Challenge is a semiannual editorial supplement of Boeing Frontiers magazine. This issue's stories include an explanation of network-centric operations, a look at the technical challenges that 7E7 design engineers face, and an update on the progress of fuel-cell technology.

On the Cover: In an Integrated Technology Development Lab domed simulator in Seattle, a team prepares for a combat ship simulation in collaboration with the Boeing Integration Center West in Southern California and the NEXUS simulation lab in Mesa, Ariz. Participating in the demonstration are, from left, Rich Maggaro, LabNet engineer; Gerald Beffa, LabNet manager; Matt Lobeck, project engineer for Naval Mission Systems; and Christine Berkheimer, LabNet engineer. Boeing's LabNet provides the network connectivity to all the modeling and simulation facilities at Boeing.

Photo by Bob Ferguson

INDEX

A message from Chief Technology Officer Jim Jamieson

Fuel cells in the air
Imagine you're outdoors at a busy airport with jetliners dotting its flight line. But something is different. The hiss of auxiliary power units (APUs) is gone.

Who's afraid of risk?
In a popular culture that says there's nothing like success, can failure ever be an option?

7E7: New airplane, new technologies
Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise: The 7E7 really is an all-new airplane.

The big picture
An explanation of what network-centric operations entail -- and why they're important to Boeing and its customers.

Opening doors
Who among her childhood friends would have thought that Joan Robinson-Berry, one of nine children brought up in the midst of gang violence in eastern Los Angeles County, Calif., would one day hold a patent in chemical processing?

It's a small world
Through her involvement in technical affiliations, Phantom Works' Marlene Price learned that it really is a small world.

Real-world solutions
Kim Michel relishes high-risk challenges in any form - whether they involve workplace strategies to maximize efficiency or advanced products that could save coalition lives in Iraq.

Want to fly to work?
Imagine abandoning choked highways to soar through the air to work and play in your own personal air transportation system.

The power of experience
In Homer's The Odyssey, Mentor is the trusted guardian and teacher of Telemachus.

What goes into a tech expo?
Sometimes it involves enough muscle to put up a house, enough electricity to power a 100-unit apartment block, and enough carpeting for a Hollywood awards ceremony.

A hands-on revolution
A revolution in the way airline passengers work, communicate, entertain themselves and relax in flight is spreading from the realm of test jets and executive aircraft into commercial aviation.

The Slotted Wing Technology Development Team
How do you gain lift from an airplane wing to improve fuel economy without sacrificing speed?