We are delighted to be supported by Austin Chick, Head of iAero, a purpose built research, design and innovation facility in Yeovil, which is committed to developing the high level skills required for high value jobs, helping to alleviate prevalent industrial challenges, such as the skills gap.
The trainee engineers taking part in the course have undergone an intense 3 week upskilling and Leonardo familiarisation programme, which has been devised by Morson Projects’ in-house trainers and Technical Publications experts, who have previous business knowledge of setting up offload solutions for Leonardo Helicopters.
Head of Business Unit, Becky Veal explains more:
“Morson Projects and our parent company, Morson Group have been strategic partners to Leonardo Helicopters for over 20 years, supporting programmes of activity such as Product Support Engineering.
“As industry experts we pride ourselves in our collaborative approach and reactive working which had led to this long-term relationship. Through our Group offering, we are in a unique position to support clients such as Leonardo Helicopters, by delivering a wide range of solutions from recruitment to offload.
“This particular project, of bespoke upskilling training, was identified when our team recognised an opportunity to upskill ex-forces personnel to help address the resource shortage for Integrated Support Engineers in the Southwest.
“This course will enable us to bridge the industry gap and deliver training that is bespoke and specifically tailored to our client’s needs. iAero has proven to be the perfect location to launch our first course, as it has given us the collaborative space to create an exceptional learning environment.”
Platform Lead & Trainer, Mike Shalders added:
“The trainee engineers all come from an ex-forces background, possessing over 70 years’ of combined experience on AW101 /EH101. The new team have all worked the aircraft and have used the product we deliver for many years.
“Being ex forces they have all worked first line, second line and on deep maintenance packages and understand the difficulties we face with our customers contractual obligations.
“It has been clear to see that this breadth of knowledge has enabled a smooth transition from shop floor to the training environment. The transition from shop floor to tech author is a natural progression and after only two weeks of training they are already an asset to the team and have already put their aircraft knowledge to good use.
“Having made the same transition seven years ago my experience and understanding has helped tailor the course to their needs and will bolster the EH101 team and ultimately maximise the benefit to Leonardo Helicopters PSE team.”
We heard from some of the trainees about how their upskilling has gone:
Michelle
“When I decided to take the leap into a new career path as a Technical Author I was initially apprehensive, however the excellent training provided which utilised my previous knowledge as an Aircraft Engineer to its’ advantage quickly gave me the confidence and reassurance that this was the right move. The Morson Projects team as a whole have made me feel incredibly welcome and that we are part of bigger things to come and I am excited about what the future holds for this role and the company.”
Steve
“With my 20 years background knowledge working on Leonardos EH101 on a front line platform in the Royal Navy and in a depth facility, I was excited to see Morson Projects advertising for Technical Authors. I took the jump and have just finished my training with Mike Shalders. Daunting at first, but Mike soon put me at ease and gave me all the confidence required . I can’t thank Mike enough for sharing his experience and giving me his support throughout. I look forward to working with Mike and his team within Morson Projects.”
Pete
“Since the first phone call with Mike explaining everything to do with the role and the company, I fed off his enthusiasm to learn about Technical Authoring. After what seemed at the time a daunting experience of what was in store, both trainers, Mike and Kyle, showed a logical way to break down sections of each task, which in turn made learning more manageable. The confidence and reassurances they have given me about moving forward as a tech author has reaffirmed my decision to join the team.
“My previous experience of 16 years working on Melin has aided me so far to make minor adjustments after consultation with Mike and Kyle.”
Juen
“Transitioning from Aircraft Engineer to Technical Author was quite daunting, but the level of training received was fantastic. My thirteen years of experience working on Merlin, both front line and in depth has been invaluable in helping me get to grips with what is required of me in my new role.
“Having Mike as our Lead, with his vast experience in both aircraft engineering and technical authoring, has been paramount to the success of our training.”
Morson Projects continues to support the growth and development of our industry experts and are looking forward to welcoming our next cohort of trainees on-board in the coming weeks.
To find out more about how we can support your training and development needs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Becky Veal by calling 01935 403200.