Paul's vital Dreamliner role

Paul Gennard, raised in Lymsey Croft, Wordsley, Dudley, is one of a team working on the craft's electronics systems in Seattle, Washington.

He volunteered to move to the US for two years to work on the project after experts were asked to volunteer for the project. He works for General Electrics, formerly Smiths Aerospace, Cheltenham.

The former Wordsley School pupil was successful in his bid and moved out to start work on the project last July.

He has been joined by his wife Karen and three children Harry, aged five, Thomas, aged four, and one-year-old Stella.

They will return to the UK once work has been completed on the project next summer. The family, who now live in Gloucester, have rented out their home during their stay in the USA and are living in a house provided by Boeing.

Mr Gennard moved out of the Black Country in the 1980s to pursue his career in engineering after attending Dudley College. He joined Smiths Aerospace soon after and has remained with the firm ever since.

Mr Gennard's parents, mother Sandra and dad Peter, who still live in Wordsley, said they were very proud of their son.

"It is a lot of hard work of course but when Paul heard they were looking for volunteers he put his name down right away," said Mr Gennard.

"It is great to see him doing so well and working on such a high-profile project.

"The hardest part is him and his family being away from us for two years but they are having a wonderful time over there.

"We are all very proud of him."

Mr Gennard is not the only expert from the West Midlands working on the scheme with systems being provided by Goodrich Factories in Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

The Dreamliner is 25 per cent British-made and uses Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines in its design.