Eurofighter supports International Aerospace Summer School

Citation

(2006), "Eurofighter supports International Aerospace Summer School", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 78 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2006.12778fab.029

Eurofighter supports International Aerospace Summer School

Eurofighter supports International Aerospace Summer School

Keywords: Aerospace industry, Training

The four national members of the Eurofighter consortium supported the first International Aerospace Summer School competition. Teams from twelve nations competed in this event for the Eurofighter Trophy.

The task given to the contestants was to define a “stealthy transport aircraft” the teams gathered for one week in August at Cranfield University, England. Here they experienced the thrill of flying small aircraft and helicopters and had a first hand glance into many areas of aerospace. Special highlight was a visit to the Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon base at Coningsby.

Each team consists of three students aged 16 to 18 advised by a teacher. They come from the five Eurofighter nations Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom plus from Denmark, Greece, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey. The students had been tasked to look at potential requirements and design drivers for a future transport aircraft under consideration of highest survivability based on signature management.

The Eurofighter consortium with Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS Germany and EADS CASA had announced in November 2005 that it will support this new initiative to involve and attract the engineers of the future into the aerospace industry through a new international aerospace competition. More than four hundred companies and suppliers throughout Europe are involved in the Eurofighter programme securing a vital technology base for the nations participating in the project. They all are in the need for young engineers to manage the challenging task that lie ahead of them.

The announcement came at the 2005 award ceremony for the School Aerospace Challenge. Every year the Institution of Mechanical Engineers holds a national event for pre university educational level teams with great support from the UK-based aerospace engineering sector. These teams respond to an aerospace task, and the best teams meet at Cranfield University for a final competition, with the winner awarded a prize at the annual reception in London. The new International Aerospace Summer School initiative operates completely independently of the Schools Aerospace Challenge which will continue with its Royal Air Force theme for UK teams only. The participating teams 2006 are:

AustriaBundesfachschule für Flugtechnik, Langenlebarn

DenmarkSkedsmo Videregaende Skole, Lillestrom

GermanyGymnasium Ottobrunn

GreeceGerman School of Athens

ItalyIstituto Tecnico Industriale “Carlo Grassi” Torino

NorwayFlylinjen, Skedsmo

SingaporeNational Cadet Corps

South AfricaWaterkloof High School

SpainColegio Europeo Aristos, Getafe

SwitzerlandSwiss Aero Club

TurkeyTU Ucak M. Facultesi, Maslak, Istanbul

United KingdomLancaster Girls Grammar