Volume 16 / Year 2009
The program is a partnership with the acknowledged leader
in innovative thinking – aerospace defense contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®. The Skunk Works®
process originated in 1943 with work for the
military that was conducted in secret.
The name emerged when a team member
began answering the phone
“Skonk Works,” the name of a
secret still for making “joy-juice”
in Al Capp’s then-popular newspaper
comic strip “Li’l Abner.”
Lockheed’s lab is known for
working under extremely
short deadlines to develop
the fastest, most sophisticated
military aircraft. Unmatched
in its success, Lockheed’s Skunk
Works® was the first – and now
longest-running – innovation lab of its
kind. The company’s partnership with SMU,
announced last fall by Lyle School Dean Geoffrey
Orsak, is another first for Lockheed.
“Some projects are going to be more successful
than others, and with
each project they’ll
get a lot of feedback
from faculty and their
customers from the
public or private sector.
That will help students improve
their design abilities,” she says. “I want to increase students’ confidence, which occurs by
doing things that are successful, but also by understanding
why something didn’t work well.”
Students will work in the Lyle School’s 10,000-square-foot
Innovation Gymnasium – a flexible lab space in the new $22
million, 65,000-square-foot Caruth Hall, now under construction.
The building is set for completion in December. A spacious
room with high ceilings, the gymnasium will be stocked
with computers, electronic testing equipment, table saws and
other materials and resources. Large glass windows will open
to an interior public corridor, allowing passers-by to observe
students at work.
The gymnasium also will include an “idea room” with
audio-visual equipment for videoconferences and teleconferences.
Student researchers can meet there with customers
and faculty advisers.
Design projects may start at the end of this summer in
existing lab space. All projects will address a critical need,
Orsak says.
“We are committed to graduating students who bring innovative
engineering skills with a passion for leadership and a
strong social conscience,” he says. “Skunk Works® assignments
will provide a fantastic opportunity to make that connection
by challenging students with demanding problems that address
global challenges.”
An important element of Orsak’s and Etter’s vision is
to broaden the program beyond the University. Each
semester a visiting professor from another university
will be invited to participate in the program,
probably starting in spring 2010. They believe that
scholarly cross-pollination will bring new ideas to SMU, as
well as send faculty back with a passion for
implementing an innovation gymnasium
at their universities.
Ideas from many sources have helped
Lockheed Skunk Works® succeed, as the
company hires graduates of numerous
universities, Cappuccio said at the lecture
series.
“It takes people to make things happen,”
he said. “That’s where the magic of
innovation comes in – the willingness to accept
ideas from many people and to integrate the ideas
to get a better product.”