Aerospace Engineering Podcast

"You could say: What could we possibly do next? You look back at history and say: All the shelves must be full now! We must have the capabilities to do everything we need. And yet, we still go on...It's your generation that is going to Mars. So please, can you get on with it and do it, because I want to enjoy it from the augmented reality that other engineers are going to produce." --- Ian Lane This episode features Ian Lane, Senior Expert in Composite Analysis for Airbus UK. Ian has more than 40 years of experience in the aerospace industry and his career has taken him from British Hovercraft to British Aerospace, Westland Helicopters and finally to his current role at Airbus. On top of this broad aerospace background, Ian's specialty are modern composite airframes and he was the lead stress engineer on the Airbus A400M and Airbus A350. Ian is also a Visiting Professor in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol, and a great example of an industry leader who knows how to inspire the next generation of young engineers. Indeed, Ian is actively involved with the Airbus Fly Your Ideas campaign, and a regular attendee at many international research conferences. In this episode Ian and I discuss: his career progression from apprentice to Senior Expert at Airbus the incredible safety record of the aerospace industry why the demise of Concorde wasn't a step backwards how Airbus fosters innovation and out-of-the-box thinking why inclusion and diversity in engineering are so important and much, much more I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron. What have you learned from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here. This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and processes, consider attending the SAMPE 2018 Technical Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California. Selected Links from the Episode Airbus in Bristol & Filton, UK British Hovercraft Company Westland Helicopters (for a time known as AugustaWestland and now Leonardo Helicopters) Sikorsky Crisis, also known as the Westland Affair British Aerospace (now known as BAE Systems) The EU TANGO project (overview slides) A400M and A350 airframes, and contrasts between the two Evolution of composite application at Airbus Airbus Helicopters NH90 and Tiger Bend-twist coupling in aircraft wings Clean Sky initiative New aerospace metallic alloys Additive manufacturing and bionic 3D printing at Airbus Aerospace testing pyramid and virtual testing Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites A picture history of aviation safety and the "anti-fragile" nature of aircraft design Concorde demise and the Concorde Museum Airbus Fly Your Ideas Diversity at Airbus, Diversity & Inclusion in Engineering Women of NASA Lego Evolution of flying machines

On this episode of the podcast I speak to Mike Lawton, who is the founder and CEO of Oxford Space Systems (OSS). OSS is an award-winning space technology company that is developing a new generation of deployable space structures that are lighter, simpler and cheaper than current products on the market. These deployable structures deploy antennas and solar panels on satellites orbiting earth, and are tricky to design because they need to package to a fraction of their deployed size, and need to be as lightweight as possible. OSS’ first product, the AstroTube boom, was launched into space and deployed on a cubesat in September 2016. This achievement set a new industry record in terms of development time, going from company formation to orbit in under 30 months. I met Mike at the OSS design office to talk about: venture capital funding of NewSpace companies how the design philosophy of NewSpace companies differs from established firms how origami, the Japanese art of folding, is being used to design more efficient deployable structures the flexible composites technology that OSS are developing and his vision for the future of space commercialisation I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron. This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and processes, consider attending the SAMPE 2018 Technical Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California. Selected Links from the Episode Oxford Space Systems: Technology overview AstroTube AstroHinge Origami and unpacking in space (Part 1, Part 2) First product launch Harwell Space Cluster Catapult Satellite Applications NewSpace UK Space Agency Funding Prof. Zhong You, Oxford University Asteroid mining

