Julie White, NCDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation announced today that Interim Director Nick Short, PE, PLS has been selected to serve as the new NCDOT Aviation Director.
Prior to being interim director, Nick served as Assistant Unit Head of NCDOT’s Photogrammetry Unit, where he managed statewide aerial surveying missions critical to transportation planning, design and construction. In his decade of NCDOT service, Short has worked closely with the Aviation Division, including leading the effort to coordinate with stakeholders, other state agencies and NCDOT to gather over 1.6 million acres of imagery in response to Hurricane Helene. He also played a key role in integrating innovative aviation technologies, including manned aircraft sensors and uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), into NCDOT’s aerial surveying operations.
Nick comes from a family with a strong aviation background and is a 3rd generation aviation professional. Nick’s Grandfather was a Naval aviator in the 1940’s and flew the T6/SNJ, PBY, and Dauntless among others. He later went on to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree where he went to work for McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. Of his four children, three (including Short’s father) went on to pursue careers in aviation. Short’s Father was a Commercial Airline Pilot, spending most of his career with JetBlue in the Airbus A320/321.
