Society News
Sustainability and Young Professionals
The 2021 Annual Branches Conference was hosted by the Coventry Branch on the weekend beginning Friday, 8 October. After last year’s event in Paris was postponed due to the pandemic, it was great to finally have representatives from our broader network together in one room. Conference guests included RAeS Chief Executive David Edwards and Ian Whittle (son of Sir Frank Whittle).
The theme of this year’s event was ‘Sustainability and Young Professionals’ which was incorporated into the usual conference agenda.
Attendees gathered for the group photograph.
The event started with an insightful tour of the new state-of-the-art Meggitt manufacturing facility and global headquarters at Ansty Park which included a technology presentation on additive manufacturing which was delivered by Meggitt graduates.
Meggitt was proud to showcase its drive for a more sustainable future, for example, how it harvests the rain water for use in the sanitary processes which enables the facility to consume less water from the mains supply to the solar panels on the roof contributing to the green energy procured from the network.
The event continued into the evening at Brandon Hall, Coventry with Meggitt guest speaker’s Mike Platt (GM & SVP for Ansty Park) and Rebecca Mayfield (Group Director of Ethics & Corporate Responsibility). Mike talked about the Ansty Park development and showed a ‘time lapse’ video of the entire build and emphasised the importance of Meggitt values: Teamwork, Integrity and Excellence. Rebecca followed with an inspiring talk on Sustainability through the Meggitt framework of ‘People, Planet and Technology’ while stressing the importance of corporate responsibilities to drive a sustainable future across the industry.
Delegates prepare for a tour of the Meggitt manufacturing facility and global headquarters at Ansty Park.
To close the evening, Coventry Branch President Stephen Pilling presented two outstanding service awards to Dr Barry Hobson (past-Coventry Branch President) for 55 years’ service and Ron Carr (current Coventry Branch Chair) for 40 years’ service, both a wonderful achievement.
Conference business took place on the Saturday which was preceded by a focus talk on ‘Young Professionals’. Discussions were led by Coventry Branch YP representative Sebastan Syncerz, committee member Andrew Fisher and guest speaker Pepe Elsworth (Meggitt Young Professionals – Employee Resource Group (ERG) Chair). Pepe talked about the importance of apprenticeships and graduate programmes with the support of structured mentoring and coaching, illustrating how they can pave the way for a sustainable future.
Coventry Branch President Stephen Pilling said: “This was a hugely successful event and I’m delighted in the attendance. It was fantastic to see such engagement from our attendees during all the discussions on sustainability and young professionals. There is clearly an appetite within the Society to work closer with young people and drive sustainable efforts throughout the aerospace industry. It’s an exciting time ahead.”
Stephen Pilling
CEng FRAeS Coventry Branch President