Paula Chapla

Paula Chapla ’78, who was one of just a handful of female students in the technology education program during the 1970s, is approaching 30 years of service with Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of military and commercial helicopters. In her earliest post-CCSU days she worked 90 hours a week teaching Industrial Arts at Shelton High School during the day, while also earning an hourly wage operating machines on second shift at Sikorsky. From those humble beginnings she moved on to numerous positions of increasing responsibility within the company. Today, as Operations/Transformation Manager for Aerostructures, Chapla supports production of BlackHawk UH60M and HH60-M (Medivac) airframes.  But Chapla didn’t come to CCSU to study technology. She enrolled as a political science major. “I was involved in helping the School of Technology move into its new space at Copernicus at the time,” she recalls. “That’s when I met all the Industrial Arts teachers. That changed my life. Talking with them about electrical systems, cars, refrigerators – these were tangible things. It clicked for me.” In her very limited “spare” time, Chapla is pursuing a second master’s degree – this one from Central. “In today’s world, especially with technology, it’s adapt or die,” she says. “CCSU is adapting, and there is a world of opportunity out there for engineering and technology students today.”