On this episode I am speaking to Nick Sills who is the founder of Contra Electric Propulsion Ltd. Nick’s engineering background is in developing underwater propulsion systems for the offshore oil and gas industry. He has designed products ranging from a hydraulically powered excavator for pipeline route trenching, to the world’s biggest deep water excavator. He received a Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for the "Jet Prop" tool, a 5 m diameter propeller that is powered by ejecting high pressure seawater from its propeller blades. Nick founded his most recent company, Contra Electric Propulsion, to develop a contra-rotating propeller system for the light aircraft market. Contra-rotating propeller systems typically use two propellers mounted in series that spin in opposite directions. The fact that props are spinning in both directions alleviates many of the attitude and control problems when flying aircraft. Contra-rotation has rarely found its way onto modern, gas-powered aircraft because the variable-pitch requirement for efficient operation has made the system overly expensive, complex and maintenance intensive. By changing the power source from fossil fuels to electrons, however, many components of the modern aircraft can be designed differently. With new electric motors it is now possible to build a much simpler, fixed-pitch, contra-rotating propulsion system for light aircraft. As an aerobatic pilot, Nick immediately realised the massive advantages of instantaneous torque delivery and reversible thrust that electric motors can provide. That's why he believes that the next big advance in light aircraft propulsion will be a battery-powered, twin motor, contra-rotating system with fixed-pitch propellers. Since this has now become technically feasible, he is privately building one to prove it. 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 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 multiscale modeling program, SwiftComp provides an efficient and accurate tool for modeling aerospace structures and materials featuring anisotropy and heterogeneity. Not only does SwiftComp quickly calculate 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, designing earlier in the process, and getting to market more quickly. 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 Contra Electric Propulsion Why electric? Contra Electric's system components Benefits of the system Background on Nick and his flying and offshore days Contra-rotation in action: videos Forwards propulsion Forwards/Backwards propulsion Full capability: one/two rotor, forward/backward

In this episode I am talking to Lachlan Matchett, who is the VP of Propulsion at Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab is a startup rocket company with the mission of removing barriers to commercial space by frequent launches to low-earth orbit. The current conundrum of many space technology companies that want to launch small satellites into space is that there is no dedicated launch service tailored to their needs. This is where Rocket Lab enters the picture. To provide small payloads with a flexible and dedicated launch vehicle, Rocket Lab has developed the Electron rocket. The Electron is a two-stage rocket that can be tailored to unique orbital requirements and provides frequent flight opportunities at personalised schedules. In terms of the engineering, there are many interesting features to the Electron rocket, but one of the key innovations is the Rutherford engine that Lachlan Matchett and his team have developed over the last five years. Rutherford is the first oxygen/kerosene-powered engine to use 3D printing for all primary components. In fact, the Rutherford engine can be printed in an astounding 24 hrs, and this is one of the driving factors behind Rocket Lab's cost efficiency and high target launch frequency. So in this episode, Lachlan and I talk about: Rocket Lab's business model their recent launch success in Jan 2018 some of the engineering highlights of the Rutherford engine and Rocket Lab's plans for the future I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron. Also, as of this writing Rocket Lab is hiring, so make sure to check out their careers page. You can tune into Rocket Lab's future launches by following Rocket Lab on Twitter. What have you learned from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here. This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and processes, consider attending the SAMPE 2018 Technical Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California. Selected Links from the Episode Rocket Lab Electron rocket Rutherford Engine Careers at Rocket Lab Rocket Lab on Twitter Follow the Humanity Star Lachlan Matchett wins Young Engineer of the Year Jan 2018 launch "Still Testing" (launch video countdown at 14:50) Rocket Lab's upcoming launch "It's Business Time"

Dr Steve Bullock is an engineering researcher in air-to-air refuelling and cooperative control of UAVs, as well as the Programme Director of the Aerospace Engineering programme at the University of Bristol. As the programme director of a leading European aerospace engineering programme, Steve has a unique vantage point on how the higher education landscape is changing, and specifically, how technology trends such as aviation sustainability and digitisation are changing the requirements for an engineering university education in the 21st century. As a TeachFirst ambassador and presenter of the Cosmic Shed podcast, Steve has a clear passion for education in general and is actively exploring different ways of disseminating technical information to a broad audience. In this episode of the podcast Steve and I talk about, his path into aerospace engineering and how he found his passion for teaching his PhD work on air-to-air refuelling and cooperative control what he considers to be some of the key challenges in engineering university education how the Aerospace Engineering department in Bristol is planning for the future and much, much more. 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 Steve's personal webpage and University of Bristol profile Steve's Twitter and LinkedIn The Cosmic Shed Live: TRON in the Planetarium (Eventbrite) Aerospace Engineering in Bristol Can flying go green? The Science behind 2001: A Space Odyssey Flipping lectures for increased teaching effectiveness TeachFirst