Purdue and ISTAT dual certificate program opens doors for future commercial aviation industry professionals

Purdue University and the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) are collaborating on a dual certificate program for students who plan on entering, and professionals already in, the commercial aviation field. 

ISTAT is the premier international, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing aviation professionals with forums for increased networking and educational opportunities. The organization represents more than 5,000 members worldwide who are involved in operating, manufacturing, maintaining, selling, purchasing, financing, leasing, appraising, insuring or other activities related to commercial aviation. Purdue is just the second university globally to partner with the ISTAT Foundation for the ISTAT University program. 

Students in the joint program will take courses developed using content crafted by ISTAT member experts and taught by Purdue to earn an ISTAT University certificate in aircraft asset management and aircraft leasing and also take courses from Purdue in aviation financial instruments and operations and airline revenue management to earn Purdue’s Graduate Certificate in Aviation Financial Management. The program is available both online and to residential students on Purdue’s flagship West Lafayette, Ind., campus. 

The partnership will offer students in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology entry into a professional pipeline that encompasses the global aircraft leasing and trading companies, a multi-billion sector, said Yi Gao, associate professor of aviation technology. 

Tracey O’Brien, who manages Amazon Air’s fleet strategy as well as serving as an ISTAT Foundation trustee, said the partnership also will benefit students by enhancing the real-world industry focus of Purdue’s curriculum. 

In addition, Gao said the program fills a need in the industry, where personnel often come from the financial side or the aviation side and could benefit from being exposed to both sides, which the Purdue and ISTAT courses do. 

O’Brien, who earned her bachelor’s in aviation and aerospace management from Purdue in 2010 and her master’s in 2011, received an ISTAT Foundation scholarship while in school and was able to attend one of the organization’s conferences, opening a whole new vista of aviation career possibilities and allowing her to start making contacts in the industry, many of whom she still interacts with professionally to this day. 

“What that allowed me to do was get exposed to this whole other world in aviation of buying,  selling, and trading aircraft,” O’Brien said. “I’ve had a passion for aviation since I was a little girl. I didn’t know where I wanted to go or what was out there, I just knew I wanted to do something in aviation.” 

Likewise, Connor Duchen, a 2017 Purdue graduate in aviation technology and finance, said the opportunity to interact with ISTAT — he also received a scholarship from the ISTAT Foundation and went through the ISTAT University program — has been an essential element in his career. Duchen works for SkyWorks Capital, an aviation advisory and asset management firm, advising clients on things such as aircraft orders, aircraft financing, aircraft sourcing and airline restructuring. 

“It was really the networking opportunities provided by ISTAT that led me to where I am,” Duchen said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Purdue and for the industry at large. I’m excited to see Purdue put this program in place and create an additional avenue for students interested in aviation finance.” 

For more information, please contact an online enrollment counselor by emailing poapply@purdue.edu.