Tag Archives: aerospace

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Farnborough International Airshow

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Great to be back in London and the U.K for the Farnborough International Airshow. We had a great delegation of public and private partners including Lieutenant Governor Heck, representatives of the Washington State Department of Commerce, Head of the UK Government Office in Seattle, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, ZeroAvia, and regional economic development partners.

After a welcoming reception at the The Shard and the National History Museum, our team engaged in one-on-one meetings with 15 international aerospace companies where we actively promoted the Greater Seattle region as a leading hub for aerospace, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, with a strong emphasis on sustainable solutions.

Following Farnborough, a smaller delegation of Washington State representatives ventured to northwest England and Chester to further co-operation on trade, innovation and clean energy. Founded as a Roman fortress in the 1st century A.D., Chester is a charming city that also serves as a nexus to world-class aerospace innovation.

The first day began at Electroimpact, which is an aerospace automation company with an exceptional concentration of engineers working on a wide range of projects include complete automation assembly systems for commercial aircraft wings, riveting machines and tools for wing panel and fuselage assembly, advanced fiber placement machines, robotic assembly systems, and spacecraft handling equipment.

The group proceeded just up the road to Broughton and the Airbus factory where the majority of its commercia aircraft wings are made. Adjacent to Airbus, the group also had the opportunity to tour the Advance Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) that specializes in carrying out world-leading research into advanced machining, manufacturing and materials for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors.  

The day concluded with a roundtable discussion at HyNet Northwest where the group learned more about the UK’s ambitious plans for industrial decarbonization and hydrogen production.

A special thanks to the head of the UK Government Office in Seattle, Robin Twyman, Lord Mayor Razia Daniels, Cheshire West and Chester Council, and so many others for hosting the delegation. Everyone was exceedingly warm and welcoming. 

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Farnborough Airshow

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This year’s Farnborough International Airshow was a huge success for Greater Seattle and Washington-based aerospace companies. As our research illustrates, the UK is an invaluable trade and investment partner for our region, and to be there for the return of Farnborough after a 4-year hiatus marked the revival of the aerospace industry after the prolonged negative impacts of Covid-19.

Boeing inked a number of high profile deals, including Delta Air Lines’ purchase of 100 of its 737 MAX 10 jetliners, a $13.5B deal that is in addition to another $12B for the 737 Max 8, 737 Max 10 and 777x.

“We saw a little bit of that trickle of optimism in Dubai and it’s just so strong here in Farnborough,” Robert Payne, vice president of marketing and communications for economic development group Greater Seattle Partners, told the Business Journal in a call from the event, referencing the Dubai Airshow in November.

The activity, Payne said, is “proof that we’re getting back to pre-Covid times with better planes, better technology and better processes in place to ensure that the aerospace industry is safe and innovative.”

While Boeing’s 777x delighted spectators with incredible aerial displays and informative on-the-ground tours if its new, more fuel efficient technologies out on the tarmac, a host of Washington aerospace companies were inside the tradeshow showcasing their products and solutions from cybersecurity and artificial intelligence to advanced manufacturing and new forms of electric and hydrogen propulsion.

In another article detailing Boeing’s plans to expand its supply of sustainable aviation fuel, we gave readers a sense of what other local companies were there to evolve the aerospace industry.

The event has also provided a platform for Washington state to showcase its role in the development of sustainable technologies, said Robert Payne, marketing and communications lead for economic development group Greater Seattle Partners. He pointed to exhibits by companies like Everett-based electric propulsion startup MagniX and ZeroAvia, which has a research division for its hydrogen retrofit technology at Snohomish County’s Paine Field airport.

In addition to connecting with our friends in commercial aircraft and defense, we met with a number of companies in the eVTOL and space sectors, as well as other local hometown brands such as Blue Origin and Microsoft.

Boeing Site Tour in Sheffield

Towards the latter end of the show, a number of us took a side trip to Sheffield where we had a very interesting visit to Boeing’s advanced manufacturing facility to see how rock star engineers are achieving greater efficiency in production through new technologies and innovative processes for producing wing flap actuators. They’ve also reimagined their supply chain to be more resilient and sustainable.

We also toured the adjacent Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) to learn how it is supporting talent development with novel approaches for workforce training. The place is filled with robots, researchers and methods for capturing and analyzing data that will blow your mind. They’re really setting the bar for empowering top talent to produce the next innovation in aerospace.

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Industry Collateral

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Whether showing up at Mobile World Congress or the Dubai Airshow, I like to give you some real data to sink your teeth into. I’ll go out of my way to give you solid industry data and real case examples. Plus, I just love to learn. Call me old school, but I also still think there is a place for collateral piece. Of course, I’ll always complement it with a web presence as well.

Below are some samples of a recent IoT brochure. The IoT ecosystem in Greater Seattle is pretty incredible.

