Some set their sights high, while others go further and set their sights on perfection.  

It's the latter, those who strive to be the very best, who enjoy detailed, precision work, and who won't let go a project until it's complete, who thrive in the University College of the Fraser Valley 's Aircraft Structures Technician certificate program.  

The Aircraft Structures certificate, which has been offered at UCFV since Fall 2001, recently celebrated its first set of graduates. The ceremony recognized the high calibre of the 31 graduates and the popularity of the in-demand certificate program.  

UCFV Board Chair Rob Nicklom presented Outstanding Achievement awards to the top graduates in each of the first two Aircraft Structures classes. Patrick Thomson and Randy Krueger, both from Chilliwack , each averaged more than 96% in their grades. Both are now working for Cascade Aerospace.  

The 40-week curriculum introduces students to aircraft repair. They learn how to manufacture, modify, and repair sheet-metal parts, structures, skins, and panels to exacting tolerances. The learning is so hands-on, says UCFV Trades director Harv McCullough that classes take place at Abbotsford Airport .  

"The centre is in a hangar with a decommissioned 737 parked in it. There are people who work in this industry working in the same building as the students, so the students get to see what a day on the job is really like, says McCullough.  

Recent graduate Nav Brar says the location of the classes, the practice aircraft, and the hands-on experience prepared him for a job - one he was offered two months before he completed the course.  

"This is a very unique industry and the training has to be spot-on," he says. "The course is great, the instructors are great, and that's important because this is very fine, very detailed work."

The aerospace industry continues to grow and McCullough notes his grads are in high demand. A report from the Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission of B.C. estimates the industry will need up to 4,000 new trades and technical workers, including structural technicians, within five years.  

"More than half of our students were guaranteed jobs about two and half months before they graduated," he notes.  

Indeed, Brar says 97 per cent of his classmates were offered jobs at Cascade Aerospace, the company that supplied the decommissioned aircraft for students to practice on.  

"This is a growing industry," Brar says. "And because it's so busy you have to have good work ethics and be willing to work through a job. But it's very intriguing, every day is different."  

The graduation ceremony attracted a high number of dignitaries who celebrated UCFV's ability to quickly design and offer a certificate program specifically for the growing aerospace industry. The guest list included movers and shakers from several Fraser Valley communities including Abbotsford MLA Mike de Jong, Mary Reeves, Mayor of Abbotsford, Chilliwack councillor Bernie Cross, Hope councillor Larry Ortis, Transport Canada's Geoff Guest, Barry DeBruyn from Avcorp Industries, and Cascade Aerospace's CEO Barry Marsden and president David Schellenberg.  

There's no end to the possibilities at UCFV either. McCullough said the university college has made it a priority to investigate the feasibility of other aerospace related certificate programs. Right now, though, it's just a case of keeping up with demand as applications continue to pile up and new Aircraft courses start every 14 weeks. McCullough says they want to make sure UCFV continues to offer the best it can to its many students.  

"Our course is highly regulated through Transport Canada and we're audited once a year to make sure we're delivering the program the way we should," he says. "Because everybody likes to fly…and they like to fly safely."