On December 4, The Boeing Company took another step in its transition from metal to composite structures. Addressing the critical training challenge posed by aircraft composites, the materials used to build the 787 Dreamliner, it honored more than 80 engineers and technical professionals at a graduation ceremony for the University of Washington-Boeing Certificate Programs in Composite Materials and Modern Aircraft Structures.
Boeing also celebrated its corporate-university educational partnership with the UW, which it has called vital to the future of the 787 and development of other next-generation aircraft. In fact, Boeing officials have hailed the partnership as a new kind of corporate training model, one that is applicable far beyond the aerospace industry.
Tailored to Boeing requirements, these programs are co-developed by Boeing’s Learning, Training and Development (LTD) unit and the University of Washington.
“This partnership represents a new mode of collaboration between industry and academia, one that blends the academic rigor expected from the University of Washington with the practical applications that are critical to Boeing and its partner companies,” said Michael Richey of Boeing LTD.
Jon Schneider, Director of Boeing LTD-Engineering, has said of the program, “This is a model that can be leveraged across industry and higher education. When educational partnerships change the way something is done or created, they create a competitive value.”
Since the inception of UW-Boeing Certificate Programs in 2005, a total of 330 Boeing employees have earned certificates in one or more of the trio of composites programs offered. To quantify the benefit to Boeing of its educational partnership with the UW, a study by Boeing LTD has calculated the return on investment of one of the programs at more than 500 percent.
Jose Ramos, Boeing Chief Engineer, Stress Analysis and Technology Support, said the composites certificate program provides tremendous value. “It really has let us educate people in a technology that wasn’t well understood by a large portion of our population. It’s improving the technical capabilities of structures engineers not only on the 787 but on other programs as well.”
The UW-Boeing corporate education model is remarkable for its depth of collaboration between industry and academia. Taught onsite at Boeing facilities by UW faculty, Boeing subject matter experts, and leading professionals from the FAA, courses are tailored to blend theoretical fundamentals with the practical applications critical to Boeing. These include hands-on lab and design components. Students can take what they learn in the classroom at night and apply it on the job the next day.
“I’ve already been using the knowledge that I’ve gained throughout the certificate program to better perform my daily stress analysis tasks for the 47-8 Wing Fixed Leading Edge group,” said ILan Hoenigsberg, a Boeing stress analyst and 2008 graduate of the certificate program in Modern Aircraft Structures. “These tasks could have been performed the right way, the wrong way or the Boeing way. We prefer the Boeing way, which is well reflected throughout the certificate program.”
Brett D. Whitmer, Boeing Associate Technical Fellow and graduate of the certificate program in Aircraft Composite Structural Analysis and Design, emphasized that the program is aligned with Boeing’s business priorities. “It will result in exceptional performances and provide The Boeing Company with a competitive advantage,” he said.
As an added measure of success, the UW-Boeing Certificate Program in Aircraft Composite Structural Analysis and Design was honored by the 2007 Corporate University Xchange Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Corporate Learning. Presented annually by Corporate University Xchange, a leading research and advisory services organization, the award cites a successful corporate partnership with a college or university to address critical business challenges.
Each of the three UW-Boeing Certificate Programs consists of 100-110 hours of instruction plus an estimated 220 additional hours of homework. They are academically rigorous and administered in accordance with UW standards. In some courses, students may apply credits toward a UW graduate degree in engineering. On the UW side of the partnership, the programs are administered by UW Educational Outreach, the continuing and professional education division of the university. Like all UW Educational Outreach programs, they are fee-based rather than supported by public funding.
The UW-Boeing Certificate Programs in Composite Materials and Modern Aircraft Structures were co-developed by the UW Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, and the Boeing LTD group, with input from FAA experts. An advisory board consisting of administrative and technical experts from the three organizations joined to review program objectives and course content.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the world’s first commercial aircraft constructed largely of composite materials to enhance performance and save weight (thus increasing fuel efficiency). The transition from metal to composite structures necessitated a change in all Boeing design, technology, and manufacturing processes. To meet this employee training challenge, Boeing considered several academic partners, selecting the UW over universities including MIT and Stanford for its expertise in composite materials. For more detail on the UW-Boeing Certificate Programs in Composite Materials and Modern Aircraft Structures, please see UW Engineering Professional Programs.
UWEO is the continuing and professional education division of the University of Washington, the nationally recognized public research institution based in Seattle. Helping the schools, colleges and departments to administer evening master’s degrees, certificate programs, distance and online learning, international outreach, English language programs and more. UW Educational Outreach is one of the largest and most highly regarded continuing and professional education programs in the U.S. For more information, please see UWEO.