October_2021 - 20

Paulina Todd, 27, Vice President of Commercial, Certified Aviation Services, Glendora, CA
P
aulina Todd says that a career in aviation was unintentional, but
it was definitely fate. After completing her degree in Business
Administration, she sought after a career that would provide growth
and challenge her along the way. She started at CAS as an intern
and fell in love with aviation, never looking back.
After interning, she was promoted to marketing coordinator.
Throughout those years, Todd has been exposed to several different
sectors of the business and even worked at CAS' Component
Facility, in Alabama. She is now the vice president of commercial.
This role consists of driving continued success to CAS through
execution of existing plans and the updating of new strategies.
Todd was responsible for obtaining CAS' aftermarket partnership
with Boeing BGS and Airbus TSP and had an integral role
in growing the company's line maintenance and recovery/repair
division revenue by 30 percent from 2016-19. Previously, she was
responsible for process improvements at CAS' Component repair
business unit. Using LeanSigma and other business practices to
resolve the company's constraints, these applications reduced turnaround
time while increasing throughput. " These findings and
implementations resulted a move in net profit by 15 percentage
points and a 7 percent increase in on-time performance, " commented
Paul Oliver, COO, CAS.
Throughout her journey she says she has been fortunate enough
to have many mentors. However, the most
influential was Mark Lee, chairman of AeroMark,
LLC. " Despite his busy schedule, he
always managed to make the time to educate
and challenge me. I truly learned a lot from
him throughout the five years. He taught me
and reinforced the importance of not being
complacent. Very quickly did I get comfortable
with being uncomfortable. I am grateful
to have had such a positive role model. "
It's not every day that someone gets the opportunity to do what
they love, said Todd. " Since starting with CAS, I have been able to
both love what I do and share my passion with others around me.
I have been blessed to be surrounded by talented and kind leaders
who have helped me not only develop as an employee, but also grow
as a woman. As the world continues to adjust to the new ways of
life, aviation continues to evolve. I know that sustainability is going
to be important to our industry, and I'm excited to face these challenges
head on. As for the future, I'm not entirely sure what it has
in store for me. I do know that we, as an industry, need to continue
to challenge ourselves to stay innovative and stay effective. This
way, we can make the changes necessary to ensure the success of
the industry and continue to serve the people efficiently. "
Nathan Griffith, 38, Academic Program Coordinator and Faculty Member (Aviation Maintenance Technology), Cape Cod Community College, Boston, MA
He created a mentoring program for atN
ot
every AMT has a Master of Divinity degree, but Nathan
Griffith does. Griffith fell in love with aviation as a young child
in the back seat of a Grumman AA-5, flown by a family friend. He
earned his private pilot's certificate the summer after he graduated
from high school and his A&P certificate together with a Bachelor
of Aviation Maintenance Management from Central Missouri State
University (now University of Central Missouri).
He further pursued both his academic and industry credentials,
earning a Master of Divinity from Boston University and
adding an Inspector Authorization to his A&P license. He earned
a Commercial Pilot's License with Multi-engine Land and Singleengine
Sea add-ons. In addition to his pursuits in aviation maintenance,
he is a PIC contract pilot for a Part 135 air carrier. Currently
he is an AMT instructor at Cape Cod Community College, where
he is a faculty member and the academic program coordinator.
Prior to working in education, he was a sheet metal technician
for Cape Air at their MRO facility in Hyannis, Massachusetts, and
after that, he worked for American Airlines as a line maintenance
technician and a line maintenance shift supervisor and supervisor
of workload production at Boston Logan International Airport.
Though he started in aviation early, he stepped aside for several
years. " While working in the nonprofit sector, " he said, " I gained
many valuable skills as well as a perspective of the world which helps
sharpen my focus toward aviation maintenance education today. "
20 OCTOBER 2021
risk young people in Boston and paired them
with college students. Michael Sasso, AMT
program director at Cape Cod Community
College who nominated Griffith for the 40
Under 40 award, said, " He crafted his teaching
skills by teaching weekly at the local
church, where his mentoring program was
based, which helped enhance his own commitment
to life-long learning for people of all ages. "
Griffith said, " It was not difficult to see that the lives of the college
students in our (non-profit mentoring) program contrasted
sharply with the lives of the disadvantaged children of my inner-city
neighborhood. When I think about this contrast today, I am inspired
by the opportunities that the aviation industry holds for so many
people. I believe that these opportunities can be made accessible to
and therefore fruitful for a diverse population of people for whom
stable, well-paying careers often seem out of reach. "
He believes aviation maintenance education can lay a bedrock
of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which will not only
create safety-conscious technicians but successful members of the
local and global community. " Of course, I love the thrill of it all too, "
he said. " The 'miracle' of flight, the freedom of travel, the operation
of the machines and the troubleshooting of systems. "
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

October_2021

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