A team of six Vaughn aviation maintenance students competed in this year’s annual aerospace maintenance competition (AMC) in Orlando, Florida in April. The MRO Americas sponsored challenge is presented by Snap-On, which recognizes aviation maintenance technicians and the skillset required to maintain safe aircraft worldwide. A total of 55 teams from around the world including airline professionals, general aviation professionals, students and military members participated in 24 events with 15 minutes to complete each task. Instructors from Vaughn’s Aviation Training Institute (ATI) Samer Elsayed and Ricky Williams, coached the team for the competition.

“The team and faculty advisers had a wonderful time and learned a great deal by meeting with leading industry professionals,” said Dr. Maxine Lubner, chair of the management department. “These competitions, supplemented with their academic classes, sets them up for success when they enter the workforce.”

Vaughn’s six person team placed fifth among the competing colleges in the maintenance competitive events and were able to take away learnings from competing with peers. The team consisted of students Michael Dacosta-Meachem ’19, Devin Persaud ’19, Eric Santos-Silva ’18, Katherine Urbina Monge ’20, Katherine Veras ’19 and Dietrech Washington ’20.

“The competition was great! We worked hard and it was amazing to see the team come together and execute each task as true professionals,” said Santos-Silva. “It’s a great opportunity to take part in the tasks we’ll be performing throughout our post-graduate careers.”