2017 Update
Stephen Harke (AXT '89, AMT '82), President of Genesys Certification Services
"When I received my award, I was working at FLYHT Aerospace on project development on a satellite voice-data communication system with real-time tracking and downloading of data. It meant you could see what was going on with an airplane during an emergency and had a much better chance of finding the aircraft if something did go wrong. The product was picked up by Airbus and is available as an option.
Since then, I have left FLYHT and started Genesys Certification Services. My partner and I work as ministerial delegates. We have delegation from the Minister of Transport through Transport Canada to approve modifications to aircraft. As you'd imagine, you can't just go in and change things on airplanes without going through the proper engineering approvals, so we are involved in the process of reviewing and approving primarily electronic and avionics systems on the aircraft.
I have been involved in the aircraft certification part of the industry for over 25 years now. This is a much broader aspect of the avionics industry. At FLYHT I was working on a very specialized product. Now I'm working on a lot of different types of systems so there's more variety which is a nice change."
Since receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014, Stephen has started his own consulting business, Genesys Certification Services. He acts as a ministerial delegate through Transport Canada to review and approve modifications to aircraft.