ability to tackle unique maintenance issues in addition to working on ongoing modern-ization contracts. Boeing’s expansion in Oklahoma City comes as the city itself has seen an up-swing. The metropolitan area of 1.3 million people was called the most “recession-proof city in America” in 2008, and good times for the energy sector and the city’s efforts to diversify its economy seem to have paid off. Goo said Boeing’s well-known name and its size have captured the attention and respect of local leaders. Richard “Rick” Bach, a B-52 avionics engineering manager, also moved to Oklahoma City recently from Wichita. “Oklahoma certainly wants this to be a center for aerospace engineering exper-tise,” Bach said, adding: “They’re doing a lot to create a good, pro-business envi-ronment here.” He pointed to tax credits designed to attract engineers and other educated workers to the state. Amid the site’s “tremendous” growth, according to Goo, employees want to make sure the site creates its own culture—one that encompasses the large number of engineers moving from other sites. “We’re spending a fair bit of time and attention on envisioning what we want that culture to be and then taking steps to build it,” he said. Goo and others also want to make sure everyone across Boeing knows about the site’s core of engineering expertise and how it can serve programs across the enterprise. “There is a lot of potential for Oklahoma City,” said Darren Stout, Commercial Air-planes Electromagnetic Effects Support Team lead. “We tend to be not only the nation’s best-kept secret but also Boeing’s best-kept secret.” n eric.c.fetters-walp@boeing.com PHOTOS: (Top row, from left) Pictured are Rick Bach, from left, and Cherri Thomas, Chris Engel and Lee Anne Jahansooz, Joe Lancaster and Ed Naranjo, all in the site’s B-52 System Integration Lab. (Far left row, from top) Debasish Barua, foreground, and Nancy Webb; Chandler Duong, left, and Nat Pham; Darren Stout, left, and Thuy Pham. (Near left) In the B-52 System Integration Lab, where flight software and avionics are integrated and tested prior to being installed on the aircraft, are Bach, far left, and Thomas at the computer; Engel, background, from left, and Jahansooz, Naranjo and Lancaster (kneeling); Barua, foreground left, and Webb. BOEING FRONTIERS / APRIL 2013 31
Frontiers April 2013 Issue
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