Incredible Aviation: Top Hawk 2016

It's a powerhouse partnership: the renowned Cessna Aircraft Company has teamed up with LeTourneau University Aviation, Texas' only comprehensive, university-level aviation program.

LETU's Skyhawk 172S

Cessna, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation, chose LETU as one of four universities in the nation as a Top Hawk Partner University. Partners are chosen based on their commitment to excellence in aviation and training the next generation of pilots.

Along with the partnership, LETU has received a brand-new Cessna Skyhawk 172S, custom-branded with LETU colors and logo. The aircraft will be used to conduct flight training and for outreach and recruiting trips across the country.

Director of Flight Operations Laura Laster explains the benefit of adding the aircraft to LETU's fleet:

"The Top Hawk program will give LETU students and flight instructors a unique opportunity to build flight experience while sharing the joy of aviation with people all over Texas and beyond. All of our students will benefit from the use of a brand-new Cessna Skyhawk 172S, as they will be able to utilize the aircraft for flight training activities."

One LETU aviation student will land a coveted internship with Cessna, where he or she will job-shadow different positions and take part in marketing, sales and customer service events.

The Cessna Skyhawk 172S is officially presented to LETU.

The Skyhawk 172S was recently unveiled at LETU's world-class Abbott Aviation Center where it received a warm welcome from students and faculty.

"I have accepted a summer internship in flight operations at Textron Aviation (outside of the Top Hawk program). Working with Top Hawk will give me even more exposure to some of the products I may be working with this summer," LETU aviation student Kyle van Kooten said. "I'm excited to be a part of this program as it allows me to promote involvement in a field I am passionate about and in which LeTourneau excels."

Want to take a ride in the Cessna Skyhawk 172S? Schedule a free flight here. 

Incredible Alumni: Shannon Toews Potter

Shannon Toews Potter graduated from LETU in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in biology. She went on to attend the University of Texas School of Medicine, followed by a residency at St. Louis University School of Medicine, where she was named Best Teaching Resident. She now lives in Congo and works as an OB/GYN and Director of Maternity Services with Samaritan's Purse World Medical Mission. She spends her days bettering the lives of women and children and making LETU proud to call her an alumna.

What does an average day look like for you?

Shannon Toews Potter

The light from the sun and the sound of the community wake us around 6:00 a.m. I go in to the hospital at 7:00 a.m., discuss and treat patients with other doctors or medical students, and do surgery three times a week. We have a two hour lunch break and then it's back to the hospital until 5:00 p.m. Dinners are usually shared with another missionary family. It's a small community and easier to cook for a few extra than to cook every night. We have a gardener and house help, which replace the dishwasher or lawnmower that most people in the US have and gives people in the community a very respected job. In the evenings, we occasionally listen to a podcast, watch a movie, prepare teaching lessons for the next day, make homemade ice cream or play a board game. We are board game nerds and brought over 40 pounds in games.

What are some of your responsibilities in your current position?
Responsibilities include performing surgeries three days a week, participating in official teaching meetings and patient rounds with medical students and residents three times a week, improving the structure and quality of care in the maternity ward, seeing patients, performing and teaching ultrasound techniques and teaching nurses newborn resuscitation.

Describe a high point in your career since graduating from LeTourneau. 
I was named Best Teaching Resident out of all residents and fellows at St. Louis University, as voted by the medical students and received the medical student teaching award specifically for OB/GYN three times during residency. Passing on knowledge to the next generation is such a joy to me and being recognized for my efforts was very special.

How is your LeTourneau education benefitting your current position?
It's more often who you know that matters, rather than what you know. As I continued to add layers of knowledge in medical school, it is hard to know exactly when I learned specific information that I use every day, but the people I know from my time at LETU continue to benefit me. For instance, a fellow LETU student connected me with someone in admissions at the medical school I went to (it's hard to get in to a Texas medical school when one is from out-of-state). LETU professors and alumni support us financially and prayerfully as we are on the mission field. Some even promised that support over eight years before it happened! I email a fellow classmate surgical questions I need second opinions on. A former LETU professor visited us in language school in France and we are even working with LETU alumni here in Congo. The network of people, nerdy–ahem–smart enough to have taught or graduated from LETU is also crazy enough to follow God's call on their life, be that here in Congo, an oilfield in the Middle East, the business place in China, a farm in Texas, or giving back by teaching other LETU students.

What would you say to a current LETU student in your same major? What would you say to someone considering the same major? 
Dr. Jarstfer, then the dean and also my professor for many of my biology courses, counseled me not to settle. That's different for everyone, but don't settle just for lack of trying. If you can go for a PA or MPH or Master's level, don't settle with a Bachelor's. If you can go for an MD, DO, or Doctorate, then don't settle for an MPH, a Master's level or a PA. Get to the highest level you can that will open the doors that you don't even see yet. You won't regret it.

Zika in Texas: What You Need to Know

With the recent Zika virus diagnosis in Texas, many of the state's residents have questions about the disease. Addressing your concerns is Professor and Chair of LETU's Department of Biology Dr. Greg Frederick. Dr. Frederick has over 35 years of experience as a biologist, has been professionally published more than a dozen times and has been awarded multiple professional honors and research grants. 

