The two weeklong boot camps, held in the beginning of each year at Bell Helicopter's Fort Worth, Texas facilities, provide challenging learning opportunities for both the engineering college students and Bell Helicopter. For students, the week-long camps are a chance to work at a globally recognized aerospace company that allows them to see firsthand how engineers tackle real-world engineering problems.

For Bell Helicopter, the boot camps are an excellent recruiting tool. Attracting high-potential university talent is a strategic priority for Bell Helicopter. Innovative programs like the engineering boot camps and summer intern programs are a few of the ways to feed the recruitment pipeline and drive interest in aerospace engineering.  

"One of the most rewarding parts about being involved in the boot camps is introducing the students to the helicopter. Before they come to camp, few of them realize the complexity of the aerodynamics, control system and mechanical systems. They get to experience putting their hands on the machinery, flying the flight simulator and riding in a Bell helicopter. There is no substitute for experiencing a simple hover, where one feels that they are floating above the ground," said Stacey Kelly, Bell Helicopter engineer and boot camp drill sergeant. "There is certainly a ?cool' factor in helicopter design that the students catch pretty quickly."