Aerospace Engineering Podcast

Wil Benton is the Venture & Ecosystem Director for the ATI Boeing Accelerator in London, UK. The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) is a UK organisation that creates the technology strategy for the UK aerospace sector and funds world-class research and development. The ATI recently launched a startup accelerator to accelerate the growth of new companies in industry 4.0 and sustainable development, with the aim of bolstering the growth and competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry. The programme is designed to help startups establish commercial relationships with global aerospace companies, like Boeing and GKN Aerospace, and to raise follow-on funding and engage with the wider UK aerospace sector. The first cohort of companies was recently announced and and you can check out a video of the selection day below. Wil’s background is originally in the tech industry as a founder of Chew, a live streaming platform for DJ’s, as well as an angel investor and startup advisor for the startup accelerator Ignite. In this episode, Wil and I speak about: his career background and route into the aerospace industry the goal and operational principle of the ATI Boeing Accelerator some of the aerospace startups in the first cohort of the accelerator and Wil’s passion for entrepreneurship and STEM engagement This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is brought to you by my patrons on Patreon. Patreon is a way for me to receive regular donations from listeners whenever I release a new episode, and with the help of these generous donors I have been able to pay for much of the expenses, hosting and travels costs that accrue in the production of this podcast. If you would like to support the podcast as a patron, then head over to my Patreon page. There are multiple levels of support, but anything from $1 an episode is highly appreciated. Thank you for your support! Selected Links from the Episode ATI Boeing Accelerator webpage Wil's Twitter and LinkedIn First cohort of startups Introducing the Accelerator Aerospace Technology Institute

Samy Libsig is one of the founders of the sport aircraft startup eXalt Aircraft Inc. eXalt currently comprises a team of three engineers that are bringing a unique combination of fresh design thinking and engineering experience to the world of sport airplanes. The vision of eXalt is to turn the sky into a playground with an aircraft that puts the pilot's flying experience in the foreground. This means an aircraft which is fun to fly, economical, maintenance friendly, and environmentally sustainable. Looking at the sport aircraft market, it is easy to notice that aircraft designs haven't evolved appreciably over the last couple of decades. This is probably for a good reason given that the laws of flying are obviously unchanged, and the design principles that worked in the past, are still valid today. But what is particularly fascinating is the manner in which eXalt Aircraft are using proven aerospace technologies and recombining them in novel ways to design an entirely modern aircraft. The result is an airplane that does not feature all of the most recent bells and whistles—just for the sake of using cutting-edge technology—but instead features a pragmatic design where each component has been carefully chosen to serve the company's vision of maximising the pilot experience. As you will hear in this episode, one of the best examples of this is eXalt's choice of a reinforced spaceframe design over an arguably lighter monocoque design. In this episode of the podcast, Samy and I talk about: the origins of eXalt their particular design philosophy some of the key design choices they have made and the near future of the company If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by supporting it directly on Patreon, where patrons of the podcast receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special episodes. Thanks a lot for listening! This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is brought to you by AnalySwift. Do you work in the design and analysis of aerospace structures and materials? If so, AnalySwift’s innovative engineering software SwiftComp may be the solution you’re seeking. Used either independently for virtual testing of aerospace composites or as a plugin to power conventional FEA codes, SwiftComp delivers the accuracy of 3D FEA in seconds instead of hours. A general-purpose multi-scale modelling program, SwiftComp provides an efficient and accurate tool for modelling aerospace structures and materials featuring anisotropy and heterogeneity. SwiftComp quickly calculates the complete set of effective properties needed for use in macroscopic structural analysis. It also accurately predicts local stresses and strains in the microstructure for predicting strengths. Find out how others in composites are saving time while improving accuracy, considering more design options, and arriving at the best solution more quickly. A no-cost Academic Partner Program is now available for eligible universities. For a free trial, visit analyswift.com. SwiftComp: Right results. Right away. This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace. Selected Links from the Episode eXalt Aircraft's webpages eXalt's Twitter and LinkedIn profiles For angel investors: eXalt's AngelList profile

