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Toy Story By Robert Ross  By then, Frawley was an aerospace engineering student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was there to learn the physics, mathematics, and materials science he’d need to design jet fighters, NASA rockets, or airliners, but what really kept him busy was filling the orders for his little remote-controlled flying machines – called ornithopters – that were coming in as a result of the magazine article. People in Hong Kong like to read Popular Science, too, especially at the Wow Wee Toy Company. Soon Frawley was reading an e-mail message from that firm’s president. Would the Embry-Riddle student consider designing flying toys for his firm, he asked. The company would pay him six to eight percent of profits from anything he worked on. A tempting offer, considering that one of Wow Wee’s products, Robosapien, has sold nearly two million copies. The easy part was saying yes. It was much tougher to juggle classes and do the designs, Frawley says. To make matters worse, the toymaker kept pleading with him to visit their factory in Hong Kong. "They couldn’t figure out the physics behind the designs," he says. Last summer, Frawley finally arranged a three-month internship at the company, which paid his airfare, living expenses, and salary while he was in Hong Kong. Through the university’s cooperative education program, he also earned credits toward his aerospace engineering degree. He picked up some unexpected new skills at the toymaker, as well. When his supervisor went on a three-week promotional tour, Frawley, who’d never taken a management course, was tapped to fill in. "Everybody there has to pitch in and do other people’s jobs. I was considered next in line," he says. In his boss’s absence, he managed design production teams at several factories that make the company’s products. During his internship, he says, two companies tried to steal him away from Wow Wee and he was often asked to recommend other engineering students from Embry-Riddle. "They’re desperate for what they call creative engineering," he says. "Chinese engineering schools don’t teach it." He directed them to the university’s Career Center (www.erau.edu/er/careerservices.html). After Frawley’s graduation from Embry-Riddle in December 2005, he’ll start his career – as a project engineer at Wow Wee. His first ornithopters will be flying off store shelves next summer. # # # This article first appeared in the Fall 2005 issue of THE LEADER magazine, published by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. |
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