Nick Kowalkowski Soars

When Nick Kowalkowski (CE, 2017) strolls through an airport, he sees more than the baggage claim, the security checkpoint, and the gate numbers that the average person is accustomed to noticing. He sees the operations on a much more detailed level that combines two unique perspectives—airport designer and private pilot.

Kowalkowski, a project manager at Woolpert, consults on airport capital improvement projects such as runway expansions, ground and aerial surveys, and terminal apron projects.

He assisted with the first tunnel at an Indiana airport in Huntingburg and even traveled to American Samoa for runway reconstruction projects.

"A lot of (airports) serve as economic catalysts. They're the first door to the city or town," he said. "It's global, even if it's just an airport here in Indiana."

It was that level of impact that drew Kowalkowski to civil engineering originally.

"Civil engineers can go all across the country and see different things that they've done," he said. "Some of the most important things we utilize on a day-to-day basis are because of civil engineering."

Despite this, Kowalkowski initially did not realize the correlation between civil engineering and his lifelong love of the sky until his senior design project at Rose-Hulman. His team was tasked with designing new hangars for the Terre Haute Regional Airport in conjunction with a consulting team from Woolpert.

"I didn't really think there was a direction with civil engineering into aviation. That's where that relationship began." - Nick Kowalkowski (CE, 2017)

Kowalkowski continues to blend those pursuits and recently earned his instrument rating as a private pilot, a certification that allows him to fly in low visibility and rely on the equipment of his aircraft. In addition to the personal satisfaction that comes with breaking through the clouds, Kowalkowski finds flying helps him in his work.

"You're thinking of it through a lot of different perspectives," he said. "It makes you a much more credible consultant at the end of the day."

Though flying into an airport he worked on would be a professional full-circle moment, Kowalkowski most wants to fly at an airport with which he has an even longer history: Erie-Ottawa International Airport.

As a child, his love for flying began at Erie-Ottawa, where he used to fly with fellow aviation-enthusiast relatives, including his grandmother and her brother.

"We took his plane to different little airports, just the three of us - him, my grandma, and me," Kowalkowski said. "The airplane I grew up flying in is still there. It would mean a lot to me to come full-circle and fly in that one again."

His dreams as a pilot are taking flight, as his family legacy lands a soaring impact on the aviation industry.