Geoff Thomas
The UK's 'red rose' county of Lancashire has always featured strongly in aviation innovation, so it is appropriate that the Consortium of Lancashire Aerospace (CLA) should have obtained major sponsorship from Rolls-Royce for its Sir Frank Whittle Award.
This prestigious new award, aimed at attracting some of Britain's brightest young engineers into the aerospace industry, was launched formally at Farnborough '98 by CLA chairman Dennis Mendoros, assisted by Sir Frank's son Ian Whittle and Julia King, managing director of Rolls-Royce Fan Systems.
The venture is backed by all eight universities in the region and Rolls-Royce's three-year sponsorship deal means that the winner will receive £1,000 cash and a minimum of three months' paid work with the company in addition to the trophy itself.
Judged
The award is open to final year engineering undergraduates whose projects will be judged by an expert panel to identify the most innovative and commercially useful work undertaken by a student in a project or on attachment to industry.
The award honours the work of Sir Frank Whittle and his team and is supported by his son Ian, himself a retired airline pilot.
Explains CLA chairman Dennis Mendoros: "We will commemorate a pioneer who led the world for Britain and perhaps did not receive all the recognition he deserved during his lifetime."
Source: Flight Daily News
