BOEING'S COMMITMENT TO LEADING GLOBAL COMPETITION

AIAA Technical Conference 2007

Vivian T. Dang, Michael C. Richey, and John H. Belk The Boeing Company Robert Cormia 4 Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA

“…our past success is not sufficient to assure our future leadership in higher education. Indeed, we must act now to remain among the leading higher education systems in the 21st century world…”

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have globally been identified as the keys to unlocking a new generation of materials and devices with innovative properties and functionalities. The Boeing Company is investigating possibilities for creating a nanotechnology curriculum aimed at their workforce, and is working closely with SRI International and Foothill College to identify core competencies in advanced engineering and manufacturing of aerospace materials.

Monumental Research on modified nanomaterials is currently underway, and the development of this technology is a critical factor in future US economic development. Boeing is focusing on improved material properties and safety, such as:

• Lightning strike protection and improved conductivity
• Ice phobicity
• Quality control
• Mechanical properties
• Fire retardancy
• Noise abatement

This has led to a proposal to enhance collaboration among 17 NSF centers, the four NASA centers, 22 government agencies and other U.S. government agencies and academic institutions. The Boeing Company intends to gain support in developing nanotechnology strategies within an industry, academic, and government consortium that will support education and enhance workforce development. Specifically, the focus will be on the system of engineering education and its role in workforce development and training in the following areas:

• Expediting tool and process development funding including nanomaterials, nano-manufacturing, and standards for nanotechnology
• Initiate nanotechnology focused Government-Aerospace co-investment research projects
• Establish a government-academic led aerospace leadership roundtable
• Establish government-industry joint sponsorship in aerospace nano opportunity workshops for nanotechnology providers
• Promote technology transfer within consortium through joint multi-disciplinary research centers
• Establish a portfolio to address potential risks and concerns

The educational aspect contains the following goals:

• Provide standardized education and training resources for students, teachers, and the incumbent workforce
• Integrate a problem-based learning curriculum
• Apply the latest learning sciences such as immersive learning technology

The Boeing Learning Training and Development group intends to establish a long-term curriculum development relationship with the organizations listed. This would create an educational foundation to expand a system level approach to “learning solutions.” Such a relationship would help ensure that materials developed - and the resulting instructional value - delivers measurable impact to students and stakeholders.

The complete paper is available at the AIAA website.
The paper number is AIAA 2007-2233