PCE News
Leadership as a Lifestyle: Dr. Nicholas Baine
July 18, 2025
Dr. Nick Baine is a prime example of what it means to be a leader. As an Associate Professor at the Padnos College of Engineering at GVSU, Dr. Baine is heavily involved in ensuring our students achieve their highest level possible. Baine assists with the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, and he is the faculty advisor for the GVSU Formula SAE Laker Racing club, a club that promotes collaboration and refines students engineering, management and design skills as they seek to build a miniature Formula One-style race car. Baine is also currently serving as the Program Chair of the Electrical Engineering degree program in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Recently, Dr. Baine proved his proclivity for service and quick-thinking when disaster struck at the Riverview Airport in Georgetown, Michigan, where Baine stores and works on his plane. At 1:40 pm, Baine was working on his plane when a Cessna aircraft went off the runway into a gravel pit filled with water. Baine and bystanders sprung into action, and were able to save both the pilot and passenger. In an interview with FOX17, Baine commented, "I immediately just tossed my stuff to Rick, and I jumped in, and swam out to it, thinking that I was going to be doing CPR out on the wing, not knowing who was out there". When Baine got to the wing, he realized that the passenger was his very own flight instructor. With the help of another rescuer, Baine swum the man to the shore. He then provided first aid, getting his instructor to breathe again.
Baine has a strong background in aviation, growing up in Enon, OH, not far from the home of aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers. Baine grew up surrounded by the aviation culture, with the largest employer in the area being the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the accompanying aviation contractors. During his time at Wright State University, Baine worked as a research engineering assistant at the Air Force Research Laboratory and spent much of his free time on flying lessons. He received his Private Pilot license in 2008, and continued his aviation education during his graduate studies, taking aerobatic classes and earning an instrument rating. Baine volunteers for Young Eagles, a program under the Experimental Aircraft Association that is dedicated to providing airplane rides to children and young adults who are interested in aviation, often times to large groups from Scouts. With every flight he strives to provide them the same enriching experiences that he had, and he hopes to give the same enthusiasm he has for aviation to these young students.
Baine stated that he got his pilot license due to a
boyhood dream, as being surrounded by the aviation culture of the
Dayton area, as well as the experience he had riding in small aircraft
multiple times as a child, made him fall in love with piloting. Baine
also points to the love, support, and encouragement from his family to
get his pilot license.
Read Baine’s interview with FOX17 here: Bystanders
step up to help after plane crashes in Ottawa County
Story written by Ben Robar, Photo by University Communications