Three students in Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) earned scholarships from the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading Foundation (ISTAT Foundation). According to their website, ISTAT was founded in 1994 to support individuals and institutions that promote commercial aviation and humanitarianism. Funding for their programs is provided by contributions from individuals and companies.
The mission of the ISTAT Foundation is “to support programs that foster interest in, create opportunities for, and provide assistance to the global aviation community.” One of ways in which they reach this goal is through the ISTAT Foundation scholarship, which provides financial support to college students who are academically qualified, so that they might pursue careers in aviation. The three scholarships for Purdue students total $33,000.
The ISTAT Foundation Scholarship recipients from SATT are Pratik Jadhav and Parth Mehta, who are both graduate students in aviation and aerospace management, and Branden Gallimore, a rising senior in aviation management who is minoring in unmanned aerial systems. Gallimore already has his private pilot’s license. He spent the summer with Amazon as an area manager intern.
“This scholarship is very exciting, not only because of the financial aid to help me further my education, but also (because of) the doors that will be opened for me within the commercial aviation community,” said Gallimore. “The ISTAT Foundation is a huge community of aviation professionals that I am going to be able to network with. There is a ton of online curriculum from their website that I will be able to learn and grow from. I also have the honor to be able to attend ISTAT Foundation conventions, where I can meet other ISTAT members and be able to network with them.”
“It’s great to see this first step (with the ISTAT Foundation) go very well, thanks to the teamwork effort of SATT colleagues and our alumni and ISTAT ambassadors,” said Yi Gao, associate professor of aviation technology. “Moving forward, we anticipate this collaboration with the ISTAT will bring significant learning, research and engagement opportunities to SATT. We plan to have a long-term, strategic relationship with them.”