{"502931":{"#nid":"502931","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Gary Weissel, BAE \u002793, Makes a First Class Gift to GT-AE","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWe always\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;thought\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;working and going to school at GT-AE was a\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003Efirst class\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003Eexperience.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, we have something to back up our boast.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAviation consultant and GT-AE alumnus\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EGary Weissel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;has gifted his alma mater with two\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Efirst-class\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003Ecommercial airplane seats, each specially emblazoned with the school\u0027s name and the Institute\u0027s trademark campanile.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027d always wanted to see if I\u0026nbsp;could do something like this,\u0022\u0026nbsp;said Weissel, the managing officer for Tronos Aviation Consulting, Inc., a Woodstock-based company.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022So I asked my friend,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EScott Greenbaum\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;[of Signature Aerospace] if he could come up with some seats that we could upgrade to give to Georgia Tech. The seats he procured were designed in the mid-late 90\u2019s for Delta\u2019s 737-800\u2019s. I was actually the Delta product manager at the time this seat was developed, so it was actually my seat program.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother GT alum, the late\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EChristina [Olson] Tredway\u003C\/strong\u003E, BIE \u002792, was responsible for the seat cover design.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022She was the interiors engineer at Delta back then,\u0022\u0026nbsp;he said. \u0022Another Tech grad I worked with.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe fully reclining leather thrones provide unprecedented luxury for visitors to Montgomery Knight 301 - home of the communications, development, and academic advising manger\u0027s offices. But don\u0027t look for any hot towels or foie gras on the tray tables.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The trays are perfect for students filling out registration forms or checking their homework,\u0022 said William R. T. Oakes Professor and school chair Dr.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EVigor Yang\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These are\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;working\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;seats.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrand new, Weissel estimates the seats would cost around $8K -$10K. In their current installation, they are a priceless (and practical!) reminder of alumni innovation, support, and humor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u2019m absolutely thrilled that the School likes the seats and hope that they bring enjoyment and are a topic of discussion for students, alumni and staff for years to come,\u0022 said Weissel.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"We always thought working and going to school at GT-AE was a first class experience."}],"uid":"30502","created_gmt":"2016-02-18 12:43:55","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:49","author":"Sapna Mistry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"502921":{"id":"502921","type":"image","title":"Gary Weissel, BAE \u002793, Makes a First Class Gift to GT-AE","body":null,"created":"1456167600","gmt_created":"2016-02-22 19:00:00","changed":"1475895263","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:23","alt":"Gary Weissel, BAE \u002793, Makes a First Class Gift to GT-AE","file":{"fid":"204766","name":"gary_weissel_and_vigor_yang.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gary_weissel_and_vigor_yang_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gary_weissel_and_vigor_yang_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1555856,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gary_weissel_and_vigor_yang_0.jpg?itok=oMAcKorh"}}},"media_ids":["502921"],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"56811","name":"Delta"},{"id":"130951","name":"Gary Weissel"},{"id":"169948","name":"GT-AE Alumni"},{"id":"1741","name":"Vigor Yang"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kathleen.moore@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}