Learning to fly

Ivan Lin has wanted to be a pilot since he was a young boy.

"I just love aviation. It’s something that makes me feel excited every time I’m looking at an aircraft and I’m touching it," he said. "It feels like the engine is pumping and it makes my blood boil."

Lin is one of 12 students from the National Formosa University in Huwei Township, Taiwan attending an aviation maintenance program at Confederation College’s School of Aviation this summer.

In their final days of the program, Lin said the program was a great learning experience.

"This experience is probably the most fantastic experience since I’ve been in the aeronautical engineering department," he said.

The biggest advantage to the college’s program is the hands-on projects.

"Our school is much more about theory and less about hands-on," Lin said. "Here you can learn a lot of skills, a lot of methods … to process some other kinds of materials and actually operating all the tools."

While in Thunder Bay, the students learn about aircraft maintenance, flight controls, engine theory, electrical systems and instrumentation controls. They also improve their English by attending English as a Second Language classes.

National Formosa University professor Frank Lin said he likes sending his students out of Taiwan, so they can explore a bit of the world and bring different cultures back home.

"Diversity is always something in my mind," he said. "I think the students, while they spend most of their lives in Taiwan, they receive only one side of the world’s culture. In their mind, they think the world should run this way. But it’s not. There are several different ways you can do things. I want them here to see the different possibilities for their life. They can expand their mind."

The partnership with National Formosa University is one of many Confederation College has with countries around the world, said director of international education Miriam Wall, adding it’s a great way for students to learn about the bigger world and realize there are many commonalities and a lot to learn from everybody.

From talking with Frank Lin and the visiting students, Wall said the response to the program and to Thunder Bay has been quite interesting.

"They send their students to different universities and colleges in North America and they would rate ours as one of the best," she said.

One of the main reasons was the young age of the college’s aviation facilities as well as the up-to-date equipment.

"The other thing he mentioned is we really combine ESL training or learning English with hands-on practical experience in a particular field and not many other places do that," Wall said.

They also enjoyed the area’s natural beauty and the fresh air; something they don’t experience as often in Taiwan.