Articles
Chris Ingram at Atkins
Why did you want to become an engineer?
I’ve always been interested in fixing cars, building snow boards and surf boards, things like that. That interest carried me into university where I studied automotive and mechanical engineering (BEng) at Coventry. I recognised it as an enjoyable career to go into.
It’s often said that engineering is a hard university subject. Did you find that?
Elements of the degree were difficult. The parts of the course that I could visualise were simpler for me. I started off with a split between automotive and mechanical engineering, and towards my third year decided that automotive would be too constricting for my future career. So I pursued pure mechanical engineering.
How did you end up embarking on a career in aerospace?
I got a job with aerospace consultancy Assystem on the Isle of Man, where I am from. I was there for 18 months doing structural analysis for the Airbus A400M military aircraft and for the A350 passenger aircraft, working on the leading edge of the wings and on fuel pump fairings. I ended up moving to Bristol and I wanted something new, so I visited Atkins for an interview. They gave me a look around the office and I met some of the engineers there. I thought: yes, I can see myself working here.
What have been the highlights of your career at Atkins?
I have been with Atkins three years now. The first project I worked on was the Airbus A400M, which has just undergone its first delivery to the French air force. My role was on the check-stress programme – the final certification of the composite wing skins. That could be anything that bolted into the upper and lower surface of the wing. We used a mixture of different approaches. The covers on the airframe are composite, so we had composite and metallic components that they bolted to. We used finite element (FE) analysis as a primary source for a lot of our loading, with some more detailed models to give attachment loads for brackets on the trailing edge, and in other areas of high loads such as the engine fittings. We used a lot of FE to get our preliminary loading. Then a lot of the analysis was done by traditional hand calculation methods and by small programs that Atkins had put together.
The first flight of the A400M left Ingram and his colleagues elated
How did it feel to see that aircraft move off the drawing board?
There was a fair amount of elation around the office when the first flight happened and when the first deliveries took place. A few of the more senior engineers have been with the programme since the very first sketch – I cannot imagine the feelings they must have had.
What work are you doing in the civil sector on the A350?
We are working for an engineering company called FACC, which is a risk-sharing partner with Airbus. I am working on MSN 21, the 21st aircraft that will come off the production line. We are looking at the wing tip and winglet – redesigning and optimising the composite and metallic structures so as to reduce weight while keeping the strength and aerodynamic properties.
How far do you think the move towards composite aerospace components will go?
It might seem that, if you can make a straight swap from metallic to composite, you can reduce weight. But there are areas where composites don’t lend themselves to working correctly, particularly with complexly loaded components. There will, however, be an increase in confidence around fatigue testing of composites. I hope that we will see them becoming more widely used in primary structures.
Where do you see your career going from here?
I want to continue pushing myself technically and investigate new areas – maybe something outside wing structures, such as systems or landing gear. I’d like to improve my knowledge and develop my technical lead skills to get into something cutting-edge, such as the next-generation composite wing or a future aircraft project – somewhere where I can apply the peak of my expertise and my understanding of new materials.
On a professional level, you are already an associate member of the IMechE. Where will that go?
I am on the path to full chartered status. I’m hoping that I will have everything I need for that towards the end of this year or early next year. That’s something I am very much pursuing.