Two prestigious industry awards were presented during the recent opening session of the 65th annual Aircraft Electronics Association International Convention & Trade Show at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Determined in a vote by AEA members, Garmin was honoured as the 2022 Associate Member of the Year while James Temple of Temple Electronics in Houston, Texas was named the AEA Member of the Year.

“It's an incredible honour to be recognised by the AEA members for this distinction among our industry colleagues around the globe,” says vice president of aviation sales and marketing Carl Wolf. “Together with our vast and experienced authorised dealer network comprised of AEA member companies, our dedication to delivering industry-leading products, services and support is as strong as ever. This award validates the hard work and steadfast dedication of our entire team, and we're truly humbled by the recognition.”

Garmin products and services have revolutionised flight and become essential to the lives of pilots, aircraft owners and operators around the world. Well known for ground-breaking GPS, navigation and communication products like its GTN Xi series navigators, Garmin offers a wide range of avionics solutions that seamlessly integrate and further enhance the flying experience.

Revered for its commitment to help the general aviation community fly more safely, Garmin was recognised by AEA members for many of its safety-enhancing technologies. Garmin Autoland was awarded the 2020 Robert J Collier Trophy for the world's first certified autonomous system designed to activate during an emergency to safely fly and land an aircraft without human intervention. In the event of an emergency such as pilot incapacitation, a passenger on board can activate Autoland with a simple press of a dedicated button. Autoland can also activate automatically if the system detects no pilot interaction. Once activated, the system immediately calculates a flight path to the most suitable airport and runway, while avoiding terrain and adverse weather, initiates a stabilised approach and automatically lands the aircraft.

Garmin was also commended for Smart Glide, a revolutionary safety tool that helps pilots in loss of engine power emergencies by automating tasks to reduce pilot workload. In the event of the loss of engine power in a single-engine aircraft, a pilot faces the urgent, workload-intensive job of manoeuvring the aircraft from its current position to a suitable airport. Through compatible avionics, such as GTN Xi series navigators, Smart Glide provides assistance to the pilot by recommending a suitable airport estimated to be within glide range, as well as providing critical information to the pilot and optimising select avionics settings, helping save the pilot precious time and workload. When paired with a compatible Garmin autopilot, Smart Glide can automatically engage the autopilot and pitch for the aircraft's best glide speed while simultaneously navigating the aircraft within the vicinity of the selected airport so the pilot can execute an approach and landing.

A four-time recipient of the AEA Associate Member of the Year award, Garmin also received this honour in 1994, 2000 and 2011.

Garmin has reaped the benefits of AEA membership since joining the association in 1990. In addition to promoting its brand by advertising in Avionics News, the company exhibits and sponsors events at the AEA International Convention & Trade Show and the AEA Connect Conferences throughout the year.

Garmin also sponsors an annual scholarship through the AEA Educational Foundation and makes significant donations to the annual AEA silent auction.

Temple started working in the business and general aviation industry when he was just 13 years old. He worked alongside his father, Marshall Temple, who founded Temple Electronics in 1973. He began working during his summer school break in 1976 and when he turned 16, he began building install lash-ups (marking wires and populating connectors). Two years later he began engineering and performing simple installations from start to finish. In his early 20s, he attended almost all the Honeywell, BendixKing and Universal Avionics training classes, and also began bench working nav/comms and autopilots, flight line AP systems and all avionics systems. By the late 1980s, he was running Temple Electronics with guidance from his father.

In 1993, Marshall Temple retired and his son has carried on the legacy by continuing to grow the business and always looking ahead to new technologies that will help the company advance in the future. Temple Electronics has been an active member of the AEA since the company opened in 1973, and it sponsors the Marshall Temple scholarship through the AEA Educational Foundation.