Dennis Muilenburg spoke in the Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium of Howe Hall on Tuesday about the global perspectives and challenges Boeing Defense, Space & Security deal with.

Muilenburg is the president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Muilenburg received his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering at Iowa State in 1986.

“I would like to think we get the best talent from the world here at Iowa State,” Muilenburg said.

Boeing’s goal is to make a global difference.

“There are very few companies in the world who can make a global impact like that,” Muilenburg said. “It can literally impact and save lives everyday. That demands a sense of excellence in how we do our work.”

Boeing states the key to being a part of a successful global business is being able to operate as a team.

“You need to be able to respect other individuals and recognize what you bring to that team,” Muilenburg said. “That is an important fundamental thing we look for.”

According to data that was presented by Muilenburg, about 75 percent of the commercial airplane business is made up by Boeing.

“Our commercial airplane business is a global business,” Muilenburg said. “There are about 12,000 jetliners. If you’re flying commercial, there is a good chance you are flying on a Boeing jet.”

Muilenburg also stated that Boeing has created more communication satellites on orbit than any company.

“We provide a lot of the communication infrastructure we rely on,” Boeing said.

Muilenburg stated that it’s important for an industry to be continuously active in its community.

“Investing in our people makes it worth it,” Muilenburg said. “It leads to innovation and growth. We want to make leading edge technology affordable for customers.”

Nick Creager, a third-year graduate student in mechanical engineering, attended the lecture for a class, but saw it as a valuable learning experience

“It’s very interesting hearing the perspective from a CEO standpoint on how their company operates globally,” Creager said. “It’s very intriguing to see how he presents that data to his customers or people associated with Boeing.”