A workforce study published Aug. 8 by Aviation Week has named Georgia Tech as the number one “most preferred school” for aerospace and defense companies seeking to hire graduates with "specific, critical and high-demand engineering skills."

Georgia Tech was also named as the number one alma mater for “making a difference” in its graduates’ success, according to the same study, which surveyed workers ages 35 and younger at 28 firms.

The Aviation Week Workforce Study examined data from corporate employers and federally funded research centers, while also incorporating a survey of young professionals and students.

According to Aviation Week’s workforce project leader, Carole Hedden, the findings bode well for many subject areas in the engineering field.

“The industry hires new graduates in a broad range of engineering fields, from aerospace and aeronautics to software, electrical, mechanical and materials engineering,” she said.

Preferred schools are those institutions where companies invest in research and development, have a high regard for specific engineering education programs, and whose graduates tend to succeed as their careers progress with the companies, Hedden added.

The findings are a part of a larger industry assessment that Aviation Week commissioned to gauge the health of the aerospace and defense industry. An analysis of all results will be included in an annual study used by industry leaders -- AIA, NDIA, AIAA, DoD, Commerce, NASA and others – to inform their recommendations moving forward.

While leaders from government, industry and academia mull the larger implications of the report, educators at Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering is justifiably proud of the report's most basic findings.

“Being one of the largest aerospace engineering program in the nation, AE bears enormous responsibility to produce graduates for an industry that demands excellence in skills and in vision,” said AE Chair Dr. Vigor Yang.

“We see the results of this study as confirmation that our graduates are meeting the challenges and reaching beyond them. And I commend the AE faculty giving them that opportunity.”