Branch Newsletter Spring 2018 Edition Yeovil The 2018 ‘Reggie Brie’ Lecture Competition Entrants & Judges alongside Miss Brie (Left to Right) Bradley Antell, Ed Randall, Ruben Laranjeiro, Jonathan Mead, Elizabeth Brie, Tuesday Lewis, Andrew Lee, Mike Overd, and Mike Williams The Chairperson’s Column written by Jeremy Graham As Chair of the Specialist Group Chairpersons must show that a significant contribution has been Committee it was my privilege to hold ex-officio achieved in respect of the advancement of the art and positions on Council, on the Learned Society Board science of aerospace engineering. and on the Medals and Awards Committee. At the Those of you that receive Aerospace will have beginning of 2018 my tenure with the Specialist Groups seen that a number of senior Leonardo staff have been expired and I have handed over all of these obligations elected as Fellows of the Society. For the engineering to the new chair, Bernard Chan from Lockheed Martin, team this is the result of a proactive move initiated by Ampthill. Alisdair remains an elected member of the Yeovil site Chief Engineer to demonstrate the Council and members of the Yeovil Branch support inherent competence of the senior engineering team many of the committees and working groups that keep through the examination of their experience, the Society running smoothly. knowledge and skill by an independent learned body. It has been my honour to accept an invitation to Congratulations are extended to Alan Staple, Tim take up a full committee member post on the Medals Moore, John Shackell and Stephen Vellacott. Our new and Awards Committee which will keep me busy and Branch President, Geoff Munday has also been elected connected with the heart of the Society HQ activities. as a Fellow as of April 2018. The deadline for award nominations in the 2018 I would like to draw your attention to the coverage season has now passed and the committee will now of the Reggie Brie Young Persons Lecture Competition deliberate to determine the awards that Council will provided in this edition of the Newsletter. Once again make in September. I would like to remind all members the evening was a fascinating mix of subjects, of the branch as well as those that retain a less formal presented with skill and commitment by young link with the Society that the awards scheme is open to engineers beginning their career in our Industry. all comers and that anyone (member or otherwise) can Congratulations are due to Bradley Antell, the winner of submit a nomination. Details are on the Society web the 2018 Reggie Brie Trophy, but our thanks must be site and it’s not too early to plan for the 2019 round. extended to all of the 2018 competitors for giving us all The key criterion for success is that the nomination a most entertaining evening. Page | 1 Yeovil Branch Newsletter Spring 2018 Edition Meet The Yeovil Branch Committee Capt Craig Peaple, REME, BEng (Hons), MSc opportunity came up for the Bldg 100 (MOD) liaison officer. I have a passion for Engineering and enjoy Continuous Professional Development especially in the wider aviation community. What is your role on the committee and what does it entail? My role is to ensure that the MOD personnel in Bldg 100 and wider afield have an awareness of the branch and its lecture series. What do you value most about the RAeS? The excellent opportunity to keep up to date with advancements across the industry and wider engineering aspects. What do you think the RAeS should focus on in the future? The RAeS needs to ensure it encourages young Background engineers into its ranks but also to keep the more middle aged qualified engineers interested. The Yeovil Craig joined the Army and the Royal Electrical & Branch is particularly good at getting apprentices Mechanical Engineers (REME) on the 4th August 1991 involved and has a good engineer cohort to attract in. at 18 years old and began his training as an Aircraft Technician at Middle Wallop. During this time, he enjoyed postings to RNAS Yeovilton, Dishforth in North Yorkshire and Wattisham in Suffolk working in both 1st and 2nd line workshops maintaining Lynx and Gazelle aircraft. In 2004 Craig attended Artificer training, and throughout this period was deployed to Oman, Canada, Bosnia, Kenya and Iraq. Post Artificer training in 2005, Craig developed a close support repair platoon that focussed on general (metal) airframe repairs, along with composite structure repairs. He then trained on The Islander/Defender fixed Tell Us About Yourself wing aircraft and Apache Mk1, whilst simultaneously completing a Bachelor’s in Aircraft Engineering. Again, Where do you work and what is your role? throughout this period, Craig was deployed to a variety I am the Apache Project Team Engineering of locations, including Iraq, USA, Afghanistan, as well Performance Manager and I trouble shoot issues daily as to the Mediterranean on HMS OCEAN for 7 months. that affect performance of the main operating base on The work Craig was involved in was mainly either behalf of JHC as the customer, whilst monitoring the training for operations, or conducting them. contract performance of JHC and Leonardo Helicopters In 2012 Craig was promoted to Warrant Officer for Defence Equipment and Support. 