Chris Summers, Head of Engineering Delivery at multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, Morson Projects, reflects on the importance of the company’s Early Careers Development Programme (ECDP) in securing the new ways of working needed to reimagine aerospace engineering and drive genuine innovation.

At Morson projects, we deploy our expertise to deliver whatever project support our clients need, but our projects in the aerospace sector are really at the cutting edge of technologies and R&D. 

I took on the role of Head of Engineering Delivery less than a year ago, having previously been a Lead Engineer within Project Tempest; the BAE Systems led mission to devise a route map for the UK to develop a home-grown, sixth generation combat aircraft.

Project Tempest is not an aircraft… yet. It is a visioning process, a training camp, and an intelligence gathering exercise, focusing on what resources we can leverage and what capabilities we need in order to develop the combat aircraft of the future; from design, engineering, and manufacturing perspectives.

It has been a privilege and an inspiration to be involved in Project Tempest. It has also been a reminder that we need to invest in fresh talent - and more talent - if we are to deliver the ambition that sits at the heart of the project’s aims.

A proud tradition

The talent we recruit, nurture and develop now will be critical to achieving the results we need for the UK’s aerospace sector. In the UK, we have a proud tradition of aerospace engineering innovation, but that excellence must go hand in hand with the practicality and pragmatism needed to deliver solutions that are both world-class and commercially viable. The best engineered product is not the best solution if it is delivered late, over budget, or if it cannot be produced in volume. Engineering is all about optimal compromise – how do we achieve our goals within all the parameters set?

The same principles need to apply to how we find, develop and deploy talent. We need to leverage the engineering expertise we already have, using that experience for both project delivery and mentoring new talent. But we also have to develop the digital natives coming into the sector, and benefit from a generation that not only accepts change, but anticipates, expects and embraces it.

The UK’s engineering talent pool has been built on developing high achieving individuals with specific skills and roles. But if we’re aiming at a dynamic future, with new rules of engagement and a disruptor approach to innovation, creativity needs to be embedded at every touchpoint, including early careers recruitment and development pathways.

I began my career as a stress engineer, but due to illness, without a first class honours degree or a Masters – the prerequisites that conventional industry wisdom dictates are the foundations of a successful career. I have developed as a multi-disciplinary professional, becoming Chartered, leading teams and winning multiple industry awards, most recently a BAE Chairman’s Award – proving that what makes a successful engineer is not simply the level of attainment they can bring to the job; but also the level of ambition, enthusiasm, and commitment they can offer.

Those are principles that lie at the heart of our Early Careers Development Programme at Morson Projects. We’re looking for the very best future engineers, but we’re not limiting ourselves to how they look on paper – we’re looking at the whole person. Who can we find who is passionate about what they do? Which candidates will ask questions? Think differently? Collaborate? Approach a problem by looking for the optimal compromise rather than labouring it beyond budget and viability?

Our ECDP is not measured in time, but in milestones. We encourage our engineers to learn from mentors and each other. We get them involved in projects from their first days with the company and challenge them to gain the multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge they need to advance both their careers and our projects. Not all the milestones they need to achieve are technical competencies because project delivery is a much wider remit.

One of the ECDP engineers on my team is a great example of those principles. She doesn’t have a degree in aerospace engineering; she studied robotics. But she wanted to work in aerospace. So she tracked me down at a conference and asked me to be her mentor. That’s the kind of ambition and commitment you can’t teach.

I’m confident that we have the best trainers and the most robust, innovative ECDP in the engineering sector at Morson Projects. I also think that, as a company and a leadership team, we’re pioneering an approach to complementing core engineering skills with the wider commercial, creative and collaborative attributes the aerospace industry needs. On a current project, I’m working with Morson Projects engineers based out of our Manchester, Bristol and Belfast offices – digital working opens up a new world of multi-disciplinary collaboration and it’s exciting to see where our 40-years’ experience and pool of new talent can take us.

https://morson-projects.co.uk