There’s been a confirmed diagnosis of Zika virus in Texas. Should Texans be concerned?

There are two different genres of mosquitos that can harbor Zika virus that are endemic to Texas. If a patient comes to this area, is bit by a mosquito and the mosquito bites you, then theoretically, it can be transmitted to you. How likely is that? The cases worldwide still aren’t enormous. I don’t think we need to be overly concerned about it.

There are two main mechanisms for protection. Don’t have standing pools of water around your home. Mosquitos like to grow anywhere water can be trapped. Use insecticide. As far as general transmission, at this point in time, there’s no indication that the mosquito population of Texas has been vastly affected.

There have been reports that the larvicide pyriproxyfen might actually be causing microcephaly. Do you think this is a reliable claim? 

I would encourage sticking with more credible sources. There are WHO documents supporting the use of pyriproxyfen in water in many nations further back than 2008. These birth defects have not been reported in other areas. Therefore, I do not believe this larvicide as possibly causative should be discussed at this point. 

Texas had an Ebola scare recently; is this more or less of a threat?

Both infections cause very serious devastation but the impact is very different. Ebola can very easily kill an adult, whereas Zika virus is much less likely to do so. It has much more impact on a developing fetus. It’s really only a concern for women who are pregnant, and especially in the early stages of pregnancy. It can cause abnormalities in development such as microcephaly.

Zika virus isn’t new. Because of advanced surveillance systems, we can now detect disease more effectively. That creates a larger knowledge base but also tends to give the media ammunition for hysteria. If you’re not on the border or the Gulf Coast area, I don’t think you need to worry about it nearly as much as the media implies. We’ll see how things progress as the climate warms up this summer. Avoid being bit by mosquitoes as much as possible, though; I’d be more worried about West Nile than Zika.

What areas of Texas are most at risk?

Areas close to the Mexican border and Gulf Coast areas. Moisture and humidity that makes for potential breeding grounds are at risk. However, it can be transmitted anywhere if an infected person travels into that area and is bitten by mosquitoes.

What are the symptoms of Zika virus?

The symptoms seem to be very minor: fever, headache. Most people who are infected don’t even realize they have it. For adults, the immune system will take care of it within a few weeks. It shouldn’t be a problem after that period of time. If you’re anyone other than a pregnant woman, it’s not a major cause for concern.

The good side of the coin is, as more people become infected and the immune system deals with the virus, there are less potential hosts for the virus to transmit into the mosquito population. We see that with a lot of the diseases–humans get it and then become protected from the virus. It’s essentially a natural vaccination process.

Do pregnant women go through this natural vaccination process?

There’s a real complication with that because a fetus has little functional immunity. Once the virus gets into the fetus, it has some passive immunity from antibodies that are passed from the mother through the placenta to the fetus. However, unless the mother was infected prior to pregnancy and already developed immunity, it will take seven to ten days for her to develop antibodies to the virus. By then, the virus has already had a lot of time to infect the fetus and cause devastation. If the mother had been exposed previous and developed immunity, the fetus should be protected by this passive immunity.

Taking precaution against mosquito-borne disease is never a bad idea, especially for pregnant women. Stock up on insecticide, then visit www.letu.edu/biology to learn about STEM career fields. 

Incredible Alumni: Amber Palmer

After graduating in 2012 with a degree in engineering with electrical concentration, Amber Palmer began her career at Texas Instruments, a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company. She spends her days as a Lead Validation Engineer putting new products to the test in the lab.

What does an average day look like for you? 
I am responsible for making sure our new integrated circuit chip works both on a functional level and on a data sheet parametric level. I spend the majority of my time in the lab working with bench equipment very similar to that found in the EE labs at LeTourneau. I am tasked with trying to catch all bugs and reporting them back to the silicon designers. There are tests that I run that intentionally let out the magic smoke, which helps our team understand the absolute limits of our device. My job is to break it before the customer does. I want to catch every potential weakness as the parts I work on are the motor drivers for power steering and power breaking in newer automobiles.

What's a high point in your career since graduating from LETU?
For my first two years at Texas Instruments, I was a part of a rotational program. I received a new job assignment every six months that exposed me to a different function within the semi-conductor industry. I was able to work as a product/test engineer, an engineer within a wafer fab, a design engineer, and they even sent me on an international assignment! I spent six months working at one of TI's assembly test sites in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had always dreamed of working internationally as an engineer, and TI provided that opportunity for me.

Why did you choose to study electrical engineering?
Honestly, I had no exposure to engineering as a child. During my junior year of high school, my chemistry teacher pulled me aside after class and asked me what I wanted to major in. I said I didn't know. He laughed and told me to become an Electrical Engineer. Naively, I said ok! I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into at the time, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey.

