Skip to main content

Secondary Menu

  • Hotline
  • Contact Us

Call to Action Menu

  • Visit Us
  • Apply Now
  • Give Now
Enter the terms you wish to search for.
Search type:
Information for:

Information Menu

  • Future Students
  • First-Time Students
  • Transfer Students
  • Adult Learners
  • International Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni & Friends
  • Visitors
Penn State Brandywine Home
Penn State Brandywine Home
Penn State Brandywine
Search

Information Menu

  • Future Students
  • First-Time Students
  • Transfer Students
  • Adult Learners
  • International Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni & Friends
  • Visitors

Secondary Menu

  • Hotline
  • Contact Us

Call to Action Menu

  • Visit Us
  • Apply Now
  • Give Now

Main navigation

  • This is Penn State
  • Academics
  • Admission
  • Student Life
  • Tuition & Financial Aid
  • Workforce & Innovation
  • Athletics
Information for:

Information Menu

  • Future Students
  • First-Time Students
  • Transfer Students
  • Adult Learners
  • International Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni & Friends
  • Visitors

Main navigation

  • This is Penn State
  • Academics
  • Admission
  • Student Life
  • Tuition & Financial Aid
  • Workforce & Innovation
  • Athletics
  1. Home
  2. News

United Airlines leader to speak at Penn State Brandywine commencement

November 19, 2015

MEDIA, Pa. — Mike Arata, Penn State alumnus, director of engineering at United Airlines, and Penn State Brandywine advisory board member, will be the speaker at Penn State Brandywine’s fall commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 18, in the Commons Building Gymnasium on campus.

Arata graduated from Penn State at University Park with a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering after attending the Brandywine campus during his first two years at Penn State.

Over the course of his 24-year career, Arata has held various positions at United Airlines. Upon graduation, he was hired as a liaison engineer in San Francisco, California. He later transferred to Chicago, Illinois, where he continued to work with liaison engineering as the lead engineer. Arata’s leadership roles expanded into line maintenance, where he assumed the area manager role and ran the aircraft maintenance terminal operation at United Airlines’ largest hub at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. He then returned to the engineering organization and assumed his current role.

Arata’s engineering team is responsible for the regulatory compliance, configuration control, modifications, reliability, and technical program requirements for the fleet. The United Airlines fleet is one of the largest in the world with more than 700 Boeing and Airbus aircrafts and close to 1,500 GE, Rolls Royce, and Pratt and Whitney jet engines.

Beyond United Airlines, at the aviation industry level, Arata chairs the Airlines for America (A4A) Engineering Maintenance and Material Council (EMMC). He also serves on the advisory board for Penn State Brandywine. 

He and his family live in the Chicago suburbs, but remain frequent visitors to the Philadelphia area.

Penn State Brandywine students receiving their diplomas in December will join the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world that consists of more than 177,000 members.

Penn State Brandywine is located at 25 Yearsley Mill Road in Media, Pa.

If you are unable to attend the event, you can watch the program live on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OyS_z052tCQ.

  • Mike Arata

    Mike Arata

    Image: Penn State

Related Content

  • Penn State Brandywine welcomes new leadership to advisory board
  • Human resources leader encourages Brandywine graduates to embrace differences
  • Judge encourages Brandywine graduates to plan for future goals
  • Delaware County jurist to address Brandywine's spring commencement
  • Hospital executive addresses graduates at Brandywine’s fall commencement
  • Health care executive to address Brandywine’s fall commencement

Tags

Penn State Brandywine advisory board, Penn State Brandywine commencement, United Airlines, aerospace engineering

Penn State Brandywine

25 Yearsley Mill Road
Media, PA 19063
610-892-1200

Secondary Menu

  • Hotline
  • Contact Us

Call to Action Menu

  • Visit Us
  • Apply Now
  • Give Now
Penn State Brandywine is Philadelphia's "next-door" neighbor. The 112-acre campus lies just 20 miles west of Center City and offers four-year baccalaureate degree programs, associate degree programs and workplace professional education programs.
Information for:

Information Menu

  • Future Students
  • First-Time Students
  • Transfer Students
  • Adult Learners
  • International Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni & Friends
  • Visitors

Footer Menu

  • +This is Penn State
    • Campus Information
    • Chancellor
    • Leadership
    • Visit Us
  • +Academics
    • Undergraduate Programs
    • Internships
    • Workforce & Innovation
    • Center for Ethics & Civic Engagement
    • Study Abroad
    • Vairo Library
  • +Admission
    • How to Apply
    • First-Year Students
    • Transfer Students
    • Adult Learners
    • Virtual Tour
  • +Tuition & Financial Aid
    • Financial Aid
    • Tuition & Fees
  • +Student Life
    • Career Services
    • Code of Conduct
    • Counseling Services
    • Get Involved
  • +Athletics
    • Club and Intramural Sports
    • Fitness Center
  • +Contact Us
    • Calendar
    • Faculty and Staff Directory
    • Stay Connected
    • University Police and Public Safety

Connect with Us

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • linkedin
Penn State University
Penn State University

Footer Info Menu

  • Directions
  • Map
  • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Hotlines
25 Yearsley Mill Road, Media, Pennsylvania 19063 | 610-892-1200

Footer Legal Menu

  • Privacy
  • Non-discrimination
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Accessibility
  • Copyright
The Pennsylvania State University © 2022