Yesterday Baroness Wilcox visited SSTL to see with her own eyes how SSTL is contributing to the future of Britain’s high-tech economy. The visit was part of a
tour of innovative businesses in Surrey organised by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
During her visit the minister was given a tour of the new Kepler building and took a particular interest in images arriving from NigeriaSat-2, especially the stunning
3D image of the Dubai skyline.
Baroness Wilcox also met with six engineers on SSTL’s graduate employment programme. This scheme allows graduates to gain experience in most, if not all, of the main engineering disciplines within the Space industry including:
· Mission and System level Engineering
· Mechanical Engineering Design
· Electronics Engineering Design
· Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Test
· Spacecraft Operations
· Project Management
· Commercial aspects including Business Development, Sales and Finance
Every year the scheme is open to graduates from the Astronautics, Physics, Space Science and Engineering fields.
The visit aptly coincides with the BIS-funded
National Science and Engineering Week, which recognises the need for science and engineering in economic growth and encourages these industries as future career paths for young people. This year the theme is "˜Our World in Motion’- something highly relevant for a satellite company!
SSTL is proud of its innovation heritage and is committed to passing this on to the next generation of engineers. As well as the graduate employment programme, SSTL and its staff run a broad range of outreach programmes and get involved with many local schools. One example is the Engineering Education Scheme (EES), run by The Engineering Development Trust which links teams of Year 12 pupils with local companies to provide students with first-hand experience in science, engineering and technology that will enable them to make informed decisions about their future.
The
student team that SSTL is leading and sponsoring this year are looking into using the Crookes Radiometer Effect as a supplementary source of propulsion for the NASA Tumbleweed Rover. Tune in next week for more updates on this exciting EES project.