The two offices share resource and work closely together to deliver projects for clients such as Leonardo Helicopters and BAE Systems.
We took some time out to catch up with Graduate Aerospace Design Engineers, Luke, Yuri and Alex, who joined the team through our Early Careers Development Programme at the start of the year.
Alex, Yuri and Luke talked about how they knew a career in engineering was for them and how they’re been getting on in their new roles. Take a look at their full interviews below:
Alex Hyer
Graduate Aerospace Design Engineer based in our Bristol office
Studied at: University of Nottingham
Degree: First Class MEng
Course: Aerospace Engineering (with one year in industry)
Graduated: June 2021
Joined Morson projects: January 2022
Yuri Davy
Graduate Aerospace Design Engineer based in our Brough office
Studied at: Durham University
Degree: First Class MEng
Course: General Engineering specialising in Aeronautical
Graduated: August 2020
Joined Morson projects: January 2022
Luke Wilson
Graduate Aerospace Design Engineer based in our Brough office
Studied at: University of Hull
Degree: First Class Meng
Course: Integrated Masters in Mechanical Engineering
Graduated: June 2021
Joined Morson projects: January 2022
Hi all, tell us.. How did you get into a career in engineering?
Alex:
From a young age I’ve always loved aviation and aerospace. I never considered studying anything other than Aerospace Engineering when looking at what to study at university, and after a degree and a year placement in industry, I was confident this was the right career and industry for me.
Yuri:
I’ve always enjoyed the maths and physics side of learning and after studying maths, further maths and physics A-levels I wanted to use my knowledge in a more practical manner. That’s why I chose to study General Engineering at university.
I didn’t know what stream of engineering I wanted a career in, which is why General Engineering was perfect, but I started to enjoy the aerospace and design streams of engineering much more than the rest. After finishing my degree in 2020 I planned to take some time out travelling so didn’t have a job lined up and due to everything that happened with the pandemic, ended up working for Test and Trace for a while. I worked there until I heard about an aerospace design role at Morson Projects which sounded great, I applied and got the job!
Luke:
Throughout school and college I’ve always had a passion for maths and physics, studying these subjects along with chemistry for A-level, I then progressed to study a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hull, completing my 4 years of hard work with a First class in June 2021.
Throughout my course, it soon became apparent that using CAD software for design was the area of the course that I both enjoyed and excelled in. Aerospace has always been a passion of mine, stemming back to my younger years when my Dad and I spent countless hours building model plane sets as a hobby, this passion, along with the knowledge I have picked up throughout my Master’s Degree makes the role at Morson Projects a dream come true for me.
Tell us a bit about your day-to-day roles?
Alex:
My role so far has primarily been working with Leonardo Helicopters, working on design solutions to required changes on 3D models. However, I am being trained both as a design and stress engineer and have a varied number of tasks, providing a variety of experiences which allow me to expand my skillset.
Yuri:
My day-to-day role has changed since I started in early January. At first, I was training on the software and doing general jobs to help settle me in to the role along with Luke. After completing the training, I have moved onto supporting Leonardo Helicopters as part of a Morson Projects team, where my day-to-day role is to help the team implement the required changes which involves deep investigation, developing solutions, presenting ideas and using CAD software to implement changes.
Luke:
Currently, my day-to-day role is very different to when I started in early January, my line-manager Jordan was keen to get myself and Yuri onto a programme were we can get exposure to real engineering situations and processes. The first 4 weeks I completed the Morson Catia V5 training, the next task myself and Yuri were assigned to was to re-write the training we had just completed, making it clearer and more useful for work experience students and new graduates to use in the future.
Since this was completed, I have now moved onto supporting Leonardo Helicopters as part of a Morson Projects team, tasks here involve changes and solutions to works on an in-service aircraft, these tasks require lots of investigations, presentations to clients with findings and is constantly reinforcing and improving my Catia V5 knowledge.
What do you find most rewarding about your roles?
Alex:
I really enjoy the problem solving element of engineering. A large portion of my role is solving engineering issues and developing solutions. I’ve found both carrying out and completing that challenge can be a rewarding experience. I also enjoy working on noticeable elements of aircraft and seeing that changes I make are physically going to be manufactured and used.
Yuri:
The most rewarding aspect of my role is how quickly I have been trained and entrusted with important design work. I expected months of shadowing and training before I’d be able to hop onto real projects, but the team has helped me get up to speed very quickly and start doing the job I came to do. I’m still heavily supported by the team at the office who are happy to help me out when I need, but also push me to find the answers by myself. I find this learning on the job style very rewarding as week on week I can see my progress.
Luke:
For me, the most rewarding part of this role is over-coming problems by finding an appropriate solution; quite often on the Leonardo Helicopters project I am working on, solutions to problems aren’t always as simple as they may first seem, seeing the problem all the way through to the end and developing an appropriate solution is a great feeling!
Another rewarding aspect of my role is how far I have developed in such a small amount of time, a large part of this fast development has to be accredited to my colleagues in the Brough office who are always more than happy to take the time to assist and support me when required by giving me a push in the right direction but ultimately allowing me to discover the answers myself.
How are you finding the Early Careers Development Programme?
Alex:
The Early Careers Development Programme has been a fantastic opportunity to develop my knowledge and skills whilst working on the job. The programme has given me the opportunity to work on a diverse number of tasks under the supervision and guidance of experienced and incredibly supportive colleagues.
Yuri:
I’m really enjoying the Early Careers Development Programme as I can see myself improving every week and I know that I have the support structure in place if I need it. I have been assigned a mentor, Vince, who I have regular meetings with to discuss my development and plans for the future. Having a mentor with so much experience in engineering who can help guide me through my development is a very valuable part of the programme.
Luke:
The Early Careers Development Programme has a huge benefits to the progression of early career engineers, myself and my mentor, Brian, have regular meetings were we discuss developments, areas I have excelled in recently and areas in which I may need some help with. We set SMART (Specified, Measurable, Achievable, Recorded, Timed) targets, which will guide me into becoming a better, more well-rounded engineer, ensuring I am able to complete all of the early career competency matrix.
What are your long-term career aspirations?
Alex:
Due to the variety of tasks I will be exposed to on the Early Careers Development Programme, I have the luxury of experiencing a range of both design and stress tasks in a professional engineering environment. I’m hoping to use these experiences to find my strengths, specialise and work towards being an experienced and highly capable engineer.
Yuri:
My long-term career aspirations are to become one of the best design engineers in aerospace. I want to push to become a chartered engineer as soon as possible and continue to learn and develop on the job. When I have gained the knowledge and experience, I’d also like to help work in outreach and mentoring to help people develop the way others have helped me.
Luke:
My long term career aspirations are to become a fully chartered, capable and reliable design engineer here at Morson Projects and I look forward to being able to have the chance to pass down gained knowledge on to future early careers engineers in years to come.
Find out more about our Early Careers Development Programme here >