Delivering a flying start to the next generation of aerospace engineers

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Markets

Defense 
Location

Nationwide
Client

The Flying Start Challenge

Our team's work on the Flying Start Challenge is supporting the development of the next generation of aerospace engineers.

There is a skills shortage in the Aerospace industry, with young people lacking awareness of the exciting careers available in the sector. The Flying Start Challenge is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) competition designed to develop students’ knowledge of flight and give them hands-on engineering experience.

The challenge sees students in school years 7 to 9 tasked with designing, building and testing a model glider that can carry a small mass over the furthest distance. Regional heats narrow down the teams to twelve finalists, who compete in a Grand Final at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.

It’s been hugely rewarding helping the students understand more about flight, and giving them an insight into the huge range of potential careers in the aerospace sector. Our teams are committed to continuing to increase schools’ engagement with the Flying Start Challenge, extending its reach and broadening the opportunity it offers to young people.

Adam Conner

Junior Engineer

The solution

As a sponsor of the 2021/22 Flying Start Challenge, a team of AtkinsRéalis graduates and apprentices worked in partnership with five other local aerospace firms to manage, plan, organise, grow and support the challenge in the Bristol region. Over 400 students took part, from 30 schools across the South West.

The AtkinsRéalis volunteers spent time at local schools, teaching students the basic principles of flight – including the forces that work on an aeroplane (lift, drag, weight and thrust) – design, material properties, manufacture, and testing. By giving them hands-on engineering experience, they helped them understand how engineers design and build the systems and equipment that underpin our daily lives.

Entrants then took part in regional heats, completing a quiz and poster competition, as well as a glider fly-off to earn their place in the final. The Bristol heat, at Aerospace Bristol, was organised and run by the AtkinsRéalis volunteers.

For the Grand Final, students faced a number of engineering challenges: building a catapult to launch a chocolate egg as far as possible; creating a contraption to safely protect an egg when dropped from two metres; and constructing a bridge able to withstand the weight of multiple toy cars. Judging criteria for the gliders included distance flown, innovation of design, and use of recycled materials.

Teaching the students, seeing their progress from initial understanding in lessons, right through to the grand finals was hugely worthwhile. It was also a great development activity for the team – by taking part in external committees, alongside other leading engineering companies, we gained a host of skills: including budgeting, leadership, getting stakeholder buy-in, communications and many more. It was lots of responsibility, but delivering it gave us a real sense of achievement.

Akhil Dewan

Junior Engineer

The result

The students were supported to gain an understanding of the fundamentals of flight and the basics of aerospace engineering, plus practical engineering experience. Working together, they also developed important personal skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, and leadership. Teams who made it to the Grand Final were also presented with the Engineering Development Trust’s Industrial Cadets’ Bronze Award.

By increasing students’ awareness and understanding of STEM subjects and careers it is hoped that they will be inspired to pursue careers in STEM.

AtkinsRéalis has a longstanding commitment to the Flying Start Challenge, having supported it since 2014, and has been recognised for its significant contribution to inspiring young people into the aerospace industry by the Aerospace Growth Partnership and Industrial Cadets.

Junior Engineer Becquerel Watson who, alongside Adam Conner and Akhil Dewan, supported the Flying Start Challenge said: "The Flying Start Challenge is not only a great way to bring STEM into schools and provide an excellent experience for students, but is also a brilliant opportunity for AtkinsRéalis’ Young Professionals to develop a large range of skills in a rewarding setting. As a committee member you have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with other aerospace companies. You are granted a great deal of responsibility and are able to oversee a full project from start to finish. You have involvement with a range of project management activities and are encouraged to present your progress to a stakeholder regularly. This allows for a lot of skills to be learned and developed in a non-client-facing environment.

“From a volunteering perspective, Young Professionals at AtkinsRéalis gain experience with teaching within schools. They also develop a range of skills during the finals. As with any event, it is necessary to be able to be flexible and provide support where needed. This meant as well as gaining experience with facilitating, judging or further teaching, the Young Professionals learned to be adaptive and good at problem solving whilst being friendly and approachable for the students.”

Delivering a flying start to the next generation of aerospace engineers

The solution

The result

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