Showing posts with label Royal Aeronautical Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Royal Aeronautical Society. Show all posts

18 December, 2023

The Royal Aeronautical Society has announced its 2023 winners.

The Royal Aeronautical Society is proud to announce the 2023 winners of the global aerospace community’s most prestigious and long-standing awards honouring achievement and innovation.


The Society’s Awards Ceremony, held in London yesterday evening [Thursday 14th December], recognises and celebrates individuals and teams who have made an exceptional contribution in the aerospace, aviation or space industries, whether it is for an outstanding achievement, a major technical innovation, exceptional leadership or for work that will further advance the industry.


Kerissa Khan MRAeS, President of the Royal Aeronautical Society said:


“The Royal Aeronautical Society Honours, Medals and Awards are the most prestigious and long-standing recognition of innovation and excellence in aerospace, aviation and space globally. The RAeS has been honouring pioneers of flight since Wilbur and Orville Wright received the Society’s first Gold medal for completing the first successful powered heavier than air flight. This month, as we celebrate the 120th anniversary of this monumental achievement, we are especially proud to continue the annual tradition of honouring the most outstanding contributions from teams and individuals. The achievements of this year’s award winners showcase the ongoing ingenuity and commitment to excellence that exist across the breadth of our global aerospace, aviation and space industries. We are incredibly pleased to congratulate them on their remarkable accomplishments and success. "


Full list of 2023 honours, medals and awards

04 May, 2023

Kerissa Khan MRAeS elected President of the Royal Aeronautical Society

The Royal Aeronautical Society has confirmed that Kerissa Khan MRAeS has taken over as President of the Society at its AGM on 4 May 2023.

The AGM also elected David Chinn as President-Elect.

The President provides leadership of the Council and of the Society in pursuit of its objectives. They uphold the values, and reputation of the Society as well as the interests of the members. The President is an ambassador of the Society representing it at key engagements, influencing the global standing of the Society in furthering the advancement of aeronautical art, science and engineering.


“We are entering an exciting new era for aerospace, aviation and space innovation. We are the transformation generation pioneering novel ways to fly. This pioneering spirit is the foundation that the Royal Aeronautical Society has been built upon, bringing together the best innovators, disrupters, researchers and inventors who dared to make flight possible. The Royal Aeronautical Society has been leading the way since 1866, at the heart of the community that empowered the first flight by the Wright Brothers and the invention of the jet engine by Sir Frank Whittle, sparking the first and second aviation revolutions respectively. It is an honour and a privilege as President to stand on the shoulders of giants to convene and lead this global community at the forefront of the third revolution in flight. Once again, we will dare to make flight possible - sustainable, accessible and inclusive flight that addresses the challenges we all face today.” – Kerissa Khan MRAeS, President of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

24 April, 2023

The Royal Aeronautical Society launches its Contrails and Contrail Management Briefing Paper

The Royal Aeronautical Society launched its Contrails and Contrail Management Briefing Paper at the Farnborough International Sustainable Skies World Summit last week.


The paper published by the Greener By Design specialist group aims to raise awareness of contrails, defining what they are and the impact they have on aviation’s effective radiative forcing. Currently contrails and contrail cirrus are responsible for half of aviation’s effective radiative forcing.

The implementation of contrail management systems could be achieved in a matter of years, not decades, and it is important that aviation’s stakeholders seize this opportunity now.

The paper provides recommendations for industry, regulators and government to work together to mitigate contrails using methods that can help enable the aviation industry to reach is Net Zero targets by 2050. Contrail management provides an opportunity to radically reduce aviation’s effective radiative forcing, offsetting some, if not all, of the effects of both CO2 and NOx and begin reducing aviation’s climate impact in the very near future.

RAeS CEO David Edwards said: “This Royal Aeronautical Society paper highlights the effects of contrails on the climate and demonstrates that Contrail Management is a critical area of focus in reaching our industry Net Zero targets by 2050. Whilst there is no one solution to making aviation sustainable, all areas such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, new propulsion power sources and Airspace modernisation need to be all part of the response. The great benefit of Contrail Management is that it can be implemented in a matter of years, contributing to reducing aviation’s climate effect very quickly.

The Society is the only global organisation serving the entire aviation, aerospace, and space communities as both a learned society and a professional engineering institution. As such, the RAeS is independent, evidence-based and authoritative, relying on a body of knowledge going back more than 150 years.