Priyanka Dhopade received her PhD from the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia and was the recipient of the Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship award, awarded annually to the 35 most outstanding female aerospace PhD students worldwide. Since 2013 she has been researching the thermodynamics of jet engines in the Thermofluids Institute at Oxford University. Priyanka is an expert in computational fluid dynamics modelling of heat transfer, aerodynamics and aero-elasticity in jet engines. She is currently leading the modelling campaigns for various projects in collaboration with industry partners relating to turbine and compressor tip clearance control, turbine internal cooling and active flow control. In this episode, Priyanka and I talk about: the challenges of improving the efficiency of current gas turbines the intricacies of fluid dynamics modelling and a topic particularly close to her heart, the diversity challenge in STEM fields. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by supporting it directly on Patreon, where patrons of the podcast receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special episodes. Thanks a lot for listening! This episode is brought to you by KDC Resource—the experts in engineering recruitment for the aerospace and defence sector. For more than 15 years, KDC has been matching the very best engineers with the biggest names in the industry; from Airbus Group and GKN Aerospace to Cobham and BAE Systems. KDC’s deep talent pool of aerospace engineers means they are perfectly poised to meet your particular needs with the ideal candidate. In a time of unprecedented engineering skills shortage, KDC Resource will give you an edge over your competitors in the recruitment market. Selected Links from the Episode Priyanka's research profile at Oxford University Oxford Thermfluids Institute Turbine Cooling and Design Active tip-clearance control (Wiki and NASA) What is CFD? Women in Engineering at Oxford Priyanka on the BBC This is Engineering

On this episode I am speaking to Luca Leone who is the Head of Programme of AERALIS, a British startup designing a new class of military trainer and aerobatic jet aircraft. AERALIS have set out to re-invigorate the UK aircraft manufacturing sector with a military trainer that provides an exceptional pilot training experience. AERALIS' design is purposely modular meaning that a basic and an advanced version of the training aircraft are based on one common platform. This reduces costs in engine and airframe maintenance through training and spares commonality and also facilitates a shorter training period for pilots due to similarities between aircraft types. What’s more, AERALIS are developing a fully tailorable flying training system based on configurable cockpits and advanced simulators. In this way, AERALIS aim to not just be an aircraft manufacturer but a company that designs the total flying training experience. In this episode, Luca and I talk about: the features of the basic and advanced trainer aircraft the characteristics of the modular design the AERALIS training ecosystem and much, much more If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by supporting it directly on Patreon, where patrons of the podcast receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special episodes. Thanks a lot for listening! This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is brought to you by my patrons on Patreon. Patreon is a way for me to receive regular donations from listeners whenever I release a new episode, and with the help of these generous donors I have been able to pay for much of the expenses, hosting and travels costs that accrue in the production of this podcast. If you would like to support the podcast as a patron, then head over to my Patreon page. There are multiple levels of support, but anything from $1 an episode is highly appreciated. Thank you for your support! This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace. Selected Links from the Episode AERALIS website Design Training Ecosystem AERALIS Experience podcast FlightGlobal article on AERALIS

Aleksey Matyushev is the co-founder and CEO of Natilus, a startup headquartered in San Francisco. Natilus has set out to reduce global air freight costs through the use of large autonomous drones, and has moved quickly over the last couple of years to develop a sea-plane prototype to serve as a technology demonstrator. The engineers at Natilus are now moving ahead at full steam to design a land-based freighter drone based on a blended-wing body. As the name suggests, a blended aircraft has no clear demarcation line between wings and fuselage. Advantages of this approach are efficient lift generation aided by the wide airfoil-shaped body, allowing the entire aircraft to generate lift. This means that a blended wing body has better lift-to-drag ratios than a conventional aircraft, resulting in improved fuel efficiency. One particular challenge, however, is that a blended wing body does not feature a vertical and horizontal tail, and this makes controlling the aircraft particularly challenging. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast, Aleksey and I talk about: his educational journey to becoming an expert aerodynamicist the technical details of the freighter drone Natilus is designing Natilus’ business model and near-term developments that are in the pipeline Last but not least, Natilus is currently hiring for a number of roles. So if you're interested in working for an innovative, fast-moving company, then head over to their website. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by supporting it directly on Patreon, where patrons of the podcast receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special episodes. Thanks a lot for listening! This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is brought to you by my patrons on Patreon. Patreon is a way for me to receive regular donations from listeners whenever I release a new episode, and with the help of these generous donors I have been able to pay for much of the expenses, hosting and travels costs that accrue in the production of this podcast. If you would like to support the podcast as a patron, then head over to my Patreon page. There are multiple levels of support, but anything from $1 an episode is highly appreciated. Thank you for your support! This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace. Selected Links from the Episode Natilus website Careers page Prototype test of sea-based drone Another interview with Aleksey Fast Company profile of Natilus