Frank Cappuccio, executive vice president of Advanced Development & Strategic Planning for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and director of Skunk Works®, spoke to an almost full house of students, faculty, staff and the community about the new partnership between Skunk Works® and the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU.
Skunk Works® is the top-secret, Lockheed Martin program in California that began more than 65 years ago and has developed some of the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft: which includes the U-2, XF-90, F-94 Starfighter and F-22. The program’s current project is the F-35 Lightning II, which will be used all over the world.
Cappuccio has spent most of his career working on top-secret projects, but his latest plans are to help change the way engineers are learning and attract more young people to the field of engineering.
“We are losing engineering talent in the high schools, but mostly in college freshman,” Cappuccio said.
The audience, mostly dressed in business attire, laughed as Cappuccio made jokes about himself and the stereotype that engineers lack the ability to work together as a team.
“Innovation is about the climate you create,” he said.
Communication and the willingness to accept the risk of failure in order to succeed is an important factor for the program, he said. Cappuccio said his vision is for students to learn in an environment that, “creates passion for excellence.”
The four key components in developing the new school will be: visiting professorships in innovation, freshmen lectures on innovation and Skunk Works® philosophy, Skunk Works® immersion and design projects and Skunk Works® lecture series.
“I’m ecstatic about the new program with Skunk Works®,” said Jason Stegall, an engineering student at SMU.
The partnership will be great for the school and should attract bright students to the program, according to Richard Dennie, an executive board member of the school of engineering at SMU.
The SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Program will be housed in the new Caruth Institute for Engineering building that’s currently under construction.
