Conference proceeding
Developing The Aerospace Workforce: A Boeing Experience
Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers, p15.388.1
20 Jun 2010
Abstract
An engineer shortage is said to be looming on the horizon. There is considerable concern in the United States that not enough engineers are graduating from our colleges and universities to satisfy the demand. Boeing shares this concern and is seeking to become an important element in the development of emerging engineering talent. Boeing is well positioned to become a leader in developing the engineering pipeline to cultivate a world-class talent pool of engineering graduates, beginning in K-12 programs. This report first examines the “Desired Attributes of an Engineer” as defined by the National Academy of Engineering and Boeing. Quantitative data gathered from discussions with engineers show that perceptions of young engineers concerning their job skills, as outlined in the attributes, do not necessarily match the perceptions of their supervisors. Further study provides a snapshot of Boeing’s involvement in the K-12 and university pipeline. The results of this study show that Boeing already actively participating in K-12 and university education. The conclusion from the literature shows that STEM education needs to be intentionally improved in the early school years and the paper suggests that Boeing and industry partners, because of their interest in the challenges of STEM education, could invest more of their resources to have a significant impact on STEM. Several recommendations are given to industry to position themselves for this challenge. Introduction The Boeing Company is a company dedicated to developing the best engineers in the world. Their commitment to the engineering education process is evident in the unique program called The Boeing Welliver Faculty Fellowship Program. This is a program that has been operated by Boeing every summer since 1995. The Welliver program is a unique program designed to: “… expose a small number of competitively selected professors from U.S. and international universities to key elements and the business realities of industry by enabling them to "look over the shoulder" of working professionals at several levels of the technical, business, and management career paths. They will leave the program with an understanding of Boeing's business including its research needs, with an improved understanding of the practical application of technical and business skills and with a network of contacts within Boeing and among their faculty peers that can form the basis of long-term relationships”1 In all, 149 faculty from around the globe have participated in this program since its inception. The objectives of the Welliver Program are1: 1. To provide faculty with a better understanding of the practical industry application of engineering, manufacturing, information technology and business skills 2. To help faculty enhance the content of undergraduate education in ways that will better prepare tomorrow's graduates for careers in a global environment
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Details
- Title
- Developing The Aerospace Workforce: A Boeing Experience
- Creators
- Kenneth Van TreurenDaniel KirkTein-min TanSridhar Santhanam
- Publication Details
- Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers, p15.388.1
- Publisher
- American Society for Engineering Education-ASEE
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Identifiers
- 991019182776204721