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Please tell us a bit more about yourself and your background
I’m the Technology Manager for Future Flight at GKN Aerospace and I lead a team to identify and develop future technologies and aircraft concepts with some of my current projects focusing on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM).
Tell us about your involvement in the UAS Challenge
I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Bath where I participated in the 2017 IMechE UAS Challenge with some of my closest friends. We built a flying wing with several innovative aspects including vortex generators, split flaps and variable pitch propellers securing us not only the Overall prize but also the Design as well as Innovation prizes.
What are the top three things that you learned during the UAS Challenge?
The most important skill I learned during the UAS Challenge was on building team resilience. Leading up to the challenge we had several design issues, manufacturing errors as well as crashes however staying motivated, supporting each other and recovering from these problems tested our ability to work well together and deliver a great system.
What’s your favourite memory from being involved in the challenge?
My favourite memory is from the night before the competition, we were all working late in the lab after a tough day of flight testing and as one of my teammates was testing a receiver antenna, it shorted out and started smoking! To make matters worse, we tried to squeeze in another flight test early in the morning before we left for the competition and damaged our aircraft. We then spent the entire first night of the competition fixing it outside our tent in Llanbedr before going on to win the competition.
What advice would you give to teams competing this year or students thinking of taking part?
This will truly be one of the most fun things you will do at university and even afterwards. Enjoy it and make the most of it, you will find yourself missing it later in life.
GKN Aerospace are returning as a gold sponsor - tell us why it is important for you to be involved with Challenge
GKN Aerospace are committed to supporting students develop into professional engineers. Sponsoring the challenge not only helps us identify the brightest students for us to potentially recruit but the students also teach us quite a bit with their fresh ideas and innovative inventions.
Tell us more about GKN Aerospace and how Challenge participants can work with you
GKN Aerospace is the world’s leading multi-technology tier 1 aerospace supplier with over 48 sites in 14 countries. We design and manufacture innovative smart aerospace systems and components for the most advanced passenger transport and military aircraft. We encourage all participants to check our careers page where we’re currently recruiting for a number of great roles as well as follow us on social media.
How can we keep in touch with GKN Aerospace?
Linkedin: GKN Aerospace
Facebook: @gknaero
Twitter: @gknaero