Aerospace industry top thought-leaders, senior executives and innovative entrepreneurs share their insights into the most pressing issues impacting the aerospace industry.
This year’s “must attend” AFA Aerospace Summit was held on November 8th, at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. The event is typically a full day packed with relevant insights from the leaders of our industry and this one was no exception.
While it is difficult to attend the avalanche of in-person meetings that have backed up, as we were patiently waiting for the pandemic to be in the rear-view mirror, I would not for anything have missed this information-packed gathering!
Aerospace Futures Alliance President Emily Whitman opened the event with a quick overview of the events and timelines that were to take place. It needs to be said that while AFA invited many Industry influencers to speak and share industry details, AFA itself is an industry leader and legislative aerospace advocate, speaking on behalf of the many companies that count on their “allyship” to help create the positive work environment we share in Washington State.
The event began with keynote speaker Bruce Harrell, mayor of Seattle. His message was to elaborate on how important it is to be in unity and to be “One Seattle.” Seattle is a thriving hotbed of innovation and technology with a bright future and is a leader in the world of aerospace.
Next on the packed agenda was Wendy Sowers, the director of market forecasting for Boeing. Ms. Sowers went into detail outlining the current industry status, considering the pandemic and current world politics in relation to commercial aircraft orders. It is still a volatile market, yet Boeing has great reason to be optimistic in providing the right aircraft for the market needs as we climb out of the past three years.
Washington State has unique member-based organizations that have long worked together to amplify each other’s strengths. This was confirmed in the Expert Panel: Innovation Clusters.
Lily Eriksen, the industry sector integration manager for the Washington State Department of Commerce, introduced the next panel. Ms. Eriksen comments:
“I was excited Tuesday to introduce an Innovation Cluster panel focusing on aerospace in Washington State at the Aerospace Futures Alliance – AFA Summit. The most exciting part was listening to Dale King with the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance Cluster (PNAC), Misha Lujan with the Sustainable Aerospace Technologies and Energies (SATE) Cluster and Michael Doyle with Space Northwest.” Her favorite quotes were: “If you’re not collaborating, you’re not getting innovation.’’
“Collaboration is a team sport and we need that next level of collaboration, that’s why we have a cluster.”
”We need ideas that are the result of trusted conversations.”
“We need to ignite the future inspiration and ask ourselves what the future will look like and where are we going?”
The lively discussion was a confirmation of the power of our Pacific Northwest Aerospace Industry network of companies and their desire to support each other in a non-typical method of comradery. It sets us apart from many regions, as our bonds create manufacturing strength.
There were several more panels and speakers, including Blue Origin conversations on equity and inclusion; conversations on investor insight and venture capital; current workforce programs and strategies and opportunities; as well as a significant amount of time to network with fellow industry partners.
The evening was capped off with a reception at the beautiful Museum of Flight and more time to network and share connections with friends.
Thank you to the team at AFA for their hard work all year long and especially the work put into this worthwhile event!
