Boeing Scholars Program
Students entering the globally competitive industrial workplace will find themselves working alongside professionals with a range of disciplinary backgrounds. At the turn of the century, the Boeing Company instituted a scholarship program at Washington State University to provide outstanding students a multidisciplinary educational experience to address this need. Each year, ten junior-level students (4 engineering, 4 business, 2 science) are selected as Boeing Scholars. In their senior year, these students participate in a multidisciplinary design course in which they address Boeing-sponsored projects with both engineering and business components.
Goals
The goal of the Boeing Scholars Program is to prepare a diverse pool of engineering, business, and science graduates for effective multidisciplinary work in industrial settings. Sub-goals of the program are to:
- Introduce students to the corporate world, as represented by the Boeing Company
- Enable Boeing personnel to meet and assess capabilities of a diverse pool of students with interest in the Boeing Company
- Provide students semi-authentic experiences in multidisciplinary teams working on real problems faced by industry.
Activities
Each year, ten Boeing Scholars are selected from junior-level applicants from engineering, business, and science majors. Newly selected Boeing Scholars attend a luncheon in the fall to introduce them to continuing scholars, participating faculty, and Boeing personnel involved in the program. In the spring, the junior Boeing Scholars are introduced to candidate projects and allowed to indicate preferences for those they might address in the following year. During their senior year, the scholars participate in a two-semester capstone design course in which they will work on teams addressing the selected projects. Teams travel to Boeing to meet project sponsors and visit plat sites associated with their projects. Each team works with a technical and a business advisor to develop a solution to the posed problem and a business case for the solution. Teams present their solution and business case to technical and business judges at WSU and to Boeing sponsors at a Boeing site.
Results
The Boeing Scholars Program has operated since 2001, with two or three projects addressed each year. Since its inception, integration of engineering, business, and science students has gradually increased to the point that all students now enroll in the same class and work together for two semesters. Most teams deliver solutions and business cases that evidence effective multidisciplinary problem solving. A few projects have yielded patentable solutions or solutions that have been implemented in the Boeing Company. Projects addressed include the following:
- Live animal transport in cargo compartments
- Modular galleys for aircraft
- Airborne pathogen detection
- Seat installation assistance device
- Lightning protection for composite aircraft
- Wi-Fi tracking of baggage and passengers
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