Students working with a 3D printer in the Industrial & Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (ISEEM) Department labs at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
Michael Mercier | UAH
The Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (ISEEM) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has been selected as one of the initial members of the Boeing Digital & Systems Engineering (D&SE) University Partnership. UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System, will be joining a group of six universities from across the country to team with the aerospace and defense technology corporation’s D&SE Functional Office, an initiative that provides access to industry systems engineering resources and expertise, while in turn working to enhance Boeing workforce development through advanced SE academic curriculums.
“We are incredibly impressed by what’s going on at UAH and are excited to build on the initial conversations that we started last year,” said Austin Renwick, senior systems engineer and model-based systems engineering training lead for the Boeing Digital & Systems Engineering Office, in making the announcement. “This is an incredibly important part of Boeing’s workforce development to better understand critical skills and capabilities and how academia can help support the growth and advancement of those skills.”
Over the past year, the D&SE Functional Chief Engineer’s Office underwent extensive research to identify top universities across the U.S. that offer strong academic programs in systems engineering, with the goal of better understanding academic options to inform and guide the systems engineering workforce. The effort focuses on partnerships directly between Boeing’s D&SE Office and these SE programs in a collaboration aimed at advancing SE education to provide active and continuous engagement centered around curriculum, industry use cases and collaborative learning opportunities.
“UAH’s systems engineering program stands as a strategic and capable academic partner for Boeing in the field of Digital and Systems Engineering,” says Dr. Dale Thomas, director of the Alabama Space Grant Consortium at UAH as well as professor and eminent scholar of systems engineering. “With our history of successful industry collaborations, cutting-edge research and continuously evolving curriculum, UAH offers a dynamic platform for Boeing employees to pursue graduate education while engaging in meaningful research.”
Boeing’s D&SE FCE Office supports the domain of Digital & Systems Engineering and 13,000 engineers across this field. The university partnership seeks to help meet the company’s talent needs by providing clarity around industry challenges, curriculum advisement/assessment or skill development through dedicated Boeing cohorts.
“We are incredibly excited and hope to continue to grow this opportunity in the future, and plan to leverage industry resources such as the International Council on Systems Engineering’s Academic Council to publicize the lessons learned and continue to elevate all of systems engineering education,” Renwick noted.
Partnership members will be encouraged to establish learning opportunities that promote their university’s programs to Boeing employees. UAH will in turn have access to Boeing subject matter experts and provide data and feedback on courses or curriculum.
“UAH's flexible part-time structure, experienced faculty and robust ties to the aerospace and defense industries ensure that UAH can meet Boeing's workforce development needs,” Thomas says. “Through this partnership, both UAH and Boeing will be well-positioned to drive innovation and leadership in the D&SE domain.”