Boeing brings Mobile Newton Room to Belgium

On 3 October, the first Mobile Newton Room in Belgium opened its doors to students from across the country who will learn how to plan and pilot a flight to aid in a virtual search-and-rescue operation.

At an opening ceremony at EUROCONTROL’s headquarters in Brussels, Jean-Marc Fron, Managing Director of Boeing France and Eamonn Brennan, Director General of EUROCONTROL, cut the inaugural ribbon and welcomed the first Flemish students on board the inspiring mobile educational facility.

“I am delighted that EUROCONTROL has partnered with Boeing and First Scandinavia to bring the Mobile Newton Rooms for the first time to Belgium, at our Brussels headquarters. This is a great initiative – which is fully in line with our commitment to attract younger generations to careers in aviation. Aviation has much to offer and I wish all the trainers and students an inspiring and enjoyable experience!” said Eamonn Brennan, Director General of EUROCONTROL.

“At Boeing, we see it as our mission and responsibility to help young people make their first steps towards an aerospace career. Investing in the next generation of innovators and creators is a vital part of our pursuit to build a resilient aerospace industry. The students that pass through the Newton Room in Europe will one day be the ones to solve some of the great aerospace challenges and we are honoured to nurture such creativity,” said Jean-Marc Fron, Managing Director, Boeing France and Interim EU, NATO and Government Affairs lead.

About Mobile Newton Rooms

Boeing partnered with FIRST Scandinavia in 2018 to build the Mobile Newton Room. It is a specially designed portable classroom that provides students with a hands-on and immersive STEM learning experience.

When deployed, the 70 m² facility houses high-tech educational equipment, including aircraft simulators. Those are applied to power half-day learning sessions for groups of students on a broad spectrum of topics ranging from aviation and mathematics to robotics and renewable energy.

Since the start of the project, the Mobile Newton Room has travelled across 8 European countries and inspired nearly 10,000 students.

In Belgium

The unique, hands-on educational facility will spend 10 days in Belgium through cooperation between FIRST Scandinavia, Boeing, EUROCONTROL and ThinkYoung.

Nearly 260 students aged 13-15 will get the opportunity to learn the theoretical and practical skills needed to perform a piloted search-and-rescue mission in the Norwegian wilderness as part of their ‘Up in the air with numbers’ course.

Classes will be taught in three languages – French, Flemish and English – delivered by volunteer tutors from both EUROCONTROL and skeyes, Belgium’s air navigation service provider.

Boeing commitment

Boeing is committed to helping students of all backgrounds to achieve their full potential. “We work to create cradle-to-career pathways that strengthen and diversify the pipeline of skilled workers. Our goal is to support more students, regardless of background, who are ready to enter aerospace and advanced manufacturing careers and STEM-focused post-secondary education.”