Meet our past society members, take a look at where they are now and how to get in contact with them!
Founder and Former President
Abdullah founded the society in 2012 winning the UK competition that year, and second place in the 2013 USA. