Message from RAeS

OUR PRESIDENT

Howard Nye

As we enter the New Year 2022, I wish to thank all our Society members, our Divisions, Branches and Specialist Groups, our Committees, our Corporate Partners and all associated volunteers for their continuing collective contribution to attainment of the Society Mission ‘to be recognised as the leading professional community and independent source of knowledge in aerospace, aviation and space’.

I also wish to thank our Executive Team under the new leadership of David Edwards for their dedication and effort on all fronts, be it organising conferences and events, supporting our committees, co-ordinating inputs to government consultations, and keeping the Society running in these very challenging times, particularly for the aviation world.

I was very pleased to have been able to participate in the Medals and Awards Night, held at No.4 Hamilton Place on 22 November, and to meet the teams and individuals to receive their awards in person. As usual, the event was very well hosted by Jenny Body, Chair of the Medals and Awards Committee. Each year, the President is accorded the honour to propose two specific awards:

- The President’s Award, recognising outstanding skill and professionalism in the field of aviation and aeronautics, especially in adverse circumstances and this time conferred to Dr Johanna Jordaan, Chief of the Aviation Medicine Section at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and programme manager of CAPSCA (The Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation). Dr Jordaan was commended, in particular, for the development of global guidance, tools and recommendations for governments, aviation regulators and industry to implement public health measures to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in international aviation.

- The Sir Robert Hardingham Presidential Sword, a prestigious award presented annually by the President in recognition of outstanding service to the Society and was conferred on this occasion to Sir Brian Burridge, not only for his long and constructive participation in Society matters, but more specifically for his guidance and leadership as Society Chief Executive, in the face of the financial and social impact of Covid-19 on the workings of the Society, and allowing us to ‘keep our heads above water’ throughout.

AS WE ENTER THE NEW YEAR 2022, I WISH TO THANK ALL OUR SOCIETY MEMBERS, OUR DIVISIONS, BRANCHES AND SPECIALIST GROUPS, OUR COMMITTEES, OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS AND ALL ASSOCIATED VOLUNTEERS

In the latter context, I was able to participate at the Specialist Groups Autumn Brief, chaired by Tony Henley, and held virtually on 26 November. The main message was that, given the reduced size and hence capacity of the Executive Team, the Society would be holding five major events in 2022, organised by the Society Events Team with specialist input from the Specialist Groups on content and speakers. Other events are welcome but will need to be organised largely by the Specialist Groups themselves.

Although unable to travel to Montreal, I was pleased to have been able to provide a video introduction for the Montreal Branch Assad Kotaite Named Lecture, held on 30 November 2021. The speaker on this occasion was Peter Harbison, Chairman Emeritus of the CAPA – Centre for Aviation, based in Sydney, Australia, and who talked on the subject of ‘Aviation to 2030: Navigating the most confronting decade in history’, addressing many of these complex and urgent issues facing the aviation industry today.

On 2 December, I was honoured to chair the City Forum Event ‘Space Strategy for the UK’, with a number of very interesting speakers, including:

Patrick Cahill, Deputy Director in the Cabinet Office’s Strategic Partnering Programme with responsibility for supporting and developing Suppliers to the UK Space Sector
Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult
Ed Stainton, Director of Government Business at British Telecom
Mike Taylor, Head of Strategy and Parliamentary and Public Affairs at the UK Space Agency
Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall

As a final word, I would like to remind all members to consider standing for election to Council, the effectiveness of which depends on its composition, namely a diverse and inclusive range of motivated experts from all domains of aerospace, aviation and space, to guide the direction of the Society in our ever-evolving world. Anyone interested in standing for Council should visit the link: https://www.aerosociety.com/about-us/governance/council-elections/, and bear in mind that the deadline for nominations to Council is 31 January 2022.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful New Year.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE TEAM

Pearl Mensah – Director of Membership and Professional Standards

Happy New Year to all RAeS members.

My name is Pearl Mensah and as the Director of Membership and Professional Standards I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of speaking and corresponding with many Society members over the years.

