Society News

Professor Dame Ann Dowling, Head of Engineering at the University of Cambridge will give the 2011 Brabazon Lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Headquarters in London on 15^th November 2011.

The RAeS Brabazon Named Lecture is held annually in honour of Lord Brabazon of Tara who became one of British Aviation’s true pioneers and, in his political career played an important role in the planning of civil aviation for the years following World War 2. Professor Dowling follows in the footsteps of other exceptional Speakers who have presented this RAeS lecture in the past including Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Engineering of Airbus SAS, Willie Walsh, then Chief Executive of British Airways and Jim French, Managing Director of Flybe.

At this year’s lecture, Professor Dowling and Dr Tom Hynes, will discuss their work on the Silent Aircraft Project, a concept which NASA is now using in their 2020 Vision. They will also provide their views and perspectives on the challenges for the next generation of commercial aircraft. Taking place at No.4 Hamilton Place, London from 18.00, this lecture is free to attend so reserve your seat now and RSVP to the RAeS Conference & Events Department on conference@aerosociety.com or +44 (0)20 7670 4342.

Professor Dowling recently won one of seven Women of Outstanding Achievement Awards in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) and the Times Eureka Science List of top 100 people (October 2010) puts her at number 37 and, therefore, within the top 10 of the most important women in science. Given the relatively low female representation within aeronautical engineering, her position as head of the UK’s biggest department of engineering makes her an inspirational role model in such a male-dominated industry and, as such, was invited to give the Keynote Address at the RAeS Women in Aviation Conference, From Pioneers to Presidents, on 14^th October 2011.

For more information on this Lecture and other RAeS Events, please see our events calendar. To listen to last year’s Brabazon lecture by Charles Champion, visit our audio archives.