Impact: Safety

For decades, students have been formed by that culture, learning from professors such as Bill Waldock, who shaped the curriculum. They learn at facilities such as the S. Harry Robertson Aircraft Accident Investigation Laboratory, the only fully scenario-based accident investigation training facility available in North America. Our certificates and master’s degrees help create a safer industry by advancing the training of those already in the field. And students begin their nascent investigation careers here as they intern at organizations like the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Now, with the opening of The Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety — led by Robert L. Sumwalt III (’14, ’18), former chairman of the NTSB — our researchers are directly consulting with industry on areas that include safety management systems, predictive analytics, and accident causation and investigation.

“It’s listening to the stakeholders — to industry and the government — and asking, ‘What is it that you need that you’re not currently getting?’” Sumwalt says of the center’s work. “And then seeing if we can fill those needs.”

We need your help to support the master’s students who are analyzing industry data. The undergraduate interns who are learning the ropes at the NTSB. And our faculty, whose work can directly lead to flight improvements.