UW looks to train Boeing engineers in Abu Dhabi

Future Boeing Co. engineers could soon be educated by the University of Washington in … Abu Dhabi.

Should its proposal go through, the university will offer bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering at the United Arab Emirates University beginning in the fall of 2013. The proposed $100 mi

llion deal would last 10 years. The plan has Boeing’s backing.

“This program and partnership has been proposed by the Boeing Co. to help with their sales of aircraft in Abu Dhabi,” according to a letter of intent submitted by the UW to the education board.

The two universities still are negotiating a contract, said Hannah Hickey, spokeswoman for UW’s engineering department. On Friday, Boeing said in a statement it is “very supportive” of the ongoing discussions. The plan already has been approved by the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Earlier this year, Washington State University got the OK to begin offering classes in Snohomish County in 2012. The push to establish a four-year school, especially one that can offer engineering courses, in the county has stretched over decades. A few years ago, the state gave UW money to draw up a plan to set up campus in Snohomish County. But community leaders and politicians couldn’t decide in 2008 where to put the school. Funds to get the college under way dried up before a site could be selected.

The planned engineering program in Abu Dhabi would not require any state funding.

Nuts and bolts of the program

UW and United Arab Emirates University would work together to recruit professors for the Abu Dhabi program. The hired faculty would be mentored in Washington for at least two semesters before teaching in Abu Dhabi. UW engineering professors will teach there as well.

The planned program will accommodate 36 students the first year and increase to 71 by 2018. Students who graduate by 2018 will do so with a dual degree from the Abu Dhabi university and UW. As many as eight students from Abu Dhabi will enroll annually at UW in Seattle. However, these students are not to displace Washington residents from the UW program.

The program would be funded by the Mubadala Corp., an investment company owned by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Jet and engineering demand

Over the next 20 years, Boeing predicts that the Middle East will account for about 8 percent of global demand, with 2,520 jet orders valued at $450 billion. However, Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing, noted in June that demand from Middle Eastern carriers could go higher if they keep up their annual growth rate of about 10 percent.

Through the end of July, Boeing had 146 unfilled orders from United Arab Emirates carriers. However, Boeing has estimated that United Arab Emirates will have the third-largest market by value globally in the next 20 years. Despite a population of just 9 million, the country is home to ambitious airlines like Emirates and Ethiad.

United Arab Emirates clearly has aspirations when it comes to aerospace. EADS, the parent company of Boeing’s rival, Airbus, already signed a deal to have an aerospace subsidiary of Mubadala build parts for Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. The first of those parts was shipped earlier this summer.

Helping United Arab Emirates train its own engineers could help Boeing win jet orders. It also helps increase the supply of aeronautical engineers, which is lagging in the United States and in Washington state.

In recent years, the state hasn’t been able to meet even half the demand for engineers with graduates from its colleges and universities, according to a July 2010 report from the higher education board. To make matters worse, Boeing and other aerospace companies also predict a wave of retirements over the next decade. Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, called this engineering gap the “intellectual disarmament” of the country in a May 2010 interview with the Herald.

On Friday, Boeing said it believes the proposed program in Abu Dhabi “would provide significant opportunities for students and faculty at the University of Washington and in the United Arab Emirates to grow critical skills in aerospace engineering.”