USU Alumni Develop Industry-Changing Aviation Technology ... · USU Alumni Develop...
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USU Alumni Develop Industry-Changing Aviation Technology | College of Engineering - 1 USU Alumni Develop Industry-Changing Aviation Technology | College of Engineering 12/02/2019 embed-responsive-itemhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/ PjARHuzu8zM300150 LOGAN, UTAH — Dec. 2, 2019 — A pair of Utah State University alumni helped develop a new technology that will forever change aviation safety. Bailey Scheel (’14 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) and Eric Sargent (’09 Aviation) are part of a team at Garmin International that created a flight control system for general aviation aircraft called Autoland. In the event of an emergency involving pilot incapacitation, Autoland controls and lands an aircraft at the nearest suitable airport with no human intervention. USU alumni Eric Sargent, left, and Bailey Scheel are part of a team at Garmin International that created the revolutionary Autoland flight control system. Garmin, a tech giant that makes GPS devices, sports and fitness gear and wearables, is a leading manufacturer of aircraft electronics including flight deck displays and autopilot technologies. On Oct. 30, the company announced the release of its revolutionary Autoland system. Scheel, who learned to fly an airplane before driving a car, served as Autoland project manager and systems engineer. Sargent, a graduate of USU’s renowned professional pilot program, was the Autoland test pilot for the Piper M600 aircraft. The alumni worked together for two years on the project. “Getting to work on something that offers general aviation aircraft and pilots the ability to land without any pilot interaction during an emergency has been super exciting and rewarding,” said Scheel. “And working with a USU grad as our test pilot was definitely a highlight.” Before joining Garmin as a test pilot, Eric Sargent (’09 Aviation) was a flight instructor at Utah State University Scheel is a senior aviation programs engineer and manager at Garmin where she leads innovative projects involving Garmin, airplane manufacturers and the FAA. She was drawn to airplanes at a young age and says the Autoland concept is especially meaningful to her. “When I was a kid, my grandfather taught me the basics of flying just in case anything happened to him while we were in the air,” she said. “I later became a pilot because I was interested in aviation, and I became an engineer because I wanted to help people and do exciting new things.” Looking back, Scheel said the senior design program helped prepare her for her career. “The communication experience I gained from my senior design project within my team, from the customer and from the professors was invaluable,” she said. “I discovered I really enjoy that sort of technical communication and coordination. And now I get to do it every day.” She encouraged students to learn more about their majors and take advantage of campus opportunities. “My advice is to take advantage of clubs, research, part- time jobs and internships to discover areas of engineering you may not know about,” she added. Bailey Scheel (’14 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) learned to fly an airplane before driving a car. Before joining Garmin as a flight test pilot, Sargent was a flight instructor at USU. He was one of the first aviation
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USU Alumni Develop Industry-Changing Aviation Technology | College of Engineering - 1
USU Alumni DevelopIndustry-ChangingAviation Technology |College of Engineering
12/02/2019
embed-responsive-itemhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/PjARHuzu8zM300150
LOGAN, UTAH — Dec. 2, 2019 — A pair of Utah StateUniversity alumni helped develop a new technology thatwill forever change aviation safety.
Bailey Scheel (’14 Mechanical and AerospaceEngineering) and Eric Sargent (’09 Aviation) are part of ateam at Garmin International that created a flight controlsystem for general aviation aircraft called Autoland. Inthe event of an emergency involving pilot incapacitation,Autoland controls and lands an aircraft at the nearestsuitable airport with no human intervention.
USU alumni Eric Sargent, left, and Bailey Scheel arepart of a team at Garmin International that created therevolutionary Autoland flight control system.
Garmin, a tech giant that makes GPS devices, sports andfitness gear and wearables, is a leading manufacturerof aircraft electronics including flight deck displaysand autopilot technologies. On Oct. 30, the companyannounced the release of its revolutionary Autolandsystem.
Scheel, who learned to fly an airplane before driving acar, served as Autoland project manager and systemsengineer. Sargent, a graduate of USU’s renownedprofessional pilot program, was the Autoland test pilot forthe Piper M600 aircraft. The alumni worked together fortwo years on the project.
“Getting to work on something that offers general aviationaircraft and pilots the ability to land without any pilot
interaction during an emergency has been super excitingand rewarding,” said Scheel. “And working with a USUgrad as our test pilot was definitely a highlight.”
Before joining Garmin as a test pilot, Eric Sargent (’09Aviation) was a flight instructor at Utah State University
Scheel is a senior aviation programs engineer andmanager at Garmin where she leads innovative projectsinvolving Garmin, airplane manufacturers and the FAA.She was drawn to airplanes at a young age and says theAutoland concept is especially meaningful to her.
“When I was a kid, my grandfather taught me the basics offlying just in case anything happened to him while we werein the air,” she said. “I later became a pilot because I wasinterested in aviation, and I became an engineer because Iwanted to help people and do exciting new things.”
Looking back, Scheel said the senior design programhelped prepare her for her career.
“The communication experience I gained from my seniordesign project within my team, from the customer and fromthe professors was invaluable,” she said. “I discoveredI really enjoy that sort of technical communication andcoordination. And now I get to do it every day.”
She encouraged students to learn more about their majorsand take advantage of campus opportunities.
“My advice is to take advantage of clubs, research, part-time jobs and internships to discover areas of engineeringyou may not know about,” she added.
Bailey Scheel (’14 Mechanical and AerospaceEngineering) learned to fly an airplane before driving a car.
Before joining Garmin as a flight test pilot, Sargent wasa flight instructor at USU. He was one of the first aviation
USU Alumni Develop Industry-Changing Aviation Technology | College of Engineering - 2
students in the country to fly the university’s brand newfleet of airplanes equipped with the newly-certified GarminG1000 flight deck. Learning to use and understand theG1000, he said, gave him a competitive edge upongraduation.
“My professors and flight instructors put a lot of emphasison aircraft systems, particularly the Garmin G1000 flightdeck. Knowing that information was essential in startingmy career at Garmin.”
Sargent has been involved with Autoland since its earlieststages.
“It was remarkable to see Autoland progress from aconceptual design, to a fully certifiable system capableof landing an airplane and stopping it on the runwaywithout any pilot interaction,” he said. “People often askme what it was like performing the first Autoland. For meit was like teaching my first student how to fly solo. WhileI’m confident that I trained them correctly, I still monitortheir progress to make sure they perform all the stepscorrectly.”
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Media Contacts
Matt Jensen: Utah State University, College ofEngineering, 435-797-8170 | [email protected]
Lynnette Harris: Utah State University, College ofAgriculture and Applied Sciences, 435-797-2189 |[email protected]
Jessica Koss: Garmin International Inc., 913-397-8200 |[email protected]
