Alaska Airlines hires its first UC engineering co-op student

At the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS), Byrd's innate fascination with airplanes grew. It was during the aircraft performance and design course her third year that her curiosity turned into a career goal. In the course, she was taught all the factors that go into flight such as the specific conditions that must be met, how planes are able to fly and the engineering involved. 

"I've always been curious about planes. Growing up, I lived right by an airport and throughout my childhood I constantly had planes flying above me and stopped to watch them no matter what I was doing," Byrd said. 

The renowned cooperative education (co-op) program at CEAS and the well-regarded aerospace engineering program influenced her to come to UC. She felt that the opportunity to get real-world experience in her field while working towards her degree would give her a leg up on other graduates. CEAS students complete five semesters of co-op, alternating with semesters in the classroom. Byrd worked as a manufacturing engineer for gas refrigerators at Norcold Inc., a manufacturing operations engineer and quality engineer for aerospace parts at Rhinestahl Inc. and a project manager for building facilities (HVAC systems, water fountains, etc.) at EMCOR Facilities Services. For her final rotation, she set out to work for an airline. 

"Pretty much my entire college career I wanted to work for an airline, but that path to get there initially seemed impossible," Byrd said. 

Many airlines typically hire interns from neighboring universities. For instance, the Alaska Airlines Hub she worked for is in Seattle and hires most interns from the closest university. Nonetheless, Byrd persisted. 

In fact, she was no stranger to obstacles. Her experience in aerospace engineering has been impacted by unlikely odds from the beginning. Aerospace engineering is a male-dominated field. When Byrd entered the undergraduate program in 2019, her class had less than 20% of students who identified as women. 

"Some people unfortunately have preconceived opinions about women. My ideas have been blown off in the past in various groups because people don't take me seriously," Byrd said. "The only thing you can do is prove them wrong." 

Consistently ranked top five in the nation, the co-op program at UC is quite notable as the first such program in the nation for undergraduates. Although she was the first UC student hired as a co-op at the airline, Byrd knew the college's reputation preceded her. 

"I was really motivated to do an amazing job," she said. "I wanted to show Alaska Airlines how great UC engineering students are and how well UC prepares us for the workforce." 

As a maintenance operations intern, she was responsible for the creation, implementation and oversight of an aircraft maintenance and repair schedule. Prior to her co-op rotation, the airline didn't have a method to predict when aircraft would need routine maintenance. Things like paint touch-ups, seat repairs, engine washes, etc. are all things that must be done to keep aircraft in good condition.