It was a childhood fascination with aviation that led alumna Linell Homentosky to choose 5X when it came time to pick a college. As she tells it, the interest was first sparked by her aunt, Judy, who was a flight attendant.
“She would give my family buddy passes to fly, and when we would go on trips, the pilots always would show you the cockpit. I had a pilot tell me that I could fly the plane one day,” Homentosky said. “So, my love for aviation really started there and turned into my career.”
When it came time to pick a college, Homentosky said she looked at several programs, but it was the balance of academics and community in Kent State's College of Aeronautics and Engineering that felt like the right fit for her. The fact that Kent State has an on-campus airport sealed the deal for her.
“I chose Kent State for their aeronautics program because I loved that it felt like a college environment where they also had an aviation program [and] an airport that was part of their campus and their curriculum,” she said. “And really, it was the staff and just the way I felt on the college visit that made me think this is really the college that is right for me.”
Today, Homentosky is the vice president and Northeast aviation market lead for , a Fortune 500 global infrastructure firm. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and a minor in computer information systems, graduating with honors from Kent State in 2006.
Homenstosky shared that experiences both in and out of the classroom at Kent State, including field trips to Federal Aviation Administration control towers and airports, and also being able to network with industry professionals, helped her prepare for her career today in aviation management.
“We were exposed to industry professionals who talked about their careers and that really helped me pivot away from what I originally wanted to be – a commercial pilot – into the aviation management side,” she said. “Just hearing from their experiences and real-world professionals talking about what they do on a regular basis shifted me into the management side and then eventually the consulting side.”
At AECOM, Homentosky leads planning, engineering and design projects for airports across the United States, including . She often collaborates with other Kent State alumni, she adds. According to Homentosky, one of her most meaningful projects at AECOM became a true full-circle moment for her.
“When I was getting my pilot's license [as a student], we were operating out of trailers at the airport. And when I heard that Kent State was looking to build a new building to improve the quality for the students as well as the staff there, I asked AECOM, ‘Could we chase this? Could we take a look at it and go after this design?’ So, we worked with our team in Ohio to actually come together and show Kent State some of the work that we've done similar at other airports, and we were able to design the building,” she said. “Now seeing it and being able to walk through it is really special to me.”
Learn more about Kent State's College of Aeronautics and Engineering.