WASHINGTON, D.C. – The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has awarded scholarships to two students in the Midwest who have excelled in or are pursuing aviation studies.
Nicholas Funkhouser of Jackson High School in Jackson, Michigan, has received the Edward W. Stimpson “Aviation Excellence” Award of $1,000.00.
Funkhouser, who will attend Western Michigan University in the fall, has his Private Pilot Certificate and works at Napoleon Airport on runway maintenance and grounds keeping. An Eagle Scout and a member of the National Honor Society, he hopes to become a captain for a major airliner. Funkhouser was praised in a recommendation letter as “a model of excellence.”
Ed Stimpson was a founder of GAMA and served as its president from 1970 to 1990, and from 1992 to 1996.
Kayan Todiwalla, a sophomore at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, majoring in both aviation flight management and aviation administration, was awarded the Dr. Harold S. Wood Award for Excellence, also in the amount of $1,000.00. Todiwalla received the scholarship at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) 2013 at Ohio State University Airport in Columbus, Ohio. Todiwalla is co-captain of the university’s flight team and holds his Private Pilot Certificate. He developed a safety reporting system for Lewis University’s flight department that allows students and instructors to fill out a “report sheet” after any safety incident. That information is then used in a newsletter outlining safety problems at the university and providing tips on everyday flying.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) represents the interest of general aviation manufacturers and the general aviation community. Former USAF F-15 fighter pilot and administrator, Pete Bunce of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is president (http://www.gama.aero/).
