Skilled New Participant in Washington’s Aerospace Industry


Lindsay Sandler (’13 Mechanical Engineering and Honors) believes that being open to new experiences can bring unexpected rewards.

“You never know where they will take you,” she says.

By following her own advice, she is now on track to start a great career.

In the fall of her junior year, she decided to visit a job fair on campus, the WSU Career Expo and College of Engineering and Architecture Technical Career Fair. More than a thousand WSU students connect with dozens of recruiters at the annual event.

Lindsay was interested to see how students and employers interacted, to get an idea of how to dress, and what types of organizations came to the fair. She introduced herself to a recruiter from The Boeing Company and they exchanged contact information. Later that day in an Honors College class, she received a message inviting her to an afternoon on-campus interview with Boeing. At the hiring manager’s encouragement, she applied online for a summer internship and received an offer over Thanksgiving break. She was excited to accept. The internship was in site maintenance, and it gave her the chance to learn about many parts of the organization.

A second summer internship was aligned with her WSU major in mechanical engineering. At that internship, the senior recognized that her Honors College education had helped her hone her communications and team skills; the college’s small, discussion-based classes and the various projects working with other students taught Lindsay, she says, to be a knowledgeable, active participant.

“In my internship, I worked with members of the seat integration team for the 787 Dreamliner, and learned a lot about making seats part of a plane’s safety measures, production schedules and regulations, and just about people,” says Sandler. “We worked as a group. On one assignment, we brainstormed how to best get specific seats for certain airlines in through the doors and fasten them down with top safety in mind as well as specific dimension and spacing requirements. I led one of the teams within a workshop for employees and a seat supplier. I felt comfortable doing it.

“I’ve always been good at science and math so I enjoyed the engineering parts, but one of the most important things I learned on the internship was to be patient with everyone, to be a good listener, and things will work out.”

And they have. Following her internship, she was offered a job on the same Boeing team. Her work starts in February. She is thrilled at the opportunity. And has a very good idea about the personal and professional rewards that this new experience will bring her way.