Autumn Conference and Launch

Citation

(2002), "Autumn Conference and Launch", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774bab.001

Autumn Conference and Launch

Keywords: Launch, Aerospace industry, Research, Teaching, Specialist Groups, SBAC, Royal Aeronautical Society

For the last few years the Association of Aerospace Universities (AAU) have organised a number of conferences on aerospace Higher Education which have reflected the special relationship that so many British Universities have with the aerospace industry. However, as the AAU has become, in terms of size, the principal organisation for co-ordinating support for the UK's aerospace industry by British universities, a formal launch ceremony was considered overdue.

The AAU's organising committee selected Bristol as the venue for this event, partly because of the long and rich links the city has had with aircraft manufacture, but also because it is situated in the middle of the country's largest aerospace community. Thus, the South-West has over 500 aerospace companies including the UK's principal producers such as Airbus, Westland, Rolls- Royce, Smiths Industries and Messier Dowty. During the afternoon of the 24^th October 2001, many guests travelled to Bristol and were treated to presentations and tours by Airbus UK and Roll-Royce prior to the official proceedings, hosted by the University of Bristol, on the 25th. Nevertheless, the event really started the night before, on board a ship!

Plate 1 Richard Noble giving his after-diner speech in the First Class saloon of the SS Great Britain

The photograph above (Plate 1) is of Richard Noble, who led the ThrustSSC project that, in 1997, achieved the world's first supersonic land speed record of 763 mph, giving an after-dinner speech on board the SS Great Britain, the world's first propeller driven steamship designed by Brunel. Over 70 guests heard Richard's talk about his current project to build a new aeroplane, the Farnborough F1. Not only is the F1 an advanced composite aircraft, but Richard believes that by operating it from local airports, overall travelling time can be dramatically reduced as passengers waste large amounts of time going to and from major terminals and within the terminals. Indeed, he predicted the demise of large aircraft once the general public has had experience of his virtual door to door concept. To Richard's right can be seen Iain Gray, Airbus's Vice President Wing Integration, who is leading the design team at Bristol on, amongst other projects, the giant A380, perhaps listening with an unusual intensity.

The following day, at Bristol University's Will's Hall, over 200 guests from the UK's aerospace universities and the industry were given a warm welcome by the new Vice- Chancellor Eric Thomas. This was followed by speeches from John Barnes (Plate 2), President of the AAU and Alan Jocelyn, its Chairman and the guest speakers, David Marshall (Plate 3), Director General of the Society of British Aircraft Companies (SBAC) and David Mans, Director of the Royal Aeronautical Society. They talked principally about their organisations' role in supporting the UK's aerospace industry and praised the AAU for its initiative which was seen as crucial for a number of reasons, especially the demand for more and better trained graduates and the crucial importance of academic research.

Plate 2 John Barnes describing the UK's rich aircraft heritage that the AAU is building on

Plate 3 David Marshall presenting the SBAC to a packed theatre

The buffet lunch was held in one of the University's splendid oak-panelled dining rooms with displays from Airbus, Westland Helicopters, QinetQ and the Bristol/ University of the West of England, Integrated Graduate Development Scheme from whom higher aerospace degrees can be obtained. In the afternoon, three technical lectures were given. The first was by Paul Chinnock of Airbus UK who described the process behind the launch of the giant new Airbus, the A380. This was followed by Rob Savage of Rolls- Royce, Chief Engineer Trent 900, who spoke of the technical challenges in developing the new high thrust engine for the A380. The final lecture was by Geoff Byham, Chief Scientist at Westland Helicopters of Yeovil, who discussed the complexities of rotary wing design and how the industry still needs further fundamental research into the properties of such wings. He also offered to host the next AAU conference that will be held at Yeovil on Thursday 31^st January 2002. The meeting was closed by Stephen Hoddell, Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of the West of England.

The membership of the AAU in now twenty-nine, comprised of twenty-four universities and five industrial companies. Further information can be found on the AAU's website http://www.aau.ac.uk or by contacting the following:

Alan Jocelyn, Chairman of the AAU. Tel: 0117 344 3500; Fax: 0117 344 3636; E-mail: alan.jocelyn@uwe.ac.uk

Dr Mike West, Secretary of the AAU. Tel: 0247 688 8648; Fax: 0247 688 8949; E-mail: mike.west@coventry.ac.uk