Connexion by Boeing chief engineer brings his enthusiasm to work

BY JACK ARENDS


Rick Edel is one of the newer employees at Connexion by Boeing. He's so new that he still says, "Good morning, I'm Rick Edel," at team meetings, as he did at a recent system readiness meeting.

On that day, Edel reinforced the need to sort out the sometimes conflicting requests made of the engineering team as it prepares the Connexion by Boeing service for full-system readiness by Jan. 9, 2004, and full-scale commercial service with Lufthansa by March 17. It was a serious subject, but Edel reinforced his point with a light touch, opening his remarks with a quote from Woody Allen: "It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities and get back home by six o'clock."

Edel added, "It's been a long time since many of us were getting home by six o'clock. When your home begins to look strange to you, you know something's wrong." He acknowledged that the coming weeks leading up to commercial launch will be "very trying," but as he thanked his team he added, "afterward, we will be very grateful" for the reviewing process. "I think it's time to find out, now rather than later, whether or not we're ready."

A strong proponent of participative effort, Edel credited a joint team of "highly competent employees" for bringing the business unit closer to launch of commercial service. "They have performed excellently in 2003 to get us to this point," he said. Among their accomplishments: successful three-month service demonstrations with Lufthansa German Airlines and British Airways, and certification by German and British authorities of on-board wireless networks. The team also developed several enabling technologies, including a next-generation antenna, a Network Operations Center, a new satellite gateway in Asia and a small-business jet connectivity solution in partnership with Rockwell Collins.

Edel, who joined Boeing in 1997 after a 30-year career with other aerospace companies and high-tech industries, often says, "My schedule is busy, but my office is open." He means it. When the Connexion by Boeing Systems Integration Facility needed hosts for a recent Family Day, Edel was one of those on hand to give a tour to employees and families from other Boeing business units. When the Connexion One airplane returned last month from being refitted with a new antenna, Edel boarded the flying testbed at Boeing Field and showed other Connexion by Boeing employees the antenna's interior hardware and how its cooling system works.

Edel oversees engineering and development teams spread among locations in Puget Sound and Southern California and wherever Connexion One, a Boeing 737-400, is used for research, test and demonstration. Edel oversees the work of about 250 people, a task he obviously relishes.

"When my kids were little, I was a coach for youth soccer teams. Coaching taught me a lot of lessons about managing people. A lot of what I do now is being a coach, keeping people motivated. I like helping people find solutions to tough technical problems and helping to steer them toward stakeholder satisfaction. In this case, the stakeholders are Connexion by Boeing and Boeing company leadership, as well as our external customers."

Edel, a native of Long Island, N.Y., currently makes his home in Burien, Wash. When he's not at work, chances are he is out boating or skiing, except when he's teaching Sunday school at church.

Before joining Connexion by Boeing, Edel worked in the Phantom Works System Design Group, was chief engineer for Project Wedgetail and was deputy director of systems engineering and integration for Future Combat Systems.

Ed Laase, system development director for Connexion by Boeing, said, "Rick is proving to be invaluable because he is taking his detailed knowledge of the system engineering process and tailoring it to Connexion by Boeing's unique needs."