How has your education benefited your position at Texas Instruments?
The LeTourneau engineering department places a strong emphasis on team projects and hands-on learning. Professors don't just teach theory, they expect you to be able to apply it in an actual practical and useful way. This has given me a tremendous advantage when I started in my role as Lead Validation Engineer. I walked into my lab and went, "Oh hey. Look. I'm back in Elab 3. I've got this!"

What's your favorite memory of your time at LeTourneau? 
Before I left LeTourneau, I was determined to paint a mural for my brother floor, the D2 Lions. My RD gave her approval, with one caveat: I had to have it completed before the freshman class arrived that year. Not counting the time it took for the paint to dry, the D2 mural was completed in 19.7 hours. Basically every D2 guy who was a part of Impact helped me finish that mural on time. The mural still stands in D2, and it is one of my favorite things I left behind for future students.

Was there a particular person who was influential during your time at LETU?
I don't think I can pick just one person that was very influential during my time at LeTourneau. Each and every professor I had helped me become the Engineer that I am today.

What advice do you have for a current LETU electrical engineering student or someone considering electrical engineering?
Current Students: Get to know your professors. They truly care about you. Do not be afraid to strike up a conversation with them. Go to their office during their office hours. Ask them questions. They want to see you succeed. I might be biased, but I truly believe that the EE department hands down has some of the best faculty within the entire university.

Future Students: Are you considering becoming an Electrical Engineer? Do it. Electrical Engineering is such a broad field that you are bound to find your little niche that you enjoy. It's also ok if you don't know exactly what you want to focus on quite yet. Just take the first step and proceed through the open doors.

From LeTourneau to the Tank

When JD Claridge was a student at LeTourneau University 15 years ago, he probably didn’t expect that he would one day present his own company to five of the country’s top business professionals. He probably didn’t think he would own a company that would be valued at $6 million. And he probably didn’t expect to pitch a business on national television. Yet, this fall, that’s exactly what happened.

Claridge, co-founder of drone startup xCraft, invented a different kind of drone. In a now saturated market, he used his innovative spirit—one that LETU students are known for—to create a product that has made America stop and take notice.

PhoneDrone Ethos

xCraft offers two revolutionary drone models. The X PlusOne is a professional, commercial drone that combines hovering capabilities and speed. The average drone has hovering capacity only. This, on the other hand, has the capacity to fly up to 60 miles per hour while climbing to 10,000 feet.

The second of the two xCraft drone models lives up to its name, PhoneDrone Ethos, by giving flight to your own smartphone. Far less expensive than a typical drone, it provides consumers easy access to aerial footage using their smartphone cameras. 

This fall, Claridge and his business partner, Charles Manning, pitched xCraft on ABC’s hit television show “Shark Tank.” The show gives entrepreneurs the chance to present their businesses to the Sharks­­—self-made millionaire and billionaire business moguls—who then decide if they want to invest in the entrepreneur’s company. Claridge and Manning originally requested $500,000 for a 20% stake in their company. After several sharks tried to outdo each other with higher offers—in a “shark fight,” as it’s called in the Tank—all five investors banded together to offer xCraft $1.5 million for a 25% stake. As a result, Claridge is now in business with Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec and Damon John. 

This extensive, all-sharks-in partnership signaled a remarkably high vote of confidence in Claridge’s company. Kevin O’Leary himself said that this kind of deal was “very rare in the Shark Tank.”

Before his turn in the Tank, Claridge graduated from LETU in 2001 with an aeronautical science electronic systems degree and we’re extraordinarily proud to be his alma mater. His work embodies LeTourneau’s vision of graduating professionals of ingenuity. While his schedule is packed these days creating innovative products and now working hard to take full advantage of such an entrepreneurial windfall, he took a moment to share how LETU helped him get where he is today:

“Attending LeTourneau was an incredible experience that not only taught me the skills I needed for my career but also challenged me to learn in a way I had not experienced before.  I often say that LeTourneau is where I learned how to learn.” 

Claridge credits faculty, and one professor in particular, as having a lasting effect on his life. 

“There were several faculty members who guided me along the way, but the standout is Lauren Bitikofer. While I attended LeTourneau, he and his wife, Kathy, took me under their wing. They fed me, mentored me, and even let me live at their house one summer. Ever since attending, Lauren and I have stayed in touch. We talk on a regular basis about radio control modeling and flying—two of our common passions. I have appreciated his guidance and friendship so much. He has truly had a profound impact in my life, both professionally and spiritually. Thank you, Mr. B!”

Claridge adds that LETU wasn’t strictly an academic experience for him. He shared that one of his most memorable accomplishments was being part of residence life:

“I would say what I am most proud of was the mentoring I was able to provide during my time as an RA on Flooders. So many great relationships were forged. Many of them are still strong today.”

While his business booms, Claridge still holds on to his time at LETU, both academically and relationally. He hopes that current LETU students will take advantage of the full college experience that makes up LeTourneau.

“I would say that LeTourneau has so much more to offer than a stellar education—the friendships you make, the experiences you have, the mentorship you give and receive. Make sure you take advantage of it all while you are there. Those few years at LeTourneau are formative for the rest of your life. My time at LeTourneau is something I'll never forget.”