I’m delighted to have the opportunity in this edition of AEROSPACE to highlight some of the work of the Directorate which relies so heavily on the multitude of volunteer members who generously support our activities with their time, expertise and guidance.

The main workstreams with the Membership and Professional Standards Department are activities relating to:

Careers, Education and Skills
End Point Assessments for Apprenticeships
Engineering Council registration
Accreditation of academic programmes and professional development schemes
Diversity and Inclusion
Corporate Partnerships
Membership recruitment and retention
Continuing Professional Development

You’ll note from the workstreams within the Directorate, that the Society recognises its responsibility to keep a healthy pipeline of talent flowing into the aerospace, aviation and space industries. As many of you are aware, we endeavour to achieve this by informing and inspiring young people about the exciting and rewarding opportunities that a career in our sectors can bring. This area of important work has been tirelessly led by Rosalind Azouzi FRAeS, Head of Education, Skills and Diversity, for the past 17 years. Our thanks go to Ros, who left the Society at the end of December to take up an Executive Director role with another professional membership body.

As we look ahead to 2022 we will strengthen our focus in this area and will build on all the excellent work to date. We are thrilled to take this opportunity to expand our Education, Skills and Diversity Team from three staff members to four. We’re very much looking forward to delivering a number of key projects to continue to inspire and enthuse the next generation of talent into our sectors.

IT HAS BEEN REASSURING THAT THE SOCIETY’S MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS HAVE HELD STEADY THROUGHOUT 2020 AND 2021

December 2021 saw the launch of the Falcon 2, Accessible Flight Simulator STEM Challenge. Falcon 2 aims to provide an opportunity for young people, and especially disadvantaged young people (primarily Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEND), to enjoy the stimulation of a creative endeavour outside their day-to-day experience, namely, flight simulation. This initiative will aim to become the Society’s flagship programme for secondary school children.

The Society is now looking for our Corporate Partners to support the project management of Falcon 2 with a secondee for six months. This would be a fantastic opportunity for an early-career professional on a graduate or apprenticeship scheme. The secondee would not need to be London-based and could support the programme remotely. If your company is interested in providing secondee support please contact the Society’s Education, Skills & Diversity Manager, nicholas.davis@aerosociety.com.

Our annual careers and recruitment fair, Careers in Aerospace & Aviation LIVE, was held virtually in November 2020 and 2021. Both events were well attended and received fantastic feedback. CIAAL 2021 attracted over 900 visitors from all over the world who had the opportunity to interact with exhibitors, who included Martin-Baker, Future Flight Challenge, Safran, Cranfield University and Leonardo. We’d like to express our thanks to Boeing for their continued support to CIAAL, helping connect our talented people with new opportunities, despite the recent challenges facing recruitment. We are looking forward to returning Careers in Aerospace & Aviation LIVE to No.4 in 2022.

The challenges faced by teachers and school pupils during the pandemic have been well documented. In 2021 we continued to deliver our flagship primary school outreach programme, Cool Aeronautics, virtually with the support of Airbus, SheMaps, ESA and Leonardo (see Cool Aeronautics online). In 2022, we hope to bring back Cool Aeronautics to schools in person.

The Society’s focus on embedding diversity and inclusion across our activities is led by our Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Women in Aerospace and Aviation Committee. Our work continues to move the barrier to inclusion within the sector so that all voices are heard, listened to and acted upon.

To be an effective Learned Body, we need a diverse membership embracing the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, cultural and gender diversity to represent all sectors of the aviation and aerospace community. We continue the journey into 2022, with the second Mary Jackson named lecture in January and more podcasts and events to celebrate the achievements of everyone within the aerospace and aviation industry.

It has been reassuring that the Society’s membership numbers have held steady throughout 2020 and 2021. The Membership Team have continued to work closely with Corporate Partner companies, universities and volunteers promoting membership, professional development and registration through delivery of online briefings and workshops. The continued support from Society members through the nomination process, encouraging Members and Fellows to nominate colleagues for membership through a streamlined application route, has also been invaluable. With that I’ll end with a gentle reminder to all that nominations for the Council election close on 31 January.