Katie Vosler

Katie Vosler spent most of her undergraduate experience in a cockpit, several thousand feet above the ground, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Professional flight came naturally to Vosler, whose dad is a retired Navy pilot.

“I am excited to be a part of a field that is always advancing,” Vosler says. “With the first flight taking place just over 100 years ago, we have gone from a one-man plane that stayed in the air for 12 seconds to hundreds of thousands of flights that last as long as 18 hours.”

Vosler transferred to ASU’s professional flight program based at The Polytechnic School, one of the six schools in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, after hearing positive feedback from students she knew in the program. 

“I can honestly say that coming to ASU was the best decision I’ve made,” Vosler says. “The Fulton Schools give students so many opportunities to build their resume, try new things — even start a business. They offer multiple programs and support methods to give each student the tools they need to succeed.”

Some of those resources included access to an altitude chamber and multiple simulators. She also had the opportunity to rebuild a piston engine.

Vosler says Marc O’Brien, senior lecturer and aviation program chair, also shaped her education at ASU. 

“He was just as much a friend as a teacher and was always looking for an opportunity to help his students,” she says.

While completing her degree, Vosler was the vice president of the aviation fraternity Alpha Eta Rho, an active member of Women in Aviation International and Relay for Life, and a section leader for ASU 101. She made the dean’s list every semester, even while interning for Delta Air Lines and maintaining a part-time job.

“During my Delta Air Lines internship, I was part of a sleep study that tracked pilots as they flew a seven-day trip from the United States to South Korea twice,” Vosler says. “We tracked the pilots’ reaction time based on extreme time change and sleeping conditions.”

After graduating, Vosler plans to move to Chicago to pursue a job as a flight instructor. 

“I can enter the field of aviation with confidence knowing that my degree equipped me with the knowledge and skills to operate safe and efficient flights,” she says.“As long as I’m flying planes and traveling the world, I’ll be happy.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ fall 2020 class here.