Wes Bush stresses importance of technological innovation.
Press Release Summary:
AIA chairman and Northrop Grumman Corporation chairman, CEO, and president Wes Bush delivered keynote address for National Aerospace Week at Air Force Association's annual conference and trade show. He stressed significance of Air Force-industry partnership, saying it has "kept our nation free, our economy vibrant and our way of life intact and validated." Also, Bush issued plea for continued national investment in technological innovation and those who make it possible.
Original Press Release:
Wes Bush Stresses Importance of Technological Innovation at Air Force Association
[Wes Bush – AFA 2013]
In an impassioned National Aerospace Week keynote address to the Air Force Association’s annual conference and trade show, Wes Bush, Chairman of AIA and Chairman, CEO and President of Northrop Grumman Corporation, stressed the significance of the Air Force-industry partnership as having “kept our nation free, our economy vibrant and our way of life intact and validated.” Bush also gave a strong plea for continued robust national investment in technological innovation and the people who make innovation possible.
Pointing to new geo-strategic and economic realities “that have compounded to place unprecedented demands on our venerable partnership,” Bush said innovations related to “global reach, strategic defense…and the ability to understand in detail all that is happening around the globe,” must be developed.
Bush emphasized that the common denominator behind innovative solutions in our industry is “people – well educated, committed to our customers’ mission, superbly equipped with all the technologies and laboratory tools needed by the scientist and engineer; and meticulously trained in their areas of expertise, and in the value of free inquiry and expansive thinking.” Yet, he added, there are causes for concern, including the pace of technological development in other countries, the decline in investment on defense research and development, the aging of the U.S. aerospace and defense workforce and the inability of our domestic STEM education pipeline to keep up with the demand for technical workers. On a more positive note, Bush said, “I believe that the technological challenges our industry and the Air Force collaborate on are simply more interesting, more important and more exciting than anything a new STEM professional might get to do anywhere else. It represents one heck of a selling point as we try to recruit the talent we need. This is the place to come to work on the most amazing things.”
As much as aerospace and defense work can be exciting, Bush warned that with declining research and development budgets, government may have a “very dangerous risk aversion” to projects that push technology. He said young engineers “need to know that our collective enterprise – the Air Force and your industry partners – is the place for true research, unlimited development, and pioneering innovation that inevitably requires some risk. But it also requires R&D budgets.”
Bush concluded his remarks by noting the following:Â “Like the nation it serves, the partnership between the Air Force and industry is not ideologically-focused. It’s not even technologically-focused. Our partnership is people-focused because it is people that drive the outcome. The quality, talent and character of the people we retain to find solutions to the collective challenges we undertake, are the heart and soul of that partnership. That goes as much for those who make their contributions in blue jeans and business suits as it does for those in Air Force blue, camouflage fatigues or tactical flight suits.”
Bush’s remarks occurred at the beginning of National Aerospace Week (September 16-21). Former AIA Chairman, President and CEO of Pratt and Whitney David Hess, also spoke during National Aerospace Week at the Aero Club Luncheon on the topic of advances in propulsion technology that are driving aviation’s future.
Other National Aerospace Week events highlighted in the eUpdate include the “Faces of the Industrial Base” meetings that supply chain company leaders conducted with congressional offices and the U.S. Senate Aerospace Caucus reception (see below) and the NextGen Institute’s annual meeting (see Top News).
For a complete listing of National Aerospace Week events, please visit www.nationalaerospaceweek.org
