The Engineering Rotation Program provides hands-on experience across engineering disciplines while helping participants develop leadership, communication and business skills. Through rotational assignments and professional development opportunities, participants gain a broader understanding of Woodward’s products, customers and strategic priorities.
For Jacob, a rotation member, that experience has centered on developing a repair and overhaul process for fuel nozzles used in military trainer aircraft. Working alongside experienced engineers, he is helping create a process that restores components to required performance specifications while gaining firsthand experience with customer collaboration and technical problem-solving.
That exposure goes far beyond engineering and has accelerated his development. Through customer meetings, technical discussions and cross-functional collaboration, Jacob has gained insight into the importance of communication, stakeholder alignment and trust-building. The experience has also increased his confidence in taking ownership of projects and navigating challenges independently.
As his responsibilities have grown, so has his perspective on Woodward’s culture of continuous learning. “What’s expected of me is to absorb as much information as possible and ask a lot of questions, or as one [Woodward senior leader] explained it, ‘get 1 percent better every day.’”
