Shannon Carpenter Fine Tunes Her Time in Aviation Technical Operations

Move over Mr. Goodwrenches of the aviation world and make room for the Miss Goodwrenches, such as Western's Shannon Belle Carpenter -- although in her case, it might be Miss Avionics.

Scheduled to graduate after the 2020 fall semester with a degree in aviation maintenance technology, she is the reigning chapter president of the Association of Women in Aviation Maintenance at the WMU College of Aviation.

Carpenter, who hails from the Livingston County community of Howell northwest of Detroit, has her eyes set on future employment in corporate aviation and, further on down the line, a position with the National Transportation Safety Board.  The NTSB is the federal agency whose prime function is the investigation of all modes of transportation accidents.

Preparing for any and all of that at the College of Aviation, she has a warm spot in her tool box for faculty specialist Dr. Gail Rouscher and all levels of the structures classes that she taught.  "I liked the pace of them," she says, "and that each step was hands-on.  You had to right your own mistake on the projects made, and you could see the final product of your efforts in metal bending, composites, riveting, and the like."

Aviation came into her life in high school in Howell.  "My senior year," she recalls, "I was able to enroll in an off-campus elective -- a private pilot ground course.  This gave me the book knowledge to get my private-pilot's license, but flying during the course was optional." While she never ended up behind the stick, Carpenter did come to the conclusion that the aviation industry was for her, particularly the maintenance sector.

She only had to cast her gaze westward a couple hundred miles to the Kalamazoo campus of Western Michigan University to navigate her next steps in career-hunting.

"WMU was not only just far enough from my family to feel independent," she says, "but my research showed that it was a top school in the country for aviation.  I had looked at trade schools and I wanted to stay in my state.  It was important to me to earn a degree and not just certificates in airframe and power plant.  Western made all of this possible -- I stayed in Michigan, I'm being prepared to get my certificates, and I will graduate with a bachelor's degree."

A well-tuned aircraft engine is not the only thing that is music to Carpenter's ears.  So is, well -- music.  In her K-12 years back home, she played an instrument for seven years.  Ditto at Western where she has been a member of an elective concert band.

There is more in her College of Aviation locker than shop fatigues.  She has been heavily involved in Western's Registered Student Organization (RSO), the umbrella agency that oversees over 400 student groups on campus designed to connect them to the Western and Kalamazoo-area communities.

"I got involved in RSOs to take on more responsibility," she says, "and revive an RSO that had become less successful in recent years.  I wanted to help create more opportunities for students to engage with other parts of the aviation college, outside businesses, and the community."  Job interviewers are going to love seeing that on her resume.

Another one of Carpenter's credentials is her internship at Pentastar Aviation, a company based in Oakland County on the east side of the state that offers charters, avionics maintenance, in-flight catering, and services for fixed-based operators at airports.  For the uninitiated, avionics refers to the electronic systems used in aircraft, satellites, and spacecraft, and includes communications, navigation, and the management of multiple systems that perform hundreds of functions.

At Pentastar, she says, "I learned so much about avionics and that's where my passion lies.  My internship turned into a part-time job to which I return during college breaks."

When her Western days are through, Carpenter says she will remember progressing through her major's classes with the same people. "Going through the same courses together, sometimes with each other all day, really made us get to know each other.  After three full years together, we've had lots of fun times and, yes, drove each other a little cray here and there."

As with any nut, bolt or rivet, tight is right in all segments of the aviation industry.