Boeing

From a vice president of an organization sponsoring ski outings for inner-city youth, to a researcher investigating simulated reality technologies, to a C-17 aircraft design engineer, they are all Boeing employees and winners of the national 2005 Black Engineer of the Year Award. Each will be honored for outstanding contributions to technology and for serving as exceptional role models.

The employees, Clark W. Johnson, Paul R. Jackson and Michael J. Blyden, will be presented with the awards during the 19 th Annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Conference being held Feb. 17-19 in Baltimore, Md.

"Our employees personal commitment to technical leadership is being recognized and celebrated by these awards" said Joan Robinson-Berry, Boeing director of Technical Excellence. "The accomplishments of our honorees demonstrate Boeing's success in drawing on the best skills and talents available to secure its place as a world competitor, an employer of choice and a global aerospace leader."

Since 1987, the BEYA conference, produced by Career Communications Group, has recognized the outstanding achievements of black engineers. Every year, a panel of educators, engineers and managers around the United States reviews more than 250 nominations. The three-day awards conference also links qualified engineers, scientists, business professionals and students with regional and national employers.

During the conference, Norma Clayton, Boeing vice president of Supplier Management, will also receive recognition by the editors of US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine. She was selected as one of the Top 50 Most Important Blacks in Technology in 2005 for her work in making technology part of the global society.

Johnson, a 26-year Boeing employee, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizing people whose accomplishments demonstrate positive results for minorities in technology fields. Johnson, works at Boeing's satellite design and manufacturing site in El Segundo, Calif., and has dedicated his career to advancing satellite technology to new levels. Some of the systems Johnson helped develop operate aboard the world's most advanced spacecraft. His achievements include inventing a spacecraft solar panel that is lighter, faster to build and more affordable -- crucial factors in the highly competitive satellite industry. Johnson is also a regional vice president of the national Brotherhood of Skiers, which sponsors ski trips for economically disadvantage youngsters.

Jackson will be awarded a Modern Day Technology Leader Award, given to bright, young and up-and-coming women and men who are shaping the future of engineering, science and technology. He locates new technologies and applies them to real-world engineering concepts for Phantom Works, the company's advanced research and development unit, in Bellevue, Wash.

A former fighter specialist in the U.S. Air Force, Blyden also will receive the Modern Day Technology Leader Award. He is an engineer working in the design office of the Boeing C-17 in Long Beach, Calif. In that role, he is r esponsible for establishing and managing design integration, processes and procedures. Blyden manages airplane design philosophy, overall airplane design requirements and criteria as well as providing overall airplane design direction. He also leads activities for C-17 design improvements, derivatives and future products.