The leader of John Deere Aviation’s Unmanned Aviation Systems will be the keynote speaker of the upcoming fifth annual Girls in Aviation Day set Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Quad Cities International Airport cargo area in Moline.
The event, which will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is a celebration aimed at introducing girls to many of the careers possible in STEM and aviation.
The Women in Aviation International (WAI) organization reports fewer than 10% of pilots, maintenance technicians and airline executives are women. Today, commercial air travel is experiencing staffing shortages like never before which means it’s crucial to diversify the industry in order to see it thrive.
Go here for more information on Girls in Aviation and to register.
Girls age 5 and older are encouraged to attend this day of activities and exploration.
Women representing a wide range of careers in aviation will be available to talk about their education and career paths.
The annual event also will feature representatives from many groups and organizations giving girls information on careers in aviation. Some of the groups scheduled to be at the Girls in Aviation Day will include: Elliott Aviation, John Deere Aviation, Revv Aviation, ABLEd, Quad Cities International Airport, Quad Cities International Airport Police and Fire Department, QCIA Airport Services LLC, Civil Air Patrol – Davenport, Iowa State University, Iowa Lakes Community College, University of Dubuque, Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Air Marshals, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration), Envoy Air: An American Airlines Group Company, EAA, Quad Cities Aero, National Weather Service – Quad Cities, CMT, Eaton, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Marines and others.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Ashley Hanson, Unmanned Aviation Systems manager at John Deere.
Ms. Hanson oversees the global operations of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) within the company. In this pivotal role, she is responsible for the development and implementation of comprehensive training programs, operational procedures, and policies. She plays a key role in the acquisition of cutting-edge UAS technology and identifying innovative use cases, while also acting as the primary remote pilot for high-stake missions. Additionally, she supervises assets and personnel utilizing UASs in their job function.
Before joining John Deere Global Aviation, Ms. Hanson held multiple positions as a product engineer, focusing on product verification and validation, field research using UASs, and user experience research at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. Her experience prior to Deere includes being part of the flight test team for Amazon Prime Air, along with hands-on experience in production agriculture involving both livestock and crop management.
