NCAA Women

WritingHERstory: Stanley soars to new heights

Nike

Meanwhile, off the field, Stanley’s world changed when she was given an incredible opportunity with one of the world’s top aerospace companies. Since her freshman year, Stanley had her eyes on the Boeing Advanced Leadership Program, a five-year commitment that guarantees a full-time job at Boeing following graduation. The prestigious program also covers tuition for the participant’s junior and senior years of college. 

Virginia Tech plays a big role in collaborating with Boeing to prepare students for the workforce, making its programs competitive among students. Many students applied during Stanley’s sophomore year, but she was one of two Virginia Tech students who ultimately received an offer.  

During her final interview round, she had to pitch a solution for Boeing that either improved a process or created a new process. Stanley chose to speak about safety improvement in manufacturing. 

“I was actually on the way to the last game of the soccer season, the Pitt game,” Stanley remembers. “And I designed a robot on SolidWorks that would pick up FOD, which is Foreign Object Debris on manufacturing force, which is a big thing that Boeing’s pushing for right now.”   

Stanley was in the middle of answering questions when her hour-long interview timeslot ended, kicking her out. She immediately logged back in, and without them realizing she had hopped back on, heard an interviewer comment on Emma’s outstanding performance as “the best one we’ve had so far.” Stanley cried tears of joy when she received her official offer email during finals week in December. 

As part of the program, Stanley interned at Boeing’s Philadelphia site as a summer system safeties engineer, working on system safety for Chinook helicopters. She enjoyed learning about aircraft systems, including landing gear, windows, and canopies, and worked on system descriptions, hazard tracking, and flight test pilot reports.  

Currently, she is developing OSHA worksheets to identify and mitigate safety hazards in aircraft maintenance.  

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Virginia Tech Athletics…