Washington State: An Aerospace Innovation Economy
By Joanna Boatwright— International Trade Specialist, Washington State Dept of Commerce
A CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT LIND OF TLG AEROSPACE, ON THE COLLABORATION THAT FUELS INDUSTRY INNOVATION: The Washington State aerospace industry has a long history of innovation. A tour of the Museum of Flight Red Barn shows what Bill Boeing did to adapt wooden boatbuilding production methods to the aircraft assembly line.
That innovation came directly from collaboration with local shipwrights.
Joanna Boatwright International Trade Specialist | Office of Economic Development, Washington State Department of Commerce( OEDC / COM)
Washington State Department of Commerce
Over a century later, this same culture of collaboration and its natural pathway to innovation is what attracted Robert Lind to aerospace.
“ I originally moved to Seattle as a musician – I played bass guitar in local bands and loved it,” Robert said with a laugh.“ When it was time to move on, I wanted to live and work in the Pacific Northwest and was drawn to aerospace. The industry was always doing something new in the air and that inspired me.”
With that in mind, Robert stayed close to home for schooling. He attended the University of Washington, graduating with an aeronautical engineering master’ s degree in 1992.
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