Message from RAeS

Message from RAeS

Prof Jonathan Cooper​

Another busy month, with many activities taking place across all facets of the RAeS’ operation. I represented the Society at a Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) Roundtable with the Minister for Universities to discuss the ongoing effects of the pandemic on accredited courses. There was a lot of discussion concerning student and employer confidence in the qualifications that will be awarded this year. My view is that, through a lot of hard work from the academic staff across all our accredited HEIs, coupled with excellent support from the HQ accreditation team, we have maintained the standards in aerospace engineering, and related, degree courses from previous years. We are in a much better place than other disciplines where there is a more pressing need for face-toface interactions and we won’t need to move to extra teaching over the summer months in order to attain the required course content.

As also mentioned in the CEO’s Message, the Society continues to make an important contribution with helping our members’ careers, supporting them to find employment in the aerospace and aviation industries. As part of our continuing digital rollout, the new Online Interactive Careers Centre – Career Flightpath (https://raescareerflightpath.careercentre.me/) is now available for RAeS members. It is possible to browse hundreds of eLearning courses and take advantage of the CV builder and other feedback tools. I am sure that this new platform will be of much use for our members from across the world, particularly those whose careers have been affected by the pandemic. Free to use, the platform includes CV assessments, interview training, aptitude tests, personal development courses and advice 24/7.

As a learned society, the facilitation of the generation of knowledge is one of our key roles and our Specialist Groups are the main avenue for organising conferences, workshops and specialist meetings as well as producing journal papers and other publications. I attended the recent Specialist Groups Spring briefing where the past 12 months, which have been challenging for everybody, were reviewed. The SGs have done a fantastic job adapting and delivering in a virtual world. I have attended quite a few conferences and panel sessions since we moved to a digital delivery and have been impressed that the quality of our outputs has remained as good as ever. It was encouraging to hear of the ongoing co-operation and collaboration between Specialist Groups, Local Branches and the Young Persons Committee (YPC). Much greater collaboration is required to address the challenges facing the aerospace and aviation industries, not only dealing with the rollout following Brexit and lockdown, but also the major challenges required to meet climate change and the move towards net zero emissions by 2050, areas where the Society must provide leadership.

Finally, it is great to see that the annual AeroTube competition is back, with the 2021 edition opening on 29 March and closing on 31 May and the winners are announced on 30 June. Driven by the YPC, but open to all members, this video competition is a great way to engage our members and increase young member traffic. Members are invited to produce an informative video lasting six to ten minutes on something aerospace or aviation-related. It could be anything: a topic you are particularly passionate about, a project from university or work, trying to explain the principles of aerodynamics to novices, something you have built, findings from research or a look at new technologies. Entries must be submitted via the entry form. For further details please email ypn@aerosociety.com. I am pleased that our colleagues in RAeS China are proud to support the AeroTube programme by launching a Young Persons China section and they are hoping to receive submissions from this region (both in Chinese and English). Support for this activity has so far been received by the British Council China and other local aerospace organisations, including the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus.

Sir Brian Burridge

​- The publication of the long-awaited Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy has certainly made an impact. While the tyranny of our print deadlines prevents my commenting now on the forthcoming Defence Command Paper, there are already some encouraging pointers. Recognition at last that the UK’s science and technology ecosystem is a strategic national resource that has to be both nurtured and funded from end-to-end is welcome, as is the focus on climate change. The promise of a revised defence and security industrial strategy which embraces the prosperity agenda and moves away from the 2012 policy of ‘competition by default’ with its associated bogus definition of value-for-money is a significant step forward. Recognition in the review of the rapidly growing importance of the space sector through the creation of an integrated military and civil space strategy which has long been one of our ‘asks’ is also very welcome, as is confirmation of funding for FCAS/Tempest. I will publish more analysis in a blog immediately after the release of the Defence Command Paper (see ‘By the Numbers’).

- Another annual event has gone virtual this year with the Society’s Young Persons Committee running a very successful AeroChallenge quiz, attracting a global audience of 260 participants. Teams and individual entrants came from a range of international universities and well-known companies, plus teams from our Divisions in both Pakistan and South Africa. The event was enriched by speakers from Leonardo: Lynda McVay, Director Skills and Capability UK, and Yeovil Branch member, Olivia Gribler, a Leonardo business graduate. The scores were very tight and the design challenge submissions were of a really high standard. Ultimately, there were two individual winners, Ella Senior from Oxford University and Ryan Ross from BAE Systems with the team prize going to BAE-Blades. Our thanks to all the participants and especially to Leonardo for generously sponsoring AeroChallenge.

- The Society marked International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March with a special webinar from the Society’s Women in Aerospace & Aviation Committee and the alta mentoring steering group. The event focused on the impact of the pandemic on female pilots, the positive steps they have taken to connect and support each other and the power of mentoring, ‘A Story for all Women’ told by airline captain and Society Fellow Marnie Munns. The impact of the pandemic on women is becoming clear, from pressures arising from continuing to work in the unique Covid environment through to balancing working from home with home-schooling. The vulnerability to furlough and redundancy programmes is also a factor. Nevertheless, women have risen to the challenge but the sector risks losing the incremental gains in gender balance that have taken so long to achieve. This year’s IWD theme was ‘Choose to Challenge’ and Marnie challenged industry leaders to embed diversity and inclusion in the recovery, to continue reporting gender pay gap statistics and actively support women’s retention and progression across the sector in order to challenge stereotypes and build back better. In this respect, we are fortunate that Professor Dawn Bonfield, the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Inclusive Engineering at Aston University, will be addressing Corporate Partners on 24 May on ‘Magnificent Women’ as a precursor to International Women in Engineering Day.

- On careers, our new online support platform – Career Flightpath – is now live. The platform is available via your membership log-in and gives access to a huge range of tools and opportunities, including an AI-based CV reviewer, interviews, aptitude tests and hundreds of courses and development programmes which are designed to help you prepare for a range of employment scenarios, from job search and applications, through to personal development and mental health. The Society will still offer our unique personalised careers support from the team, with 1-2-1s still available. We hope that the platform will support members both now and when the recovery arrives, bringing with it a new sense of urgency to recruitment and selection. For further details on CareerFlightpath and the alta mentoring programme, please contact careers@aerosociety.com.

- Finally, please look at the Annual General Meeting notice on p 51 which outlines how the meeting will be run, given continuing Covid uncertainty. On 6 May, the AGM will be preceded by a Special General Meeting at 1100 BST which has been called by the Trustees to hear recommended amendments to the By-Laws. The calling notice for the SGM will be published at the end of March and will include details of the meeting resolutions. Lumi Global will be managing both meetings and will provide full platform details. You can submit any questions in advance so it will be worth having a look at the platform as soon as you get your log-on credentials. In addition, given the uncertain Covid environment, the Trustees have agreed that the 2021 Annual Banquet will not now take place in May.