A group of 17 Japanese exchange students is ready for takeoff at the Polytechnic campus.

The College of Technology and Innovation’s aviation program is hosting the students to help fill a demand for well-trained pilots in Japan.

Jimmy Kimberly, an aeronautics professor and international student coordinator, said some of the students may begin flying as early as Saturday.

The international collaboration could be a learning opportunity for everyone involved, he said.

“We are going to learn a lot about Japanese culture and they are going to learn a lot about American culture,” he said. “We all take added knowledge away. They are going to remember their experiences here their entire lives.”

In August, the 17 students came to ASU to begin their two-year training in the College of Technology and Innovation.

They prepared for one year at their home school, J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo, before coming to Arizona, and will return to Japan for their senior year.

This is the first international flight school program arrangement for ASU with another university, but Kunio Miyazaki, the J. F. Oberlin University adviser to the Japanese students on the Polytechnic campus, said the program has been in the works for three years.

While at ASU, the students will earn their private and commercial pilot licenses as well as qualifications to operate a multi-engine aircraft and its instruments.

Students in Japan earn pilot certification, but in ASU’s program they simultaneously earn a graduate degree in aeronautical management and pilot licensing in both the U.S. and Japan, he said.

The program also costs them about half of what pilot certification would cost in Japan, Miyazaki said.
Of the 17 students who started in August, 13 began condensed fall courses on Oct. 12 and four are enrolled in American English and Culture courses to orient them into American language and culture, Kimberly said.

While the students did go through an English proficiency exam, many of them are still learning to adjust to both the language and culture of America.

Carrie Ellis, a flight instructor in the program, said she has been doing a lot of research on Japanese culture in order to better relate to these students.

“They’re just being flooded with American culture,” Ellis said.

Mai Suzuki, a Japanese student in the pilot program, said the thing she was most surprised by is the size of everything in the U.S.
Suzuki said she feels at home in airplanes because she has wanted to be a pilot since her childhood and was excited to enter ASU’s program, but encountered some surprises when she came to America.

“I was most surprised by how big everything is, like food and even insects. When I first got here, there was a cockroach in my room; it was really, really big,” she said.

Ellis said American students could benefit from interaction with the international students.

“They definitely add a different dynamic,” she said. “We hope we can take from their enthusiasm and not be lazy, as Americans usually are as a stereotype.”

The students fly out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and are trained by Mesa Air Group instructors to use the same standard operations as commercial airline pilots.

“Our aviation school is top-notch, so they’re going to get a good experience and good training,” Ellis said.

The program utilizes ground training, real flight experience, simulator use for instrument training and instruction from retired pilots, she said.

Kimberly, a former pilot himself, said he relates to the students’ enthusiasm for flying.

“Aviation enthusiasts, they’re all the same. It started with Leonardo da Vinci — once you get airborne, you’re always looking up at the sky, wanting to go back up,” he said.

Reach the reporter at michelle.parks@asu.edu.