Barrington Irving, the youngest person and the first African American pilot to circumnavigate the globe on his own, is collaborating with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) for Irving’s “Mitsubishi Dream & Soar Presented by Barrington Irving.” The event will take place on October 17 in Johnson’s home state of Georgia. The event, which is sponsored by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (Booth: C1062), fits in with the congressman’s Full STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) Ahead Initiative.

Irving’s event will take place at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Lithonia. He will give a presentation inspiring students to pursue their dreams through STEM. Following the presentation, Irving will participate in a question-and-answer session before visiting classrooms that focus on STEM and STEAM curricula. This “Mitsubishi Dream & Soar Presented by Barrington Irving” session will mark the ninth year Mitsubishi is sponsoring the event. 

“Through my STEAM initiative, I’m working to eliminate disparities in the workforce by exposing our students to opportunities such as aviation and other STEAM-related careers,” said Johnson. “Barrington is the embodiment of what someone interested and engaged in the STEM field early in life can accomplish. The sky's the limit.”

Irving, who made his record-breaking flight at 23 years old in 2007, founded the Experience Aviation program in Miami that focuses on helping students with math, science reading and problem-solving. He went on to create Flying Classroom, a science curriculum for grades one through eight. Irving recently purchased an MU-2 to use for this curriculum.