1st Class and assigned to 5 Regt Army Air Corps in What is your greatest professional or personal Northern Ireland as Artificer Sergeant Major, before achievement? being Commissioned to the rank of Captain in the REME in 2013. He then completed 3 years working in Completing my MSc in Engineering and Larkhill with the Royal Artillery working on and Management in September 2017 developing Unmanned Air Systems. Recently in 2016, What is the biggest challenge you have faced? Craig was assigned to the Apache Project Team within Leonardo Helicopters, which has added a different As a soldier and therefore land based I spent 7 perspective to his career and given him the opportunity months deployed on HMS OCEAN during the Libya to complete an MSc in Engineering and Management. operation. Living inside the machine is not something I ever thought I would have to do and it was challenging Outside of work, Craig has interests in road and delivering Apache daily from those confines. mountain biking, mountain walking, SCUBA diving, How do you relax? kayaking and has recently bought a VW campervan. RAeS Involvement I have recently bought a VW Campervan and enjoy many outdoor pursuits. When did you join the Yeovil Branch committee and Describe yourself in three words. why? I joined the committee in Oct/Nov 2016 as the Professional, sociable and adventure-seeking. Page | 2 Yeovil Branch Newsletter Spring 2018 Edition Meet The Yeovil Branch Committee Sophie Watt, MEng, ARAeS promoting a better understanding of ‘engineering’ to the general public, conveying the huge variety in the industry and the large range of skills required to have a successful engineering industry here in the UK. Tell Us About Yourself Where do you work and what is your role? I work in the Material Laboratory at Leonardo Helicopters as a Non-Metallic Materials Engineer. I deal with non-metallic materials queries, production support and new composite material qualifications. What is your greatest professional or personal achievement? Background Being invited to join the RAeS Structures & Sophie grew up in Kent and was fortunate Materials Group. enough to attend a Grammar school for her secondary education. This allowed her to pursue a variety of How do you relax? subjects she found interesting mainly maths, science, I am an avid fan of classical music and am an music and strangely textiles. This resulted in a bizarre experienced singer and flautist. I am also in the contrast in options for university where she chose process of renovating my Georgian house here in between fashion design and engineering! Yeovil, a long-term but very rewarding pastime! Sophie went on to study Aeronautics and Describe yourself in three words. Astronautics at University of Southampton, achieving an MEng in 2012. She joined AgustaWestland on the Organised, Creative, Kind graduate programme and spent her placements in AW101 Design, Rotors, Shop support, Transmissions, Name the Aircraft Projects and the Materials Laboratory where she currently works as a Non-metallic materials engineer. Sophie is half French loves to travel, spending a lot of her spare time traveling (or dreaming about traveling!) RAeS Involvement When did you join the Yeovil Branch committee and why? Westland’s Historic Archive has a large array of I joined the committee in July 2014 as I wanted to images over a wide range of aircraft. become more involved in the Society and develop my This is a snap shot of an historical Westland professional network. aircraft post flight, but what is the aircraft? And what is What is your role on the committee and what does it the connection with Westland? entail? Page 3 Model I am currently the Deputy Secretary, taking care of meeting minutes when our secretary David is not available. I have a keen interest in STEM and try and get involved in our local events as much as possible. What do you value most about the RAeS? I think the knowledge and experience of the RAeS members is invaluable and being a young member provides great opportunities to learn from others, both in my field of interest, and in a wider range engineering disciplines. What do you think the RAeS should focus on in the future? The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was a Promoting engineering; both in young people to licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51. encourage them to pursue it as a career and hopefully The Dragonfly entered service with the Royal Navy in fill the skills gap that will soon become critical, and in 1950 in the air-sea rescue role.