I originally worked in the construction industry as an electrician for about 8 years after finishing school. Due to the economic situation in Ireland at the time, work was becoming hard to find. I saw an opportunity to move into a completely new field — taking a step back and starting from the beginning again as a first-year apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer with a Part-145 organisation in Ireland. It wasn't easy, given that I was about 28 at the time, which isn't traditionally a starting age for an apprenticeship.
The apprenticeship allowed me to work in an airline, with breaks to study at Part-147 training schools and sit my EASA Part-66 exams. I completed my Cat A first, followed by my B2, then my B1 — gaining type courses on the ATRs, gaining first Cat A approvals, and then B2 approval. Getting the actual licence in my hand made all the sacrifices worth it. When you take a risk and it pays off, there's nothing like it — and each time I added to it, I got that same feeling.
I studied at Limerick Institute of Technology (now TU Shannon), gaining a Level 7 certification in Aircraft Lease Transition Management and another in Aircraft Technical Services.
Then COVID hit. I lost my job in aviation but found work in tech at an Irish data centre, where my skills from both aviation and construction came together. Since transitioning to data centres, I've completed a BSc in Data Centre Operations and Management.
My passion for aviation never changed though.
Like every student, I spent hours memorising question banks — hoping the same ones would come up in the exam. I wasn't actually learning.
That's why I built ModMentor. You get interactive practice that targets your weak areas. The questions keep changing, so you can't just memorise patterns. You actually learn — just like the industry demands.
— Stephen Connor