![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kevin-R-Carlson.jpg\")
For Carlson, aviation wasn\u2019t even on his radar when he finished school in 1979. \u201cIt was more by \u201cnecessity\u201d really,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cI had applied for a position at an A&E firm but didn\u2019t quite have enough experience for the Architectural division, but the Airport Section was looking for technicians and I was offered a position.\u201d Carlson was placed into the civil side of design and construction projects at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. \u201cThat\u2019s where it started,\u201d explained Carlson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carlson went on to work for several firms including Short Elliott Hendrickson (SHE), and Mead & Hunt before joining the Minnesota Aeronautics Office in 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAviation is a great field,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cThere are so many directions you can go.\u201d For those interested in a career in aviation, Carlson suggests getting as much information as possible, get involved, and ask questions. He also thinks it is important for airports to host more local events to attract kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, there are many things Carlson is appreciative of, including being part of conference planning committees and seeing them run smoothly with no issues; having airport projects he was involved with, win awards and the client\/sponsors get recognized by their peers; to work and be a part of some great companies and organizations. \u201cI would not be where I am today,\u201d said Carlson, \u201cwithout the opportunity I\u2019ve had to work with so many talented individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carlson said there are a few bucket list items that he\u2019d like to check-off in retirement. They include sharing some National Parks with his wife. \u201cNASAO and other organizations gave me the ability to see parts of the country I would not have been able to see,\u201d says Carlson. He would also like to visit a few more states to check off the list. \u201c6 to go!\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a career spanning forty-six years in aviation, Kevin Carlson is retiring. \u201cIt has gone by so fast,\u201d said Carlson, who is retiring today from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Aeronautics Office as an Aviation Planning Program Coordinator. For Carlson, aviation wasn\u2019t even on his radar when he finished school in 1979. \u201cIt was more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-minnesota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29829,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29827\/revisions\/29829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}