Vought Sponsors National Engineers Week

DALLAS, FEB. 18, 2010 – For the second consecutive year, Vought Aircraft Industries is serving as a presenting sponsor for the National Engineers Week activities being held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas this week.

The events include a middle school career fair and a high school mentoring luncheon. The company’s sponsorship includes presentation of lectures for middle school students, participation of mentors in the high school career day and exhibition of the company’s advanced technology development. In addition to in-kind support, the company has contributed $12,000 to underwrite the costs of the event including provision of buses to transport students to and from the museum.

Vought employs more than 500 engineers and has a vested interest in promoting the engineering profession. Like other companies in the aerospace industry, nearly half of its workforce will be eligible to retire over the next 10 years. Attracting and retaining a skilled workforce is a necessity.

"Despite the economic downturn, the U.S. aerospace industry remains a strong economic and employment engine for our nation.  Engineers play a pivotal role in our industry. Engineering is a great profession, but too few young people are pursuing careers in this field to sustain our U.S. industry long term," said Dennis Orzel, Vice President of Vought's Integrated Aerosystems Division.  "We believe that supporting grassroots educational events for middle and high school students is an investment in the future of our company and our industry.  Through the hands-on workshops and one-on-one mentoring that are a part of the National Engineers' Week events, we hope that we can ignite the imaginations of young students to pursue academics leading to engineering careers."

Vought engineers are presenting four different lectures for approximately 700 local middle school students at the Frontiers of Flight. The educational workshops address different fields of interest in aerospace and other engineering disciplines and are designed to appeal to students’ curiosity and interests.  The lectures include:

• “Planes Are for Girls, Too!” presented by a female structural design engineer who will describe the career options available and discuss the important roles women have played in the development of aviation.  The session will end with a virtual walkthrough of the new 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft.

• “Tools of the Trade” presented by an aircraft design engineer who will demonstrate the computerized design tools now used to develop next-generation airplanes and spacecraft.  The lecture will also include descriptions of the different types engineers and what they do in the process of designing and building an aircraft.  The session will include video of current manufacturing operations at Vought and examples of the aircraft the company builds in flight.

• “Plastic Airplanes – New Materials, New Methods” presented by one of Vought’s leading scientists with expertise in the new non-metallic materials being used in aircraft such as the Boeing 787 who will demonstrate the materials and methods used to make aircraft structures out of composite or plastic materials.  The session will include audience participation in examining the new materials and actually using them to construct a sample structure.

• “Breaking Big Things” presented by Vought’s test laboratory manager who will describe the methods used to test aircraft structures to ensure they are safe before they are used in flight.  The session will include a live demonstration of a scale model test of an actual aircraft wing.  
  
  

On Thursday, Vought’s senior engineering leaders will serve as mentors at a luncheon for local high school students with strong interests in math, science and engineering. Vought’s engineering leadership team will join other industry leaders in conversations with students about educational requirements, career opportunities and the many rewards of a career in the aerospace and aviation industry.  The Thursday luncheon will feature remarks by Paul Metz, recipient of the Kincheloe Award, the test pilot profession’s highest award. He has written numerous articles on the flight test of modern fighter aircraft.

During the two days of events, Vought engineers also are participating in manning an exhibit in the museum’s main exhibit hall that features some of the company’s latest advanced technology projects as another venue to offer students insight into the exciting careers available in engineering and aerospace.

National Engineers Week is an annual event organized by the National Engineers Week Foundation to raise public awareness of engineers and the work they do. Activities throughout the week promote the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy. The goal is to motivate youths to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse, vigorous and informed engineering workforce.

About Vought

Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (www.voughtaircraft.com)is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of aerostructures. Headquartered in Dallas, the company designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies, empennages, nacelles and other components for prime manufacturers of aircraft. Vought has annual sales of approximately $1.8 billion and about 6,000 employees in eight U.S. locations.

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