The paper can be found on the Royal Aeronautical Society website: https://www.aerosociety.com/media/20657/contrails-and-contrail-management-briefing-paper.pdf


15 February, 2023

Royal Air Force Air Cadets and Royal Aeronautical Society sign co-operation agreement

The Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC) and the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) are pleased to announce the signing of a Co-operation Agreement between the two organisations to formalise their historic relationship.

As part of the Agreement, cadet graduates of the RAFAC Qualified Aerospace Instructors Course (QAIC) and other Scholarships will receive free Affiliate membership of the RAeS, and all Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers (CFAV) will be able to join the RAeS with no application fee.

Each year, two QAIC graduates will be given places on the RAeS Young Persons Committee, allowing for a flow of knowledge and ideas between the two organisations at the next generation level allowing for more opportunities to collaborate and work together on areas such as sustainability, talent attraction and retention as well as the future shape of the Society in the decades ahead.

All members of the Society, including Affiliates, gain access to careers advice together with support for a variety of training through the Aeroversity platform. The Society also helps with education choices, apprenticeships and degree programmes.

09 February, 2023

DfT Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund awards the RAeS with funding for Falcon 2

DfT Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund awards the RAeS with funding for Falcon 2
Raising the profile of Inclusive Skies of Tomorrow, through outreach


The Royal Aeronautical Society on 1 February 2023 were announced as one of 11 recipients of the ‘Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund’ by the Department of Transport (DFT) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the Falcon 2 STEM outreach programme.

The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) has inspired many generations of aviation, aerospace and space enthusiasts into various careers. The RAeS aims to inspire younger generations through a variety of STEM education and outreach programmes. For many the dream to fly or undertake a career in aviation and engineering are not easy. Promoting an inclusive aviation and aerospace industry of tomorrow, raising awareness of disabilities and accessibility needs is what the RAeS most recent outreach programme Falcon 2 aims to achieve.

The Falcon 2 programme is a STEM outreach challenge for young students aged 6-19 years. The programme provides an opportunity for underrepresented groups, especially students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, to design, conceptualise and build an accessible mobile flight simulator as well as increasing disability awareness. The aim of Falcon 2 is to create a learning platform for all students to collaborate with their peers to address accessibility issues in the aviation and aerospace industry, paving a way for the future workforce to provide unique solutions to current limitations, all whilst experiencing the wonder of flight.



30 November, 2022

Celebrating industry success at the Royal Aeronautical Society........the 2022 honours, medals and awards.

The Royal Aeronautical Society has announced the 2022 winners of the global aerospace community’s most prestigious and long-standing awards honouring achievement and innovation.

The awards celebration, held in London on Monday 28 November 2022, saw leaders in aviation, aerospace and space recognised for their significant contributions to industry and education in areas of leadership, high-speed propulsion systems, fluid dynamics and aerodynamics among others..

Peter Round FRAeS, President of the Royal Aeronautical Society said: “The RAeS Awards offers an opportunity to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions from senior executives and future leaders within engineering, defence, flight operations, training, space, research and education annually. The achievements of this year’s award winners showcase the ongoing innovation and commitment to excellence that exists across the breadth of our global aerospace, aviation and space industries and we congratulate them on their accomplishments and success.”



Honorary Fellowships mark the world’s highest distinction for aerospace achievement, awarded only for the most outstanding contributions to the aerospace profession.

Honorary Fellowship and Geoffrey Pardoe Space Award

Mr Colin Paynter, Former Managing Director of Airbus Defence & Space. Mr Paynter is awarded for his leadership of the UK’s space industry, maintaining it as a powerful force in Europe and in support of the UK’s space priorities which he has been hugely influential in setting during the turbulent period of the last two decades.

Honorary Fellows

Professor Jonathan Cooper FRAeS, Airbus Royal Academy of Engineering Sir George White Professor of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol. Professor Cooper is awarded Honorary Fellowship for more than 3 decades of remarkable contributions and service to education in the UK and over 50 projects, many in conjunction with aerospace manufacturers across the world.

Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, former Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, now at Delta Airlines as Senior Strategic Advisor. Mr Gebremariam is awarded Honorary Fellowship for his devotion in the development of aviation and the growth of the most profitable airline in Africa.

Professor Darrell Pepper FRAeS, Professor of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Professor Pepper is awarded Honorary Fellowship for his internationally recognised work in the areas of high-speed propulsion systems, fluid dynamics and aerodynamics.

Honorary Companions are awarded for rendering distinctive and notably meritorious service to the aerospace profession.


