Courtesy of Rotary Club of Chester
ROB MIKKELSEN
Thursday, Feb. 1, 5:15 p.m.—CHESTER— The Rotary Club of Chester is pleased to announce that its First Thursday speaker on Feb. 1 will be Rob Mikkelsen, retired FAA air traffic controller and manager. The event will be held at the Fullerton Inn. Mikkelsen will explain the basics of air traffic control from a controller’s perspective, how the system operates, changes in the system during his career, and new technology that is currently being deployed that will make the system even safer. He will also discuss his career arc with the FAA that took some unexpected turns and how he almost single-handedly automated the traffic counting of terminal traffic for the entire country.
Mikkelsen was raised in Chester and graduated from GMUHS in 1976. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he was trained as an air traffic controller. After separating from the Air Force in 1982, he was hired by the FAA and worked at Orlando Executive Airport and Orlando International Airport as a controller before transferring to Tampa as a manager. He moved back to New England, where he worked in Nashua and remotely at positions both in Washington, D.C. and Atlantic City, N.J. before retiring from the FAA last month.
Socializing begins at 5:15 p.m. and the program begins at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to everyone. RSVP to chestervtrotary@gmail.com. Fullerton Inn is located at 40 Common St., Chester.
