Boeing innovators are using their exceptional and special talents to produce inventions

BY JOEL R. NELSON

To acknowledge and encourage its engineering and scientific talent, Boeing has instituted a companywide Invention Award program that rewards outstanding innovators. Last year, the program paid $500,000 to the winners in two categories, Special Invention Awards and Exceptional Invention Award.

Special Invention Awards are given "for inventions of significant value to the company"—as technology or process breakthroughs, as products or operations, or as contributions to company financial success. From this pool of winners and from those of previous years, a single Exceptional Invention Award—the top prize for the most innovative minds at Boeing—is given each year for an invention of "unusual and outstanding merit."

"The strength of Boeing lies in its diversity of ideas," said Boeing Chief Technology Officer Jim Jamieson, "and the key to the future is to make use of the company's incredibly broad base of knowledge and experience."

This year, Boeing presented Special Invention Awards to 109 of its inventors for 38 inventions at ceremonies in Southern California, St. Louis and Seattle. Boeing urges employees with an innovative idea or invention to submit it to the Intellectual Property Business accessible to employees at (http://ip.web.boeing.com/Toolbox.htm).

The winners of the Exceptional Invention Award represent what might be considered the company Hall of Fame for inventors. Here are the four employees and teams who have received the award since its inception in 2000.

2003: A NEW KIND OF LASER

John Vetrovec's quest to develop more efficient and compact lasers won him Boeing's top invention recognition award—and could have a major impact on the way aircraft and even cars are built, as well as how conflicts are resolved.

While lasers are commonly employed in welding automotive bodies, their use in aircraft manufacturing is still emerging. Vetrovec said he believes the technology developed for high-powered military lasers might one day be used to build commercial airplanes. "Laser cutting, drilling, and welding have a huge potential in our industry. Applications will grow rapidly once a laser-weldable aerospace aluminum alloy is developed," he said.

Lasers will also offer speed-of-light precision engagement in the new battlespace, said Vetrovec, whose efforts for the Advanced Tactical Laser program at Boeing have focused on finding a way to make high-energy lasers practical for tactical use. Vetrovec's inventions have overcome two major obstacles: how to regenerate spent fuel electrochemical cells to make the laser less dependent on supply logistics, and how to capture laser gases that previously gave off an exhaust signature.

Like many inventors, Vetrovec appreciates recognition. But he said it's the sense of accomplishment his work provides, the collaboration with other creative scientists and the encouragement of new innovators that renders the most reward.

"Persistence and determination are the hallmark of what we do," he said. "Throughout my career, I've met many skeptics saying that solutions to certain problems are simply not possible. It's up to us inventors to demonstrate that anything is possible."

2002: C-17 PRECOATED RIVETS

Steven Keener, a Long Beach, Calif., Phantom Works engineer, came up with an idea that's saved millions of dollars. But his greatest reward came from the shop floor reaction to his invention. He developed an innovative pre-coated rivet for the C-17 transport and the Boeing 717 jetliner. The fastener, used to assemble both metallic and composite materials, eliminated several steps in the installation and cleanup process. The rivet significantly improves cycle time and reduces the risk of galvanic corrosion.

"When I talk with the people using the new rivet process, they let me know how it's made a difference," Keener said. "We were able to give them a better tool, which made them better at what they do. They appreciate that. It's a feeling of accomplishment that's tough to duplicate."

Keener's method, for pre-coating aluminum-alloy components to make them stronger, sparked eight additional patents related to the methodology, bringing to 16 the total number of patents he has originated during his 17 years at Boeing.

2001: FLEET TEAM RESOLUTION PROCESS

The 2001 Exceptional Invention Award illustrates the principle that major breakthroughs often spring from a flash of insight. Searching for data on his 1997 Corvette, Boeing engineer Walter Hein logged on to an Internet car club and found what he needed—information drawn from the experiences of numerous owners and operators. This prompted an idea. "If I can do this for my car," Hein mused, "why couldn't we do it for the Boeing commercial airplane fleet?"

With that, Hein and team members Christopher Gribskov, Neil Smith, and Bradley Taylor created a bulletin-board-style information-sharing system. It soon replaced the existing—and more labor-intensive—process for dealing with service-related problems. The Fleet Team Resolution Process has since become a way of life for customer fleet chiefs and operators. It has been expanded since to another Boeing Commercial Airplanes bulletin board process that deals with aircraft emerging issues.

2000: PHASED-ARRAY ANTENNA

The first companywide Exceptional Invention Award was given to George Fitzsimmons, Bernard Lamberty and Dietrich Riemer for creating the phased-array antenna. This invention helped to set the standard for outstanding merit. It produced a high-bandwidth data link that can provide airline passengers with a virtual office in the sky. Along with Internet connections and e-mail, the new technology also makes possible audio and video capabilities and a link to satellite television. In addition, the phased-array antenna had important military significance to the Airborne Warning and Control System and other reconnaissance aircraft.

Most important, however, it laid the foundation for an entirely new business unit at Boeing. The phased-array antenna is the enabling technology behind Connexion by Boeing, permitting the unit to enter the airline service-provider market. Connexion by Boeing is potentially a billion-dollar business, and Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit has identified it as an important part of Boeing's future.