NCASE Holds Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Photo above – NCASE members from left are; Ralph Coppola, RWDC; Tony Fowler, U.S. Dept. of Education; Shelly Simi, NASAO; Jeff Coppola, RWDC; Robin Thurman, AIA; Rol Murrow, Wolf Aviation Fund; and Kim Stevens, State Aviation Journal.

The National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education (NCASE) held their annual full membership meeting last week in Washington D.C.  Hosted by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the January 8, 2019 meeting, while focusing on regular business, also set aside time to discuss matters of importance to members and their organizations. “In addition to conducting important business, we wanted the meeting to be fun,” said Rol Murrow, NCASE President and Executive Director of the Wolf Aviation Fund. “We also set aside time for socializing during a catered lunch.”

For those unable to attend in person, John Teipen, YouthWINGS, provided video and voice conferencing for the meeting. Items discussed included upcoming conferences associated with aviation and aerospace education and STEM and the NCASE Annual Awards event to be held in Washington D.C. on April 11th. An excellent discussion on the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) was led by Ralph Coppola, founder and Executive Director of RWDC.

NCASE is a membership organization formed in 1993 when the founding member groups signed a formal charter and established a partnership with the FAA. Together with the FAA, they actively promote aviation and space education while supporting schools’ initiatives at the local, state and national levels.

Officers elected for 2019 are Rol Murrow, President, Kim Stevens, Vice President, Jenine Johnson, Treasurer and Betty Wilson, Secretary.

For more information on NCASE go to https://www.aviationeducation.org/.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.