Senior Director with Rockwell Collins Named First Female President of JETS

Linda Snow-Solum, a senior director with Rockwell Collins, a leading provider of communication and aviation electronic solutions, has been named President of the Board of Directors of JETS, one of the nation’s leading non-profit educational organizations based in the Washington, D.C.- area dedicated to promoting engineering and technology careers to America’s youth.

As the first female President of the organization, Linda will guide JETS through its next phase of providing quality educational resources and programs aimed at increasing student interest in engineering. Through the JETS three-prong approach—Explore, Assess, Experience—students are given the opportunity to discover engineering by showing them how it impacts everyday life and how engineers help solve social and community problems.

“Being part of a national organization that impacts students’ lives and helps them see the value of an engineering career is extremely important to me,” said Linda. “I am honored to serve as President of the JETS Board and hope my leadership role will be an example to young women that they, too, can impact the engineering community and society at-large.”

Linda has worked for 30 years at Rockwell Collins in product development and engineering leadership. In her current position, Linda provides leadership of the overall engineering development process, engineering tools, and key productivity and performance improvement initiatives at Rockwell Collins. She is responsible for rolling out an efficient and effective process to over 5000 engineers in 16 locations, for selecting tools that will work across the enterprise, and for the strategic development of engineering talent that will enable a world class engineering workforce for Rockwell Collins.

“As JETS embarks on its 60th anniversary, Linda’s transition to President is a natural fit,” said Pete Carrato, immediate past president of JETS and Bechtel Fellow. “Her dedication to creating a pipeline of engineers is exemplified by her work with secondary schools, both locally and nationally, to promote the profession. The entire JETS Board is honored to have her leadership.”

JETS was established in 1950 as one of the nation’s first organizations to solely promote engineering and technology to high school students. Organized first as state engineering clubs, JETS has reinvented and revamped itself throughout its 60-year history. From creating the only student assessment tool strictly for engineering to developing top competitions that paint a real-world picture of the profession, JETS successful ventures have provided multiple pathways for students to discover their potential for engineering.

About JETS

JETS is a national non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting engineering and technology careers to our nation’s young people. As a prominent force at the secondary school level, JETS engages students in various engineering education programs that are an essential part of fostering the engineering profession.

Students in JETS programs are presented the opportunities to: understand how engineers make a difference in our world (Explore); see how their own talents and skills align to engineering majors and occupations (Assess); and participate in exciting real-world based competitions and activities (Experience). JETS programs touch more than 40,000 students and 10,000 educators from 6,000 high schools across the country every year. JETS participants are a diverse group – more than 50 percent are from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology fields, including one-third who are female.

For more information, please visit, www.JETS.org.