Airplanes, delivering up-to-the-minute forecasts to both Boeing and Airbus airplanes that include in situ weather data collected in flight. The current—and therefore more accurate—weather information improves situational awareness for better pilot decisions. This month, Bailey’s invention, along with 21 other technology advancements, will be honored with Boeing’s annual enterprisewide prizes for innovation, the Special Invention Award or Technical Replication Award. The honors will be presented at a gala ceremony held at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. “Each of us has our own formula for what provides personal fulfillment,” said Boeing Chief Technology Officer John Tracy, senior vice president of Engineering, Operations & Technology, which sponsors the awards. “For the people of Boeing,” he added, “much of their fulfillment comes through developing awe-inspiring ideas that make the impossible possible—and through replicating these ideas, to help solve others’ hardest problems.” Each year, Boeing uses a formal review process to determine Technical Replication honors among nominations by Enterprise Technology Strategy executives. Special Invention winners are also chosen using a formal review process, but from among nominations submitted by employees and endorsed by senior executives. These awards recognize employees and teams whose ideas are deemed to have played an integral part in devising an innovative way to help make Boeing a stronger company. Some of the criteria include innovation, degree of implementation, business value to Boeing and to customers, and the invention’s external licensing value. But one of this year’s winners is strictly for internal use because it gives Boeing such a competitive edge. It’s parametric modeling software that saves hundreds of engineering hours and has other advanced capabilities. Its quirky acronym was also purposefully creative—General PHOTOS: (Top) Tuan Nguyen, left, and Lee Firth look at stanchions that support the cargo floor of the 787 Dreamliner. (Left) Around stanchions at 787 final assembly in Everett, Wash., are Kevin Davis (from left), Mostafa Rassaian, Nguyen, Firth, William Koch and Thomas Baxter. Bob Ferguson/Boeing BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2013 45
Frontiers October 2013 Issue
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