This summer, Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company, engaged in a variety of outreach efforts aimed at inspiring young minds, fostering a passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and encouraging the next generation of innovators and leaders.
Students local to the Virginia, Mississippi and West Virginia sites got to see innovation up close with behind-the-scenes tours of our facilities. Guided by resident Aurora experts, students explored cutting-edge aircraft while also seeing aircraft in action in our working airport-side hangars.
In Virginia, students got a close-up look at our SKIRON-X sUAS, witnessed the future of sustainable flight as they learned about electric and hybrid-electric aircraft and heard from engineers about Aurora’s latest X-plane programs.
At the manufacturing facilities in Mississippi and West Virginia, students were given the opportunity to see the processes involved in aerosystem prototyping and production. In Mississippi, this included a tour of the manufacturing floor and Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machine. In West Virginia students visited the Flexible Robotic Composite Manufacturing Cell (FRCMC) and got a first-hand look at the tool design process with the tooling engineers.
Tour groups included STEM summer camps affiliated with Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, East Mississippi Community College, the FAA Aviation Career Education program and more.
In Virginia, students participated in a hands-on drone flying workshops facilitated by Aurora’s recreational drone team. The workshops started with a lesson about the four forces of flight, then students put what they learned to the test as they took turns learning to fly first-person view (FPV) quadcopters while using specialized FPV goggles to fully immerse themselves in the world of drone flying. Through these workshops, students learned about aerodynamics, flight mechanics and drone programming.
Aurora supported the National Advocacy & STEM Summit hosted by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington with a truss-based wing building project at the Boeing headquarters in Arlington, VA. Students designed and constructed wings using truss frameworks, learning about structural engineering concepts such as load distribution and material strength. This practical project not only deepened their understanding of aerospace engineering but also promoted problem-solving and teamwork as they built their wing designs.
Students at our Virginia facility participated in some friendly competition customizing paper airplanes. Students built cardstock gliders, then worked together to redesign the airplane to make it fly farther than it did in its first test flight. Customizations included adjusting the wings and rudders and altering the weight by securing coins to the front of the airplane.
