While most students spend their undergraduate years grounded in textbooks, Chloe Muhl has been splitting her time between the classroom and the skies. Over the last four years as an Honours Science student, Muhl has been balancing academics with flight training, completing the Commerical Flight Training Program at Spectrum Airways in Burlington, where she now works as a Class 4 flight instructor teaching others how to fly.
Muhl grew up travelling with her family, and it didn’t take long to realize she was captivated by more than just the destination. “Since I was a kid, I always knew I wanted to fly an airplane,” she says. “Everyone couldn’t wait to get off the plane, but that was my favourite part.”
By high school, she knew she didn’t want a traditional 9-5 job. Her passion for travelling and experiencing new places guided her toward aviation, but she also wanted to explore a second passion: physics.
“I took physics in high school, and I was terrible at it, but I still loved it,” she says. “When I got an email from Ŕ¶Ý®ĘÓƵ to pick my first-year courses I was terrified to choose physics, but I told myself I’m going to find a way to make this work because this content is cool, and no matter how hard it is I’ll just read the content as many times as I have to until I understand it.”
She discovered her passion for astrophysics in coursework offered through the Department of Physics and Astronomy and became the first female student to complete the physics minor in three years, and the second student overall.
“In my physics courses, I learned there are career paths that combine scientific research with aviation,” says Muhl. “This connection between my two passions is something I hope to link together in my career.”
Muhl’s dedication to aviation hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious Captain Judy Cameron Scholarship, presented by Cameron herself, the first woman to fly for Air Canada. With the award, she was named a , becoming a role model for girls aspiring to be pilots to bring more women into the aviation industry.
The Faculty of Science is working to create a scholarship for women in aviation. To express your interest in supporting this initiative, please contact the Director of Advancement, Meaghan Middleton (meaghan.middleton@uwaterloo.ca).
