The MESA/Pratt & Whitney Training Academy took place at Pratt & Whitney AeroPower in San Diego, California, on Friday, March 22, 2013, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The purpose of the training academy was to expose a diverse group of college level students in the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) programs at San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and Southwestern College to Pratt & Whitney, its’ business development, and the concept of ACE/Lean Six Sigma.
Students also went on a facility tour that included: safety, product line, packing, shipping, turbine assembly, rotor assembly, APU test cells, and the tail end of certain aircraft In addition, students conducted Relentless Root Cause Analysis (RRCA) and mistake proofing analysis using the famous Titantic British passenger liner as a model. Utilizing survey data from 2012’s MESA Training Academy, students performed a Market Feedback Analysis (MFA) with the following objectives: defining best practices including enabling and barriers for an effective Training Academy driving high participant satisfaction, and creating a standard San Diego MESA Alliance Training Academy survey model.
A total of 19 MESA students attended the Training Academy: 10 students from San Diego State University, 4 students from San Diego City College, and 5 students from Southwestern College.
“I learned the multiple ways of identifying an issue within a procedure… what I liked the best [was] the overall concept of the training academy and [I’m] looking forward to using it in the real world” – San Diego State University Civil Engineering senior.
The San Diego MESA Alliance would like to thank Pratt & Whitney (especially the efforts of Maria Charles, Raelyn Carter, and their respective colleagues) for their time and incredible work put forth into creating professional development and career relevant learning opportunities for our future – the students.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.
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