Mr Michael Turner, President of Guild of Aviation Artists, awarded for his achievements as a celebrated aviation artist depicting the advancement of science and engineering to create aviation art.

Gold Medal

Mr Alan Newby MSc FREng FIMechE FRAeS, Director Aerospace Technology and Future Programmes and Technology – Rolls-Royce plc, is awarded the Society’s Gold Medal for his major contribution to the family of Rolls-Royce Trent engines for the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and A330 NEO aircraft and to the definition of the company’s product and technology strategy.

Silver Medal

Professor Clyde Warsop is awarded the Society’s Silver Medal for initiating the project that provided the first flight demonstration of Circulation Control for manoeuvre control of an aircraft in flight (DEMON) and for continuing to collaborate, advance and innovate flow control technologies.

Bronze Medal and Flight Simulation Medal

Mr Antony Hunt FRAeS is awarded both the Society’s Bronze Medal and the Flight Simulation Medal for radically changing the way the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) simulator data is delivered to Training Device Manufacturers (TDM) and customers by providing a single performance and systems model across all training devices.

Bronze Medal

Dr Peter J Downer, UK Ministry of Defence, is awarded the Society’s Bronze Medal for leading the airspace integration of the RAF’s next generation Remotely Piloted Air System, PROTECTOR, achieving a number of world firsts.

Team Medals are awarded for significant contributions to the advancement of aerospace art, science and engineering.

Gold Medal

Ingenuity - NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team is awarded the Society’s Gold Medal for the advancement of aerodynamics and aerial robots for planetary science through the design, development, and fabrication of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstrator.

Silver Medal

FlyZero, for its world leading research project on zero-carbon emissions in large commercial aircraft.

Project ACCEL, The Electro-Flight team in partnership with Rolls-Royce under the project title ACCEL Spirit of Innovation, created the powerplant and airframe for an attempt at breaking the world speed record for electric powered aircraft.

Project Telstar, for their innovative introduction of Aireon space-based ADS-B technology, safely enabling real-time surveillance and safely reducing minimum separation standards to increase access to the most fuel efficient trajectories, making flight operations within the world's busiest oceanic airspace safer, more predictable, more fuel efficient and more environmentally sustainable for all.


Flight Operations Specialist Group Award

Number 99 Squadron Flight Operations, a small team of five responsible for organising the emergent evacuation of over 10,000 persons by UK C-17 force from Afghanistan.

Society Specialist Awards are conferred on individuals or teams in well-established professional disciplines. These awards recognise advances, innovation, excellence and long service that has made a significant impact.

Roger Green Human Factors Medal

Dr Anne Isaac, Director of Haumaru UK Ltd. and Chair of the RAeS Human Factors ATC Sub-group

Flight Operations Medal

Air Commodore Dai Whittingham FRAeS, CEO of UK Flight Safety Committee, a longstanding and active member of RAeS Flight Operation Specialist Group.

RP Alston Medal

Mr Andrew Roberts CEng MRAeS, Test Director for ACCEL Ground and Flight Test

Aeronautical Heritage Specialist Group Award

Mr Tony Buttler MA AMRAeS, distinguished metallurgist and aviation historian

Space Specialist Group Award

Dr Rachana Bhatawdekar, postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Directorate of Science at the European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)

Women and Aviation Aerospace Committee Specialist Group Award

Professor Lucy Rogers, FREng, FIET, independent innovation consultant and Visiting Professor of Engineering: Creativity and Communications at Brunel University, London


Young Persons’ Awards recognise individual achievement and promise.


Young Person’s Achievement Award

Dr Duc H. Nguyen AMRAeS FHEA, Research & Teaching Associate of the University of Bristol, for furthering aerospace science.

Young Person’s Achievement Commendation

Mr Adam Conner MEng AMRAeS, Junior Engineer of Atkins, a key figure in the Atkins Future of Flight market, covering the Sustainable Aviation and Advanced Air Mobility industries.

Miss Lucy Crabb, Human Factors Engineer, BAE Systems – AIR.

Mr Travis Ludlow, on 13 July 2021 Travis became the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world at the age of 18.

Miss Zara Rutherford, the youngest female pilot to circumnavigate the world at the age of 19.

Alan Marsh Award

Mr Thomas Magowan, Senior Structural Dynamics Analyst of Leonardo Helicopters.

Herbert le Sueur Award

Mr Albert Ilunga, Design and Certification Engineer of 2Excel Aviation Ltd.

