Devon Ferns has had a passion for aviation since he was a child that veered into the technical side of the industry after high school. Initially, he had an interest in becoming a commercial/airline pilot, but his career path went a different way. In 2000, Ferns went into computer programming at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada, instead. There, he received his diploma in 2003, which led him to enroll in the Software Engineering program at the University of Western Ontario in 2004, where he earned his degree in 2008. After his studies were complete, Ferns was still keen on learning to fly an aircraft, so he trained and got his Private Pilot License (PPL). “During training, I was hired as a software developer at WinAir, an aviation management software company, which aligned with both my interest in aviation and my education in computer programming,” he explained.
After college, Ferns worked as a software developer at Oasis Auto Complete from 2003 to 2004, where he maintained their existing car dealership software until he started his university degree. “Afterward, I joined a company called TVWorks, a software development company that created software to run on TV Set boxes,” he said. “In this position, I was a developer support analyst and worked with customers of the software. In 2010, I initiated my career at WinAir as a software developer, where I worked with a team of Java developers to transform WinAir into a browser-based solution. In particular, I worked on enhancing and developing the maintenance records, inventory and shipping sections of the software, which culminated in the release of WinAir Version 7 in 2016.”
In the months that preceded this release, Ferns was promoted to his current senior software developer role, where he is a key stakeholder and assists with the design and implementation of new and innovative WinAir features and functions, and helps to determine solutions for customer requests. “Since that time, I am proud to have helped the team create a digital signatures enhancement within WinAir and to have played a leading role in the development and release of WinAir’s flight ops system integration,” he stated.
Ferns gives back to the aviation industry by assisting with the development of mission-critical aviation management software that helps operations worldwide with tracking and managing their maintenance programs, maintaining inventory control and ensuring compliance with standards and regulations.
As for the future, Ferns plans to continue his role as senior software developer, maintaining a high quality of workmanship and helping to drive the WinAir software forward.