HKUST Alumni News 2014
5
Last September, the School of
Engineering’s Department of Mechanical
Engineering officially changed its name
to that of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering (MAE). This move recognizes the demand for aerospace engineering education and provides expanding opportunities for
graduates. It builds on HKUST’s existing strong faculty at the School of Engineering. MAE launched a Minor Program in Aeronautical
Engineering in 2012, which is attracting a good number of students; a fully fledged degree program in Aerospace Engineering will be
launched within two years. Claudia says it is encouraging to see that the School of Engineering is offering programs in Aeronautical
Engineering. “Hong Kong International Airport is expanding, there are plans for a third runway. Hong Kong not only needs pilots but
other aviation professionals, including engineers, too, and HKUST can enable more young people to get into this industry.”
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need to be assertive. “This is especially
so being a woman in this industry,” she
says. “Women can appear to be soft and
very polite; if you are not assertive enough,
people may not trust you. For example, if
the flight engineer or chief purser needs
some help, then they will come into the
cockpit immediately and ask you for
your decision and you need to make that
decision very quickly, detail it step by
step and be very clear what you want.”
For Freddy, a good pilot must be able
to prioritize. “Quick decision-making
is essential – say you have a technical
issue and a special need regarding a
passenger at the same time… you need
to be able to handle everything in a
timely sequence.”
To date, the couple has flown
together just once. “We both sit on
the right-hand side, so we wouldn’t be
rostered together,” says Freddy, referring
to the fact that as first officers, both sit on
the right-hand side of the cockpit, while the
captain sits on the left. However, Claudia
was called out on a day off to fly a diverted
plane from Shanghai to Beijing, and she and
Freddy ended up in the cockpit together.
Freddy confesses that sometimes on his
day off he will take a stand-by seat on one
of Claudia’s flights and sit in the back of the
plane to experience her landings. “They are
good,” he says with a laugh.
REACH FOR THE SKY
