Name: Aayushma Shrestha, 20
Location: Cambridge, UK.
Job title: Aerospace Engineering Apprentice.
What inspired you into aviation? My inspiration for aerospace developed from my early age obsession with flying cars. As a child, it was a big wish of mine to be able to use a flying car to travel. Growing up, however, I realised that my interest wasn’t necessarily ‘flying cars’, it was the ability to make man-made machines fly and hence started my interest in aircraft and, especially, rockets. We are currently at the timeline where there is continuous development on interplanetary travel and I want to be a part of this growth.
What is the best thing about your current role? My current role as an apprentice has helped me gain theoretical knowledge on aviation, as well as the practical knowledge on how the industry works. Starting the journey to building a career is quite daunting but this opportunity to learn on the job has been very insightful. I have been able to learn multiple things which I’m sure will be helpful throughout my journey.
What made you join the Royal Aeronautical Society? As I am only just starting out my career in aerospace, I don’t have a solid grounding on how the industry within the country works and is developing. A big part of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s attraction was the near constant feed of information and updates that the Society presents to its members. I knew being part of the RAeS would help raise my awareness of the aerospace industry while also connecting me to like-minded individuals.
What do you hope to get out of your membership with the RAeS? As I mentioned before, the most important thing for me at the moment is increased knowledge of the aerospace industry and also my networks. Through the RAeS, I have been able to attend multiple lectures about various topics, as well as other events organised to help individuals like me further our careers. I’ve been able to learn a lot from events like these and I hope I continue to do so in the future as well.
What three items would you take with you to the space station? Camera, writing book + pen (they will be attached together just so they can be counted as one item) and a good serving of a coffee hot chocolate mixture.
What’s your favourite aircraft? This is a bit of a difficult question seeing as I’ve never really thought of this. I’d say at the moment, I’m most interested in the Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo. It’s a dual fuselage jet aircraft that’s designed to carry and launch their SpaceShipTwo which is designed for commercial space travel. The concept of air-launching space vehicles using jet aircraft is something that I’ve only recently learnt of, so it’s been great to expand my knowledge on the topic.
Who is your biggest inspiration? It’s hard to name a specific person as the biggest inspiration but if I had to pinpoint, I’d say it’s my parents. They have always pushed me to be the best I can be and I know I can always turn to them when in need of some life advice.
Piece of advice for someone looking to enter your field? One of the best pieces of advice I personally received was that it’s okay to not be 100% sure of exactly what section of the field you want to get into. Follow the opportunities you find and keep persevering. It is well known that aerospace as a field is fairly difficult, so take advantage of the experts around you and don’t be shy to ask the questions you need to ask.
