Winner 2006 Western Aerospace Centre Prize


The final of this year’s Western Aerospace Centre annual prize competition – encouraging continuing professional development amongst Young Engineers who have previously graduated with a first degree - took place at The Hawthorns, Bristol, on Monday 10th April. Of the papers submitted for the initial assessment, four were short-listed for the second phase of the competition: an oral presentation to the Adjudication Panel, Committee Members and Guests. In alphabetical order, the finalists were: 

  • Cuitlahuac Arroyo – Rolls-Royce plc - Root Cause Analysis Methodology – A Case Study for Premature Thermal Barrier Coating Spallation 
  • Shima Shirazi Kia – University of the West of England - Failure Prediction in Composite Pin Joints using an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Approach 
  • Simon Ritchie – Cranfield University (Shrivenham) - An Experimental Study of Stores effects in Rectangular Cavities at Transonic Flow Speeds 
  • Zoe Towells – Airbus - Greener Aircraft: The Future impact of Environmental Issues on the Aircraft Industry

Tim Bartley (Chairman) welcomed the finalists and guests to the event. All four papers were well prepared and presented using visual aids; the presenters proved that they had researched their topics well and were confident in giving their papers to a small but inquisitive and appreciative audience. Questions were well handled. Following the presentations, presenters and guests enjoyed a finger buffet while the adjudication panel (David Lowe (Hon Secretary WAC), Mike Overd (AgustaWestland), Dr Terry Chivers (Hosiers international) and Richard Davey (Chairman, Bath & Bristol Area) retired to assess the overall results.

The winner of the 2006 £500 WAC Prize was Simon Ritchie of Cranfield University (Shrivenham).

The 3 other finalists were each awarded a finalist’s certificate and £100.

The Committee would also like to thank the University of Bristol for hosting the event and Alan Vincent (AgustaWestland), Mike Sheehan (INBIS) and Sandy Mitchell (UoB) for doing the initial assessment of the papers.

Find out more about the Western Aerospace Centre here.