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Dubai Airshow

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On behalf of Greater Seattle Partners, I recently travelled to the Dubai Airshow in the UAE with the Washington State Department of Commerce and a delegation of aerospace companies. It was an action-packed five-day event consisting of key meetings and events with companies from more than 20 countries. It was honor to represent the largest aerospace supply chain in the country, if not the world.

Many other associated events took us around Dubai including, a welcome dinner at the tallest skyscraper in the world, Burj Khalifa; Deira and the old town Al Fahidi District; the AmCham Dubai Airshow kick-off breakfast at the Dubai South headquarters; AIA & U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Reception in the US Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai; US AIA Industry Reception at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai; and the Dubai Airshow Gala at the Atlantis, The Palm.

I was also able to organize tours of the 777x and the Boeing ecoDemonstrator for our Washington delegates, meet legendary Charlie Duke – the youngest human to walk on the moon, and visit the Chalets of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Enterprise Ireland and Spirit AeroSystems. Of course, the flying demonstrations on the tarmac and exhibits of new UAVs and defense products were amazing.

It was an exhausting trip with just one day at the end to visit the desert.

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IN THE SPACE RACE, GREATER SEATTLE IS A GLOBAL LEADER

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The following is an article I wrote for Greater Seattle Partners.

Today, NASA and SpaceX are preparing for an historic space launch that demonstrates the power of public and private partnerships. Two Americans will board the Falcon 9, Crew Dragon commercial spacecraft and visit the International Space Station (ISS) – a feat not done with humans aboard in 9 years. What has led us to this place in time is based on a stunning amount of innovation and collaboration.

We have come a long way in 60+ years. NASA’s foresight and willingness to embrace the commercialization of space is lowering costs and allowing a much broader range of companies to develop spacecraft and satellites. The supply chains are big and complex. An enormous array of products and solutions must be developed before that rocket and capsule get wheeled out to the launch pad.

Market Segments

As listed in the Puget Sound Regional Council report on the “Washington State Space Economy,” those market segments include everything from Spacecraft & Launch Vehicles – Propulsion Systems & Fuels – Navigation & Control – Computer Hardware, Software & Robotics – and much more.

Companies Changing the Landscape

The Greater Seattle region has long been at the forefront of these market segments. Boeing began building the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) at its Kent, Wash., facility in 1969. Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Redmond-based facility produces 200-500 thrusters a year and has long supplied NASA with rocket engines for their most important missions. Other notable space companies that call our region home are:

According to our business data, there are more than 90 space-specific companies here. Connect with us if you would like more customized information.

Why Here?

Well, we of course all know this is a great place to live. But we are also #2 in the nation for aerospace engineers. In case you haven’t heard, Incredible Works Here. Investments in education and workforce training have been crucial:

  • The UW Aerospace Research Consortium (UW-ARC) supports close coordination with industry to provide for collaborative research and education opportunities, and support the commercialization of space technology developed at the university.
  • The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington Seattle provides bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees as well as certificate and continuing education courses, and has been at the forefront of research in aerospace for decades.
  • Centers at Washington State University have coordinated several research projects with NASA in multiple departments, ranging from engineering and chemistry to astrobiology.
  • The Center of Excellence in Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing is located at Everett Community College in Snohomish County, and has coordinated grants for regional and statewide workforce development in areas related to manufacturing and aerospace.
  • The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) was created in 2008 to provide apprenticeship opportunities in aerospace and advanced manufacturing production.

More information can be found in this report.

Flying in to the Future

There is no doubt that space flight, and competing in space markets, is fraught with risk. But the Greater Seattle region has always risen to the occasion. In fact, our area is emerging as a “Global Hub for the Dawning Satellite Age.” With regional employment in the aerospace industry estimated at 88,000 jobs, and a huge tech community that also gave birth to the world’s two largest cloud computing companies (Amazon + Microsoft), Greater Seattle will continue to be at the forefront of technological advances in the space industry.

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Innovations in Aerospace

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It was a real pleasure working with both the Georgia Centers of Innovation (COI) and AREA-I to produce this video.

The COI are an integral part of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) and its ability to help companies in Georgia grow and compete. They offer industry expertise and connections to Georgia’s vast network of business, academic and government resources.

One of the six centers is focused specifically on Aerospace. A fine example of the type of companies they assist is AREA-I. Under a supporting grant from the Center of Innovation for Aerospace, Middle Georgia College entered into a joint research & development program with AREA-I for flight testing of an advanced UAV, the Prototype Technology Evaluation Research Aircraft (PTERA), to demonstrate a wide range of cutting-edge aerospace technologies.

Through this public/private partnership, the MGC-AREA-I team has a two-year window to fly PTERA at the Middle Georgia College Aviation facilities in Eastman, Georgia. As a result, MGC is gaining valuable expertise to support the development of future UAV curriculum while AREA-I has gained additional contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and the United States Air Force.