A bit about me
I’m currently in my final year at Loughborough University studying towards an MEng in aeronautical engineering. I have completed a year in industry with BAE systems and three summer internships with Rolls-Royce, GE Oil and Gas and a summer bursary with Loughborough University. Whilst at university I’ve also been involved in a number of societies, including LSU Sing and Gliding. I had the opportunity to be a sports SIO for the department and also for Sing in 2017, helping run and promote departmental and societies sports events. I then went onto become the chair of LSU Sing in my third year. I’ve also had the opportunity to be involved in department as a peer mentor to first year students, I was also elected as the course representative in my second year.
A bit about aeronautical engineering and Loughborough University
Aeronautical engineering is a great course and has taught me lots of personal skills such as teamwork and leadership, as well as technical knowledge. Most engineering courses have lots of modules which means you can go as specialised or general as you’d like during your degree! At Loughborough, Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering are in their own department and therefore only have lectures with students of those two courses, this is unusual as most engineering courses are taught inter-departmental. Having departmental lectures allows students to build good working relationships with the lecturers and have a good connection with department. At Loughborough in the first two years there is very little choice in what modules can be taken to get everyone to the same level of technical knowledge, then in the final two years you can become more specialised. Most engineering courses have at least some focus on group work, with most courses including group design projects which can come in many forms.
What types of project could I be involved in?
As part of my final year, a group of thirteen finalists have undertaken a design project to design an aircraft for integration into the current Maldives transport system. This is just one example of many diverse projects available, including lunar tourism and medical evacuation. The image is a CAD Render of the design as it is now, which is nearly complete! The project has run over two semesters with semester one’s focus being on the requirements of the aircraft and carrying out research the set solid foundations for the design. Semester two has been focused on the initial and detailed design phases of the aircraft.
As a group of thirteen is quite large, we have split into subgroups to make the detailed design more manageable, such teams include aerodynamics, systems, stability and performance and risk analysis. This has meant that everyone has had their own individual contribution to the aircraft. For example, I am part of the aerodynamics team, with my main responsibilities being aerofoil selection and analysis and propeller design and analysis.
Email: oliviakatetomlinson@gmail.com
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