Accelerating the Aerospace Industry
Meet Jacqueline Davidson, Program Director at Aerospace Xelerated.
At Aerospace Xelerated, we’re in the scouting phase for our third cohort and we’re looking forward to kicking off the program in January 2022. I spoke to Jacqueline Davidson, Program Director, to find out about the AI and Autonomy technologies she’s most excited about, her journey into the aerospace sector and work at The Boeing Company — she also acts as the Investment Principal for Global Accelerators & Innovation Programs.
Jacqueline brings a wealth of experience through her international background and varied work placements. Over the last six years with Boeing, she’s lived in 3 cities and worked across 7 departments. She’s now excited to work with industry partners and early-stage startups to bring innovation into aerospace , from the factory floor to the passenger journey.
Jacqueline, tell us about yourself. How did you first start working with The Boeing Company?
I almost joined Boeing by accident! I didn’t have it together by any means, and sophomore year going into junior year, I realised, ‘holy smokes, I need an internship’, because real life was upon me. It was March and I was living in Madrid having too good of a time… Most internships were determined by this point, but I stumbled upon a part-time internship program with a 1-year commitment (so full-time summer, part-time school year). I reluctantly applied (because I wasn’t sure of the full year commitment) but for some reason I was given a chance.
Splitting priorities between work and school allowed me to try out different internships as I changed my team every second quarter. This allowed me to get more out of my studies because I chose teams and work scopes that aligned with my classes, and it also helped to make some ‘fun’ money while being a broke college student. In my six years at Boeing, I’ve had 7 roles and work statements, on 7 separate teams, lived in 3 different cities, and met countless individuals both inside and outside of Boeing. It’s allowed me to never be bored and to continuously grow.
What is your role at Aerospace Xelerated? What will you be focusing on over the next few months?
I am serving as Program Director and, in that role, my goal is essentially to eliminate any roadblocks that may exist to slowing down our startups or our program delivery team. This includes everything from ensuring we have the support needed from the corporate side, from our industry partners, and making sure that what you see publicly and what the startups benefit from when the program kicks off in January is all the easier and more successful.
Bringing innovative solutions or mindsets into aerospace is a challenge alone in itself, and I believe if I can remove the affiliated roadblocks, it will yield more success for our teams to do what they do best, which is innovate. If I can make the startups that partake in Cohort 3's lives easier and provide them with opportunities then I will be happy!
“What excites me is the integration of applications across multiple themes and how they work together in a seamless way to solve bigger complex issues.”
The themes for this program are AI and Autonomy. What are some of the most exciting AI and Autonomy applications that you’ve seen in the aerospace industry?
To be honest, AI andAutonomy are both well over my head, which is why both of their applications have me continuously in awe. Most commercial aircrafts today are equipped with fully autonomous technology, but what has me excited is when you combine autonomy and artificial intelligence to create a seamless solution. In my head I am picturing the Jetsons meets on demand.
Business model innovation solutions, like Uber, allowing me to order my flying car in a way where it arrives by avoiding a drone that is delivering a package, and a bird, and whatever else that comes in its way. There will come a time when we take all of that for granted. I know I take for granted my car’s lane correction, or older tech like bluetooth… We, as consumers, so quickly assimilate and even expect technology to seamlessly integrate. For that reason, innovations or new solutions don’t have the ability to awe people for long, but I think what we are exploring across both Autonomy and AI is something special. What excites me is the integration of applications across multiple themes and how they work together in a seamless way to solve bigger complex issues.
What are the qualities that you look for in the founders and founding teams that you’ll be working with on the program?
We’re looking for founders that are open, authentic, and activators.
Openness — Open to change and other perspectives, whether that means leaning into a tough dialogue that is a different opinion than your own, or sharing insights that may be unpopular for the sake of overall betterment.
Authenticity — Someone who is reliable and builds teams in a way that does not demand respect but that instead has a more natural form of leadership that is felt instead of spoken.
Activator — People with a can-do attitude, that are willing to roll up their sleeves, despite being a CEO or an intern, to do whatever task is needed. These individuals tend to be especially successful in turning thoughts or visions into action.
Diversity in aerospace is essential to the growth of the industry — we need more of it. What can we do to improve diversity?
Be better through retention and expansion.
Kidding aside, I believe that we need to look within and explore our own cognitive biases. Whether that is at a personal level, or how we train personnel, all the way to how we recruit new talent. We certainly have a long way to go.
As an example, looking at pilots, just ~6% are female. Considering racial diversity, almost 90% are white. This is to say when we discuss pilot shortages and gaps, we are using outdated recruiting and training methods and would instead benefit from cognitive bias training and recruiting in order to make a more inclusive and diverse workforce.
Aerospace is a 100+ year old industry with an incredible history. It has the potential to connect the world and has also in the past 100 years made our world more globally connected than ever before. To continually improve our platforms and services, we need more people who think differently. In order to do this, we need to explore the inclusivity of our industry to ensure we are adequately retaining minorities in all sectors from ground crew, pilots, engineers, to business leaders, and beyond.
“To continually improve our platforms and services, we need more people who think differently.”
From your experience with the last cohort, how can startups best work with corporates?
Understand the problems of the customer, evaluate their stakeholders and key decision makers, and use that to assess how to effectively influence to integrate your solution.
Most importantly, the startups should be able to read the “room” to understand the right (or wrong) time or for when to stop probing (versus continuing to), for example.
What would be your advice for startups applying for Aerospace Xelerated’s next cohort?
Be authentic, focus on timing, and understand that this is a mutual interview process. We will ask you questions, but ask us questions too! We want to make sure we aren’t wasting your time, but also want to make sure that throughout this program you leave feeling as if you’ve grown.
What are your interests outside of work?
I love reading — my favourite topics are spy books and WWII stories. I love a good happy hour and trying new restaurants. You can find me hiking, traveling, and trying new things that are adventurous. I’m an avid scuba diver and enjoy sky diving and doing all of the high adrenaline stuff. Most recently though, I have gotten into DIY crafts and building things.
Thanks to Jacqueline for sharing her journey into the world of aerospace and current innovation work with startups at Aerospace Xelerated, a new program by The Boeing Company.
Learn more about the Aerospace Xelerated program in our FAQ or watch the recap of our Ask Us Anything webinar. You can also book an Office Hours call to discuss your queries with the program team and apply to join the program on the website.
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