The Rotorcraft Systems Engineering & Simulation Center (RSESC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recently celebrated a major milestone known as ‘Milestone 500’ on March 29. The event was held on the UAH campus in honor of more than 500 students who have graduated from a partnership program with Boeing. For the last fourteen years, UAH, in collaboration with the Boeing Huntsville Design Center, has offered students the opportunity to gain practical engineering experience at one of the world’s largest aerospace companies through a program called the uSource Product Definition Team (PDT). This program, which was founded in April 2010, benefits all parties involved. As part of the initiative, students are hired by the RSESC to work with Boeing engineers under the supervision of UAH Team Leads.
“Our students learn and grow so much in this program,” says Jerry Hendrix, executive director of the RSESC. “It makes them extremely marketable, helping them to get excellent jobs. UAH could not be more thankful and appreciative for the opportunity in giving these students the potential to learn more about the applied side of their educational studies. It has given them an opportunity to find and pursue their unique abilities, helping to discover how to use their degree after graduation. A true success story!”
During the program, each participant will learn about engineering processes and tools while completing tasks that support important projects. These projects may include design work for the C-17 Globemaster III, a large military transport aircraft, or the F-15 Eagle, a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter. By the end of the program, students will have gained valuable experience with Boeing’s tools, processes, and programs, which you can see in this video.
“PDT helped propel my engineering career forward and opened up many opportunities to develop myself in ways that would otherwise be impossible,” notes Bradley Thompson, a former PDT student.
Boeing manager, Darren Workman, agrees that the Professional Development Team (PDT) program has beneficial effects in both directions. Workman notes that PDT gives Boeing a unique opportunity to develop and identify top engineering talent through years of on-the-job experience and evaluation, instead of relying only on a resume and interview. Currently, there are 65 students participating in the program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). More than half of program graduates from UAH eventually work for Boeing. The aerospace corporation currently employs 200 personnel who graduated from UAH, which is a part of the University of Alabama System.
“RSESC Autonomous Aerospace Research is proud to continue our ongoing support of providing students to the Boeing Company,” Hendrix says. “It’s great to be associated with Boeing and seeing our students being a part of the proud Boeing tradition of excellence.”
The UAH RSESC is a research center that was founded in 2003. It is focused on applied research and systems engineering techniques to support partners from government, industry, commercial, and small businesses. The center has expertise in various areas, including Autonomous Aerospace Research, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, Vertical Lift, Digital Transformation, Systems Integration and Testing, and the uSOURCE Student Support Staffing Program.
