Passing with flying colours: Training the next generation of aerospace engineers

UOM life 11th January 2023

The shadow of Mount Snowdon is perhaps not the first place that comes to mind when you think of aerospace.

And yet it is here, in Eryri in the remote Welsh countryside, that the next generation of aerospace engineers are being equipped with the skills they need to design future drones, aeroplanes and rockets.

The Snowdonia Aerospace Centre is a sprawling complex that hugs the Welsh coast. Boasting several active runways, the base is used for charter planes, helicopters and the occasional commercial craft.

In June, it was also the home of some 100 future aerospace engineers as they embarked on a week-long training field course.

“The aim of the week was to give our students some real, hands-on experience. Going to an active airspace with an active runway is absolutely critical to give students an appreciation of what aerospace engineering looks like in the real world,” said Khris Kabbabe, Programme Lead and a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE).

Four students walk towards the small aircraft that they are about to make fly.

On the fly

The week consisted of three core activities. The first saw students work in teams to design and construct a fixed-wing aircraft. Given just a barebones list of instructions, the students had to use all their engineering experience to craft a plane that could become airborne. After a long day of crafting, tinkering and modelling, the moment of truth had arrived: would they fly?

“I was very excited. It was the moment of truth. It was time to see if the aircraft we had spent all day building was going to fly well and it felt great when it finally took off and did everything as it should have done!” – Shoaib.

“I was very nervous when the pilot was taxiing out the aircraft… but I was also confident that my team and I were able to do a good job because in engineering we had collaborated together very well.” – Alejandra.

Drone: on

The second activity saw the students grouped together in teams to pilot commercial drones. Drone technology has advanced enormously over the past decade, and it is now more important than ever for aerospace engineers to know how they are built and how to safely operate them. The drone activity was led by Kieran Wood, a MACE researcher who uses drones to explore hard-to-reach areas. He was recently in Papua New Guinea using drones to measure the pollutants emitted from volcanoes.

“The most useful thing I found during the activity was that you had to go from building stuff on your own to build drones as part of a team. It’s a very different dynamic that means you have to learn to work with people and to trust them as opposed to working by yourself.” – Callum

Rocket science

The final core activity was the designing and launching of propellant rockets. Reaching some 100 feet in the air, these rockets proved the most jaw-dropping activity of the week.

“This is a really great experience for the students because they get to experience the end-to-end procedure of a rocket launch.” – Nick Crisp, Senior Lecturer in MACE

“Wondering if the parachute was going to open, was always the best bit.” – Callum

“It was really fun because loads of parachutes didn’t actually deploy and that was quite disappointing but funny at the same time!” – Bel

Flying high

All work and no play makes engineers go crazy, and so the week also featured several other exciting activities. Beach trips, sunset walks, mountain biking trails, drone racing and a foam plane-throwing competition were just some of the highlights.

The course was the first of its kind in the UK and replaced a lot of the theoretical and simulation-based learning that engineering students typically do.

Feedback for the course was remarkable. “This was by far the most practical thing we’ve done in our degree… we actually got to go out on the airfield and I loved it!” – Iman

The MACE team is planning to make this an annual training course for all second-year aerospace engineering students.

It certainly got off to a flying start!