Podcast Ep. #3 – Airbus Senior Expert Ian Lane on the A350, Innovation in Aerospace, and Diversity in Engineering

12/19/17 • 51 min

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"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

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Podcast Ep. #2 – Prof. Paul Weaver on Shape, Stiffness and Smart Aerospace Structures

"There's been a lot of good press from the science community on self-assembly of atoms. Well, I guess what I'm looking for is self-assembly and disassembly of large-scale structures...There is all sorts of exciting things we can do when [engineering] structures re-configure themselves." --- Prof. Paul Weaver This episode features Prof. Paul Weaver, who holds a Bernal Chair in Composite Structures at the University of Limerick in Ireland, and is the Professor in Lightweight Structures at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Lightweight design plays a crucial role in the aerospace industry, and Paul has worked on some fascinating concepts for more efficient aircraft structures. Paul's research has influenced analysis procedures and product design at NASA, Airbus, GKN Aerospace, Augusta Westland Helicopters, Vestas (and many more), and in this episode we cover some of his past accomplishments and his vision for the future. Central to this vision is artificial metamorphosis, which is a term that Paul coined to describe structures that re-configure by dis-assembly and re-assembly to adapt and optimise on the fly. Although Paul thinks that this vision of engineering structures is still 50 years into the future, he is well known for his work on a related technology: topological shape-morphing. The simplest example of a morphing structure is a leading edge slat, which is used on all commercial aircraft today to prevent stall at take off and landing. Paul, on the other hand, envisions morphing structures that are more integral, that is without joints and which do not rely on heavy actuators to function. Apart from artificial metamorphosis, Paul and I discuss his teenage dreams of becoming a material scientist his work with Mike Ashby at Cambridge University on material and shape factors interesting coupling effects in composite materials that can be used for elastic tailoring his work with Augusta Westland helicopters on novel rotor blades why NASA contacted him about his research on buckling of rocket shells and much, much more I hope that you get a feel for Paul’s enthusiasm for aerospace engineering. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron. Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Prof. Paul Weaver! What have you learned from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here. Selected Links from the Episode Bernal Institute, University of Limerick Paul’s research group at the University of Limerick and the University of Bristol Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down and The New Science of Strong Materials: Or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor by Prof. J E Gordon Prof. Mike Ashby, materials selection using Ashby plots and its geometrical counterpart: shape factors, CES Materials Selector Second moment of area AugustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopter that uses bend-twist coupling in the rotor blades to decouple vibration modes Bend-twist coupling of a wing-box explained on the Grumman X-29 Geometrically swept wind-turbine blades for improved performance Imperfection sensitivity of cylinders (the introduction of this paper conveys the message) Video of collapsing soda can and "scientific" crush test Morphing: NASA morphing aircraft FlexSys wing without flaps A project by NASA and MIT on flexible morphing structures NASA shape-shifting wings A morphing air inlet A video featuring Paul talking about his research and vision for artificial metamorphosis Some topics related to metamorphosis are: Molecular self-assembly 4D printing Re-configurable materials The deHavilland Mosquito, the importance of phenolic resins in constructing the Mosquito, and Norman de Bruyne

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Podcast Ep. #4 – Kim-Tobias Kohn on Electric Aviation

"We need to get going into the future in terms of clean aviation" --- Kim-Tobias Kohn On this episode of the podcast I speak to Kim-Tobias Kohn who is a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of the West of England. Beside his main vocation, Kim is also an avid pilot and runs an electric skateboard startup company. Kim has garnered attention in the media and from aerospace societies in the UK for his unique university project of building an electric glider with his undergraduate students. For obvious reasons, building an electric passenger aircraft that can replace current fuel-powered airliners is significantly more challenging than replacing gasoline cars with electric vehicles. However, there is a growing grass-roots initiative developing in the UK that is attempting to solve some of the regulatory and technical challenges to realise this vision of electric aviation. So in this episode Kim and I talk about: the unique regulatory framework for experimental aircraft in the UK known as the E-conditions the major technical hurdles that need to be overcome to make electric aviation a reality how the UAV/drone sector is opening doors for larger-scale electric aviation his university project of building an electric glider his dreams for a student-led design, build and fly competition for electric aircraft 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 Kim's electric glider project and his YouTube Vlog Kim's company emotion engineering (UAV's, electric skateboards and aerial photography) More info from the University of the West of England about the undergraduate electric glider project Royal Aeronautical Society on electric flight The UK E-conditions Airbus, Rolls Royce and Siemens E-fan hybrid electric aircraft EasyJet on electric aircraft Wired on electric aircraft Electric flight potential and limitations Formula Student and Formula SAE SolarFlight solar-powered planes Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems