Florida Tech President John Nicklow and College of Aviation Dean John Deaton met with Piper Aircraft President and CEO John Calcagno and his senior leadership team as part of a three-hour visit to the Vero Beach-based manufacturer.
Florida Tech has had a longstanding relationship with Piper that has recently included purchase and delivery of eight new Piper Pilot 100i planes to the Florida Tech Aviation fleet, which is comprised almost entirely of Piper aircraft.
Earlier this year, Marc Quellet, vice president, engineering and manufacturing at Piper, invited Nicklow and Deaton to visit and tour the facility. They did so on Oct. 31.
The visit started with a presentation on Piper’s operation that included news of an aircraft the company has developed that has a failsafe feature that will initiate an automatic landing at the nearest airport with the press of a button or even if the pilot is incapacitated. Nicklow spoke about ways to increase collaboration between Florida Tech and Piper.
The group then toured the facility, tracing the history of aircraft manufacturing from the earliest days of bending metal into parts to a modern aircraft of today parked on the tarmac.
“We saw all stages of development from beginning to end,” Deaton said. “It was an impressive tour and demonstrated all that goes into aircraft development.”
In addition to Calcagno, the Piper group included Vice President and CFO Danny Markford, Vice President and General Counsel Josh Gang, Senior Director, Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement Hilton Alves, Senior Director, Production Compliance and Oversight Stuart McSorley, Director of Engineering Mike Melachrinos and Director of Human Resources Kathleen Pagani.
