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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 5, 2007 Crafting Dreamliner keeps Boeing engineers hopping By Michelle Dunlop, Herald Writer The engineers behind the Boeing Co.'s Dreamliner have been busy. "From an engineer's standpoint, there's just been a lot of engineering work done in Everett," said Steve Spyridis, council chairman for the labor group that represents many Boeing engineers. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace members began working on the 787 jet more than four years ago, when Boeing elected to pursue a new fuel-efficient, midsize plane. On Sunday, the roughly 20,000 SPEEA engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound region will get to see the product of their labors when Boeing rolls out its new 787 Dreamliner in an event that will be seen around the world. "It's a huge accomplishment," Spyridis said. To achieve it, Boeing has needed engineers and lots of them. The number of SPEEA engineers working in the Puget Sound area has jumped by roughly 20 percent since the end of 2002, when Boeing announced its decision to build the 787. Technical worker membership, however, has dipped slightly. Even after adding SPEEA workers in Washington, Boeing tapped into a design center in Russia, relying on engineers around the world to complete the 787. The complexity of the Dreamliner, with its mostly plastic body, still keeps engineers hopping, Spyridis said. And the head of SPEEA hopes it stays that way. "Management has said they're trying to even out the peaks and keep the valleys shallow," said Charles Bofferding, executive director of SPEEA. "We'll see." With additional Dreamliner models still to come, and a handsome 787 backlog, Boeing engineers seem well positioned to ride out whatever waves the next aerospace cycle throws their way. Boeing's Mike Bair, vice president of the 787 program, said in April that the company already is transferring Dreamliner engineers to other programs. Spyridis can attest to that. He works on the company's 747-8 program. The planemaker based much of its latest take on the classic 747 jumbo jet on Dreamliner technology. "We're taking a lot of expertise over to that plane," Spyridis said. In the meantime, Spyridis is pleased with the work that Boeing and SPEEA workers have done on the Dreamliner. "It shows a good relationship between membership and the company," he said.

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