N E Rowe Medal — 22 to 30 Age Group

Mr Barnaby Pine Meng, for his paper titled “A Cool Journey to net Zero – A Review of Superconductor Application in Decarbonising Aviation”

N E Rowe Medal — Under 22 Age Group

Miss Amelia Weaver, for her paper title “The Foundations to My Future – My Outstanding Apprenticeship”.

Other Award

Sir Ralph Robins Medal

Ms Sacha Wright MSc MRAeS, Head of Design Organisation of 2Excel Aviation Ltd.

2021 Written Paper Prizes are awarded annually for the best papers published in The Aeronautical Journal by the Society during the previous calendar year.

Silver Award

A. Filippone, B. Parkes and N. Bojdo for their paper titled: ‘Prediction of aircraft engine emissions using ADS-B flight data’

Bronze Award

J. Huete, D. Nalianda and P. Pilidis for their paper titled “Propulsion system integration for a first-generation hydrogen civil airliner?”

J.D. Hoyos and J.P. Alvarado and J.H. Jiménez for their paper titled “Propeller aerodynamic optimisation to minimise energy consumption for electric fixed-wing aircraft”

Young Person’s

J Hoole, et al for their paper titled ‘Landing Gear Ground Manoeuvre Statistics from Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Transponder Data’.

Journal of Aeronautical History Written Paper Prize is awarded annually to the paper published in the Journal of Aeronautical History during the preceding calendar year that is most likely to engage and excite the widest possible community of professional and other interest and thus to exemplify the best in terms of communicating aerospace history in order to inspire future developments.

S C Liddle for his paper titled ‘Pearcey, Newby, and the Vulcan’







24 September, 2022

Schools, colleges, learners and youth groups invited to take part in programme to build accessible flight simulator.......

The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) has launched a new competition, Falcon 2, aimed at young people aged 6-19 to design and build an accessible mobile flight simulator.

The Falcon 2 programme builds on the success of the previous RAeS build-a-plane competition which was designed to enable young people to develop and demonstrate key skills which future employers and training providers look for and to learn more about opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and aviation.

Alongside the Royal Aeronautical Society, the partners in Falcon 2 are Boeing, the disabled flying charity, Aerobility, and Middlesex University.


We are today inviting young people aged 6-19 to use their science and engineering skills to design, develop and build a real-life mobile flight simulator which will travel to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) schools and public events around the UK to introduce people from all backgrounds to the wonder of flight.

For many people, the opportunity to fly a plane may seem impossible, particularly to those with disabilities. However, Aerobility has developed a range of programmes and aircraft adaptations that allow many disabled people to do just that – learning to fly an aircraft and gain their pilot’s licence, providing the ultimate feeling of freedom, pride and independence.

The brochure with more details is available here

06 May, 2022

The Royal Aeronautical Society gets a new President.....

The Royal Aeronautical Society is pleased to announce that Air Commodore Peter Round FRAeS has taken over as President of the Society at its AGM on 4 May 2022.

The AGM also elected Karissa Khan MRAeS as President-Elect and she will take over the office in 2023.

The President provides leadership of the Council and of the Society in pursuit of its objectives. He or she upholds the values, and reputation of the Society as well as the interests of the members. The President is an ambassador of the Society representing it at key engagements, influencing the global standing of the Society in furthering the advancement of aeronautical art, science and engineering.

07 March, 2022

“Major action needed” says Royal Aeronautical Society - new report on discrimination and lack of diversity in airline training

A major report launched today shines a light on the significant problem of gender discrimination and the lack of gender diversity amongst pilots in the airline industry with a specific focus on the airline pilot trainer role. 

The joint report by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) considered survey responses from more than 700 airline pilots worldwide, 750 personal testimonials and eight hours of focus groups. 

The study aimed to investigate why so few pilot trainers are female and explore the barriers to female pilot career progression.

While women make up only 5.26% of the global pilot workforce, the numbers of female pilot trainers are even worse. For example, in the UK just 0.9% of Type Rating Examiners (TREs), a type of airline trainer, are women (CAA, 2022).

Among the report’s major findings were some extremely concerning reports of overt and covert sexism and sexual harassment towards women, including frequent reports of an “old boys’ network” and a lack of female role models and mentors. 

Structural barriers identified include: a lack of transparency around recruitment and selection; and the vast majority of airlines and training organisations refusing to allow pilot trainers to work part-time, which has a disproportionate effect on women.

In addition, 42% of women in the survey reported that they had been treated differently at work and 30% that they had been discriminated against, due to their gender. 

Search