Area female high school students and their mothers
participate in the Nikki Kukwa Memorial Aviation Camp that
helps prepare young girls for aviation careers. This year,
the camp will take place from July 18-20.

Female high school students and their mothers will learn about aviation and other science-related fields at a special overnight aviation camp held at Kent State University. The university’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology is holding its fifth Nikki Kukwa Memorial Aviation Camp from Thursday, July 18, through Saturday¸ July 20.

“I look forward to the privilege of helping to introduce young girls, who are underrepresented in aviation, to the exciting field of aviation. All while celebrating the inspiring life of Nikki Kukwa, an aeronautics student who worked with me to champion the greater presence of females in aviation,” says Isaac Richmond Nettey, associate dean of Kent State’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology.

During the program, participants will be lodged in Stopher Hall. The aviation camp consists of educational field trips to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the Parker Hannifin corporate hangar, the Air Traffic Control Tower at the Cleveland airport, Kent State University Airport for orientation flights in the university’s aircraft and flight simulators, and the Kent State Air Traffic Control Laboratory.

“The aviation camp offers great career opportunities to everyone. Girls have a place in professional aviation, and Kent State’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology is available to help them prepare for a career in aviation,” says Nettey.

This year, Dominique Sorbo will be the keynote speaker at the camp. Sorbo is a Kent State alumna and an employee at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center.

The camp was created in honor of Nicole “Nikki” Marie Kukwa. Kukwa was an instrument-rated pilot who was an honors student in Kent State’s aeronautics program from fall 2002 until her passing on Oct. 23, 2006, from leukemia in her junior year. In addition to being a scholarship recipient from North Royalton High School and Catholic Youth Organization, Kukwa was a member of the National Honors Society in 2000-2002, and the 2003-2004 winner of the Miss Royalton Pageant.

As a flight student in Kent State’s aeronautics program, Kukwa distinguished herself by retaining a coveted place on the Dean’s List throughout her undergraduate studies and by serving as president of the Kent State chapter of Alpha Eta Rho and as a founding member of the Kent State chapter of the Women in Aviation, International, also known as the “Flying Black Squirrels.” Kukwa served the aeronautics program as a dispatcher and as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety counselor for Kent State. She also served the local aviation community as a certified weather observer at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

The Nikki Kukwa Memorial Aviation Camp is organized by the Kukwa family and Kent State’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology in partnership with the International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM). The proceeds from the Nikki Kukwa Memorial Golf Outing on June 21 at the Roses Run Country Club in Stow, Ohio, will help fund the camp.

For more information about Kent State’s College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology, visit www.kent.edu/caest.