Minerva Learning Trust
23rd April 2018

Flying High at Rolls Royce

Mr Hogan, Subject Leader for Science

Y12 Physics students accompanied by Mr Hogan and Mr Armitage went on a visit to Rolls Royce Derby where we fortunate enough to be hosted by a former student, Will Dobson who is an engineer and a Team Leader in the civil jet engine division. This was to offer a real life context to what we study in A Level Physics with a world class company to inspire the students and show where a science and engineering based career can take them. Will first gave us a rundown of how he got into engineering and then an overview of what Rolls Royce did. He was able to show us what he had achieved in his time at Rolls Royce and how a Physics or Engineering degree could be applied in the aerospace industry.

After lunch he had arranged a trip for us around the Heritage centre with former engineers as our tour guides where we were able to see the whole range of Rolls Royce products stretching over a hundred and ten years. This started with their very first engines in their humble beginnings and then went to the immortal Merlin engine that helped win World War Two by powering the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster aircraft. We then looked at their first jet engines for both military and commercial use and examples of showing how the designs had evolved over the seventy years to the present day. We finished up by looking at the latest version of the Trent 900 engine which powers the largest aircraft in the world the Airbus 380.

It wasn’t just aircraft engines, we also got to see the most expensive car in the world and the propeller for the new aircraft carriers. We all had a fantastic time and came away with many happy memories plus ideas of how we can incorporate this into the rest of the A Level course.