Boeing Campus Visit

EVANSTON, IL – On October 5th and 6th, Boeing’s Director of Materials and Fabrication, Tia Benson Tolle, PhD, and Manager of Research and Technology Next Gen Composites, Sam Tucker, PhD, visited Northwestern’s campus. Dr. Benson Tolle’s visit began with an extended discussion with Prof. Dravid and a tour of NUANCE facilities. She had the opportunity to see the NUANCE Center instrumentation, talk with faculty and staff, and gain insight into the nanoscale research that takes place at our world-class facilities.

Dr. Benson Tolle later met with Jay Walsh, Jian Cao, and MSE professor, Mark Hersam, and her day ended with a dinner with faculty leaders. On Friday, October 6th, Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) hosted Dr. Benson Tolle for a talk on the nature of Boeing research collaborations in which there is a new focus on gearing research more toward translatable applications rather than the theoretical.

Professor Dravid was pleasantly surprised by a visit from his former student, Dan Charles. Dan attended a Boeing internship while an undergrad with the VPD Group; he is now a Materials and Process Engineer at Boeing. The NUANCE staff were happy to see positive connections continue to grow into fruitful partnerships, and we wish the best to the Boeing research teams.