Fri, 07 Feb 2025

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 How to shift from lorry driver to space engineer

Students explain their hopes for the UK's first Space Systems Degree Apprenticeship.

* A 31-year-old former hospitality manager, David Boutflour, has joined a space systems engineering apprenticeship program at Portsmouth University.
* The four-and-a-half year course involves on-the-job learning and academic modules in thermodynamics, programming, digital systems, and maths.
* Four students are part of the apprenticeship program, including 21-year-old Alice Overend who previously worked on satellite assembly and testing.
* George Smith, 18, joined the course straight from A levels and hopes to become an astronaut one day.
* Elizabeth Seward, head of space strategy at BAE Systems, believes that people from diverse backgrounds can have a career in space, not just rocket scientists.
* Proposals for new rocket-launching sites in remote locations are expected to create more positions in the UK space industry.
* The students enjoy hands-on learning and outside activities like scuba diving and video gaming.
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