is now a pilot with
Cathay Pacific Airways.
On graduation, Claudia was accepted
onto the Dragonair Aviation Certificate
Program (DACP). Designed by Dragonair
to provide Hong Kong youngsters with the
opportunity to learn more about a career
in aviation, places on the program are
fiercely contested. Those chosen obtain
first-hand experience of all the major
aspects of aviation, including engineering,
air traffic control, meteorology, customs and
immigration, airline operations and airport
operations. “Along with the scholarship,
DACP was one of the milestones to
achieving my dream,” says Claudia. She
especially appreciated the fact that each
participant is assigned a pilot mentor. “My
pilot mentor shared with me all about the
industry and the lifestyle of being a pilot,”
she says.
DACP hadn’t been created when
Freddy decided to become a pilot. “I
didn’t have this way of getting my foot in
the door. I went to the library to get flying
manuals. I also did an air traffic control
(ATC) short course through the Civil Aviation
Department.” To fund his dream, he needed
to get a job – and he worked in the HKUST
student accommodation office. “I earned
enough to learn how to fly. So I, too, can
say that the University helped me achieve
my goal just as much as Claudia.” Freddy
joined Dragonair’s cadet pilot scheme in
2007 and qualified in 2008, the year that
Claudia became a cadet. She became a KA
pilot in 2010.
In fact, both are grateful for the
opportunities provided by HKUST. In
academic terms, Claudia is appreciative of
the fact that studying engineering develops
problem-solving and analytical skills, but
she also benefited from the University’s
international atmosphere. “My roommate
was from Mainland China, and so I was
able to improve my Putonghua skills. And
that is now useful in my job. KA flies to
many Mainland destinations. Although
communicating with ATC is no problem –
English is the international aviation language
– I find Putonghua very useful; if we have a
delayed flight, for example, I can talk directly
to people on the ground at the airport and
get a fuller picture.”
Freddy says that studying business
management did provide him with skills
useful for an aviator. “When you are in
the cockpit, you are a manager in the
air,” he explains. The companionship of
other students with similar interests also
provided a boost. “I lived in hall where a
few wanted to be pilots, so we formed a
study group and shared information and
that helped a lot.”
As for the skills required to become
a successful pilot, Claudia highlights the
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