Aircraft Maintenance Technology - 24

Devon Ferns, 38, Senior Developer, WinAir, London, Ontario, Canada

evon Ferns has had a passion for aviation since he was a child
that veered into the technical side of the industry after high
school. Initially, he had an interest in becoming a commercial/
airline pilot, but his career path went a different way. In 2000, Ferns
went into computer programming at Fanshawe College in London,
Ontario, Canada, instead. There, he received his diploma in 2003,
which led him to enroll in the Software Engineering program at
the University of Western Ontario in 2004, where he earned his
degree in 2008. After his studies were complete, Ferns was still
keen on learning to fly an aircraft, so he trained and got his Private
Pilot License (PPL). "During training, I was hired as a software
developer at WinAir, an aviation management software company,
which aligned with both my interest in aviation and my education
in computer programming," he explained.
After college, Ferns worked as a software developer at Oasis
Auto Complete from 2003 to 2004, where he maintained their existing car dealership software until he started his university degree.
"Afterward, I joined a company called TVWorks, a software development company that created software to run on TV Set boxes," he
said. "In this position, I was a developer support analyst and worked
with customers of the software. In 2010, I initiated my career at
WinAir as a software developer, where I worked with a team of Java
developers to transform WinAir into a browser-based solution.

In particular, I worked on enhancing and
developing the maintenance records, inventory and shipping sections of the software,
which culminated in the release of WinAir
Version 7 in 2016."
In the months that preceded this release,
Ferns was promoted to his current senior
software developer role, where he is a key
stakeholder and assists with the design and
implementation of new and innovative WinAir features and functions, and helps to determine solutions for customer requests. "Since
that time, I am proud to have helped the team create a digital signatures enhancement within WinAir and to have played a leading
role in the development and release of WinAir's flight ops system
integration," he stated.
Ferns gives back to the aviation industry by assisting with the
development of mission-critical aviation management software
that helps operations worldwide with tracking and managing their
maintenance programs, maintaining inventory control and ensuring compliance with standards and regulations.
As for the future, Ferns plans to continue his role as senior software developer, maintaining a high quality of workmanship and
helping to drive the WinAir software forward.

Daniel Tillery, 39, Training Coordinator, CAS Components, Fairhope, AL

he need for a career change is what prompted Daniel Tillery to
join aviation. He was teaching high school while attending grad
school with the intentions of eventually teaching post-secondary
education. "My uncle is an A&P mechanic who enjoys his work and
gets to travel around the world, so anytime a student was trying to
decide what field to go into, I always tried to steer them towards
aviation," he explained. "When I realized that I was teaching high
school far longer than I originally intended, I decided to take my own
advice and enrolled in the Alabama School of Aviation." He says his
goal was to get the necessary experience to be able to return to an
aviation school as in instructor. "I did not anticipate the variety of
opportunities available in the industry or that I would enjoy working outside of the classroom as much as I have," he stated. "Here at
CAS, I have been given the opportunity to combine aviation with
my passion of instructing and helping the next generation succeed."
Tillery has received a Bronze and Silver Award in the FAA
Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards Program. Each level of
award is based on the hours of training accumulated throughout
the year, with certain qualifying mandatories. CAS has received
the Diamond Award in the FAA Aviation Maintenance Technician
Awards Program every year that Tillery has been training manager. To achieve the Diamond Award, every eligible employee at the
company must achieve an individual award of Bronze or higher.
Beginning in 2019, Tillery has hosted students from local high

OCTOBER 2020

schools that are enrolled in the A&P training program on tours of the CAS facilities.
These tours serve to not only demonstrate
the responsibilities of an A&P in a repair station environment, but to also show the many
different career opportunities available in the
field of aviation. His goal was to show the students that there is more to being an A&P than
"turning wrenches" and that they have control
of the direction they want to go with their career. "I began a program at CAS in which I would take a few of the top students from
each touring class and bring them into CAS as 'Mechanic Helpers'
working with our techs after school hours. This lets them get real
world on the job training while building their resume to better
their futures and earning some money while they are at it." The
program has been showing great promise he explains and he hopes
to continue encouraging the next generation of aviation mechanics.
Tillery plans to continue learning everything about aviation that
he possibly can. "Even though it feels like I have my hands on many
things here at CAS there is still so much I don't know," he said.
"There are departments at CAS that I have yet to learn and I wish
to know the ins and outs of the entire business. I plan to continue
to grow, to advance and use the skills and knowledge obtained to
better myself and the company."

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

Aircraft Maintenance Technology

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