Teaching

Teaching is one of my primary passions, and my past students can attest to that! I strive to keep a fun and engaged learning environment, and do my best to reach every single one of my students. In my role of faculty of the Aviation Program I have worked on developing, instructing, and coordinating the following courses:

• AVIA 02 - Introduction to Aviation (Lower division): prepare for tons of exercises on navigation, ranging from surfing a sectional chart to computing estimated time and fuel for your next flight! In-class exercises are a must of this course, where you will learn all the basics any aviation professional should be comfortable with! Required course for all aviation majors
• AVIA 078 - Introduction to Aviation Management (Lower division): hope you like Excel! We'll learn the basics of FBOs (fixed-based operators) and how to run a successful business within the aviation industry. Mixed structure of half theoretical lessons and half excel exercises (laptop or tablet required). Required course for all aviation majors
• AVIA 193 - Aerodynamics (Upper division): this is a lecture+lab course. We will execute seven different experiments with our wind tunnel is IS133. This can be a challenging course, but it is for sure a lot of fun to see how things really work and why the shape of an airfoil is that important! Required for flight ops and prof flight students. Talk with me if you would like this as elective for other options.

• AVIA 150 - Unmanned Aerial Systems (Upper division): interested about drones? This is the place for you! We will have a field trip to fly fixed-wing UAVs and learn all the basics to run operations with UAVs. No final for this course, but a semester project will keep you busy with your team! Elective for all avia majors, can be used for minor (requires instructor consent if AVIA 31 was not passed with a C or better)

• AVIA 68 - Avionics and Airborne Communications (Lower division): ready to build a radio receiver? In this course you will get hands-on experience with electronic components, while at the same time learning about GPS, radio beacons, and everything in between to aid navigation! Required for all avia majors, lec+lab. 
• AVIA 3, 63, 113 - Private Pilot 141 Flight, Instrument 141 Rating, Commercial Pilot 141 Flight (Lower and Upper division): starting Fall 2018, we have worked on making flight training requirements a bit more structured. This is not to hamper your career at SJSU, but to help you succeed in your training as you strive to become a professional pilot. Please come sit down with me to discuss you flight training plans! For professional flight students only.

Currently (Fall 2019) office hours are held on Tuesdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, in IS104. Additional appointments can be set up by emailing me at francesca.favaro@sjsu.edu

 

Academic Advising

I currently serve as the academic advisor for all students in the Aviation Program (majors and minor). I am available M,T,W between 11 am to 4 pm for advising. Students need to book an appointment through Spartan Connect. Here are the steps to book an appointment:

1. Go to https://sjsu.campus.eab.com

2. From your student homepage, select the blue "Get Advising" button on the right sidebar.

3. Follow the prompts and select the reasons for your appointment. You should choose "Engineering Undergrad Major Advising" and "Aviation Major Advising".
4. Choose a location for the appointment. You should choose Dr. Favaro's office, IS 104.
5. Choose a specific advisor, if needed, or leave blank for any advisor.
6. Choose a date and time that works for you, or view the walk-in hours if there are no slots available. Use the arrows on the page to scroll to next week. 

7. Verify the who, what, when, where, and why, add comments, then confirm the appointment.

8. The appointment is now on your Spartan Connect Calendar (left sidebar, calendar icon).

 

Volunteering

In my spare time I like to serve as volunteer for various STEM initiatives. The Aviation Program currently offers after school activities to engage local middle schools and high schools for outreach purposes. We are currently working on developing a collaboration with CommUniverCity too!

In the past I participated in a K-12 outreach program for local public and private schools in the Atlanta Area. During each visit a group of 4/5 engineers from WIE would explain the role of an engineer in the society with a brief presentation followed by a hands-on activity (which depended on the grade the visit was scheduled for). Examples include making a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows, building a car out of a juice box and bottle caps propelled by a balloon, and building an egg-lander with paper, straws and marshmallows! In the past I also volunteered for the Young Astronauts Club at Madras Middle School (Newnan, GA).

Women in STEM

I am committed to increase the percentage of women in STEM fields and help the ones in need of advice; to this aim I am an active mentor of both on-line and on-campus programs. I am a pledged mentor for the Million Women Mentors program and an Ambassador for the Zonta Foundation, which awarded me the Amelia Earhart Fellowship in 2013 and in 2015. Additionally, I recently became a mom for the second time; this experience has given me new insights on the role of women (and moms) in STEM, which I love sharing with both students and colleagues. I am also committed to the STEM education of young girls: I believe that the sooner they are exposed to these technical fields, the more knowingly and freely they will be able to make choices regarding their future. I was interviewed and featured in the Zonta Newsletter and on the “Il Giornale dell’Ingengere” (photo below) on the differences in education and in the learning process between boys and girls.