Shalyn Drake and Baron Wesemann. Photo courtesy of Utah State University.
LOGAN – A pair of faculty at the Utah State University Department of Aviation Technology have been honored for their contributions to the state’s aviation industry.
Annually the Utah Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division honors five individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the state’s aviation industry.
Shalyn Drake, an avid drone enthusiast, was named Rookie of the Year and Andreas “Baron” Wesemann, associate department head, earned the Colonel Gail Halvorsen Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Shalyn earned this award at the beginning of her time at USU and Andreas is in the prime of his,” said Bruce Miller, the head of USU’s Aviation Technology Department.
Before joining the USU faculty as a lecturer in 2022, and as a way to share her passion for flying drones, Drake started a drone class at Farmington High School. Soon teachers from all over Utah visited her drone class, hoping to gain confidence to start similar classes at their schools.
Due to her efforts teachers in Southern Utah received 40 donated drone kits.
Wesemann, an Air Force Academy graduate, is a 41-year veteran of service in the U.S. Air Force and the Civil AirPatrol. He interviewed Col. Halvorsen, well known as the Berlin Candy Bomber, at a USU event in 2018.
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