In this episode, Halsey Schider sits down with Matthias Wendt, a dentist from Germany who has turned his passion for helicopters into an innovative STEM outreach effort designed to introduce young people to aviation.
Matthias’ connection to helicopters started through curiosity rather than a career path. Despite numerous opportunities throughout his life to pursue aviation, his journey instead took him into dental technology and dentistry. Years later, his fascination with helicopters returned through home simulation, eventually transforming a personal hobby into a hands-on way to introduce students to aviation.
What began as an effort to create a more immersive helicopter simulator for himself evolved into custom-built simulator rigs, helicopter controls, and even a wearable rotor head that allows students to physically experience how helicopter flight controls work. The outreach found an early home through KuKo, the STEAM program led by Matthias’ wife, before expanding into schools, LEGO Robotics teams, and other educational settings.
Matthias and Halsey discuss the importance of giving young people tangible ways to discover aviation, engineering, and technical careers—and the role that mentors and industry professionals can play in providing that first spark of inspiration.
For those interested in taking the idea further, Matthias has also put together a downloadable PDF guide linked here that provides more information and resources for bringing helicopter simulation and hands-on learning into STEM education.
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