On the Wednesday 27th March, Schools from around the Sutton borough gathered inside of Wilson’s School’s JJ Hall to attend the “Schools Aerospace Careers Programme”. The day commenced with a fast-paced video describing how the world around is not only changing faster than ever before but the rate of change in new fields of development are accelerating at frightening speed.

 

Hosted by a team of knowledge aerospace industrial savants, we were guided through the fields of quantum computing and the principles that undergird it. A demonstration on just how far robotics has come in the to the background song of “Do you love me” followed shortly after. We were shown a video of 3 Boston Dynamics robots dancing in tune, scarily creative and life-like even if the robot stood at a menacing 2ft. Then, to the would audiences’ disbelief, Spot the dog (one of Boston Dynamics flagship robots pictured in the thumbnail) ran into the hall with beeps and grace. Instilled with a LLM and specific industrial code, Spot could communicate with the audience. We seized the opportunity, some asked about “backflip” capacity, others spoke at the robot in Mandarin. Both were answered to the bewilderment and amusement of the audience!

 

After a brief lunch and a discussion with fellow aspiring engineers and technologists, we split into different groups to have a peek at what really lies ahead in the aerospace industry. First, a in-depth group session with an Atkin Realis Mechanical Engineer, who explained what a day in the life of a mechanical engineering consultant looks like. After, we got to experience the future of graphic design using virtual reality and a tool known as “Gravity Sketch” which allows the user to draw and craft 3D CAD models using a VR headset and controllers. I personally got a turn to experience what game design will be utilising in the next few years to come.

The day finished with instructions on how to utilise FPV (First person view) drones to record smooth and organic video footage for TV and film. The controller was deceptively difficult with two joysticks acting as “Pitch and Roll” and the other “Yaw” both terms that resounded with the entire crowd, I am sure you can imagine! Watching others try to get the drone off the ground let alone control it with any grace or delicacy was a highlight of the day. However, the whole day provided valuable insights into just how fast the “4th Industrial Revolution” is dawning upon us and how we as the next generation can ride the wave or be left behind