It’s not every day that aspiring teenage engineers can see firsthand how planes are built. But a collaboration between nonprofit Engineering Tomorrow, aerospace firm Boeing, and alumni of the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program working at Boeing is aiming to turn curiosity about aerospace engineering into possible careers for young students.
Boeing is LGO’s longest-standing industry collaborator, hosting LGO internships, recruiting LGO alumni, and hosting plant treks for future engineers. Engineering Tomorrow, a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring the next generation of engineers, frames the U.S. engineering workforce shortage as an economic and national security issue — and says the shortage isn’t in just engineers with degrees, but also in trained operators and technicians. They also recognize that many kids often start as natural tinkerers, but get scared off by higher-level math.
To bring more kids into the engineering fold, the organization delivers no-cost engineering labs to middle and high school students by collaborating with influential mentors, such as LGO graduates at organizations like Boeing.
“We want to inspire students by exposing them to professional engineers to illustrate the pathways for them to be problem-solvers in society,” explains Alex Dickson, Engineering Tomorrow’s program coordinator. “The demand for engineers has just gone up dramatically. It’s about being competitive on a global scale. We try to illustrate to students that there are many pathways into these careers.”
How MIT LGO makes engineering dreams a reality
Engineering Tomorrow’s collaboration with MIT LGO grew organically, through a robust alumni network. One of the nonprofit’s board members, LGO alumna Kristine Budill SM ’93, recognized a shared interest: the sizable Boeing LGO community wanted concrete ways to connect more directly with communities, and Engineering Tomorrow does just that.
Budill connected the organization with fellow LGO alumnus Cameron Hoffman MBA ’24, SM ’24, a Boeing manufacturing strategy manager who helped translate that shared mission into a real-world opportunity: an on-site Boeing experience that made engineering tangible for high school students.
The result: One lucky high school engineering design class from Mercer Island, Washington, recently got to experience Boeing 737s being built in person. In November 2025, 30 ninth graders at Mercer Island High School traveled to Boeing’s Renton, Washington, facility to learn how planes are constructed and understand what it really takes to have a career building them.
From the outset, the goal was to avoid the typical spectator field trip. Instead, Engineering Tomorrow and Hoffman designed a structured, multi-touch experience that prepared students before they ever set foot in the factory.
First, an Engineering Tomorrow liaison introduced key aerospace concepts and an associated lab challenge to the class via Zoom, then returned in person to guide Mercer students through a hands-on airplane-design lab, helping them translate theory into practice and answer questions about engineering pathways. Students then visited Boeing’s production facility, where they spoke with engineers from multiple disciplines — not just aerospace — and toured the factory floor.
By the time they arrived, students weren’t just impressed by the scale of the operation; they understood what they were seeing, asked informed questions, and left with a sharp sense of the many routes into engineering and manufacturing careers, Dickson says.
“Cameron set up an incredible on-site experience for the students that really made real-world engineering a more tangible experience for them,” Dickson says. “Many people think Boeing is just about aerospace engineering, because Boeing is an aerospace company. But they got to hear from mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and workers with all sorts of backgrounds who made it clear that there’s no one set pathway into engineering or manufacturing.”
Then came the best part: Students got a VIP tour of the production facility, led by Boeing staff.
A snack and a tour
“It’s awe-inspiring: Dozens of unfinished airplanes are under one site, and you see all of the real-world production engineering that goes into something that oftentimes we take for granted when we step onto an airplane,” Dickson says.
When the big day arrived, students also met with engineering teams to learn about the history of the plant, complete with fun facts geared to high schoolers. (Did you know that a 737 takes off or lands every two seconds?) They learned about different career pathways, from design to production. It was easy to envision themselves working there, Hoffman says.
“Boeing is a company that a lot of folks work at for their entire career and take a lot of pride in the work that they do. We showed them: What does that look like? Do you want to be an engineer for your entire career? Do you want to be a people leader in the facility? Do you want to be a technical expert?” Hoffman says. “And the kids asked great questions.”
Then, the students — after snacks, of course — toured the production floor, where engineers assembled planes and tested parts. For Hoffman, that experience was deeply personal: He wished he’d experienced something similar growing up.
A 10-year Boeing veteran, Hoffman led the group throughout. He started at Boeing in 2015 as a recent college graduate, where he encountered several LGO alums who recommended the program.
“I’d been deeply interested in manufacturing since my early undergrad days. Boeing was an amazing place to work because our products are so complex, and the production systems are so fascinating,” he recalls.
Over time, he wanted to transition into people leadership with an MBA degree. His Boeing colleagues, well-represented among the LGO ranks, urged him toward the MIT program.
“LGO’s network is what makes it so special,” he says.
Upon returning to Boeing after completing his LGO degrees, Hoffman joined Boeing’s LGO/Tauber Leadership Development Program, which allows him to stay regularly engaged with the MIT LGO Program. One such activity where he remains engaged with the program is through the MIT LGO Alumni Board. As part of the board, Hoffman focuses on the social good committee, and the Engineering Tomorrow high school partnership was a perfect fit to meet that committee’s goals.
For Hoffman, these leadership initiatives are what makes LGO distinctive.
“When you graduate from a program like LGO, you’re often so forward-looking. It helps to take time to reflect on what an inspiration you can be to the people who come after you. MIT LGO focuses on both engineering and business. Our students want to study engineering because they want to be problem-solvers. The LGO program, which is at the intersection of engineering and business leadership, is just an incredible inspirational program for young students to see,” Hoffman says.
It was an opportunity he didn’t get as an ambitious young high schooler.
“As a kid, the only engineering class that was available to me was architectural drafting. If this opportunity was offered to me when I was in high school, I would’ve jumped out of my shoes at the chance. You get to see products that are just so complex; you really can't believe it until you see it,” he says.
Setting a positive precedent across industries
Mercer Island engineering design teacher Michael Ketchum had high praise for the field trip, considering it transformative for his students. He estimates that roughly 80 percent of them want to be engineers. He was impressed that the experience was more than just a tour, that it also included classroom support and airplane design kits, reinforcing core engineering concepts. The collaboration allowed them to broaden a previously CAD-focused class into one that also includes 3D printing, electronics, and aerospace applications.
“For freshmen and sophomores, field trips are key. They stick in their head a bit longer than just school learning. If they get to see people getting excited talking about engineering, and it embeds it a little bit better in their brain,” Ketchum says.
In a post-trip survey, students reported being more likely to consider engineering after the experience.
“They expressed the idea that the conversations with engineers inspired them, and 100 percent of students said that seeing a production facility was one of the coolest parts of the program, which led to them being more inclined to want to be an engineer,” Engineering Tomorrow’s Dickson says.
Next year, the LGO network hopes to expand to partner with additional companies, from health care to biotech.
“The goal is to continue to create exposure. This visit was a really great proof of concept to see what’s valuable to students,” Hoffman says — and, ideally, future LGO alumni.
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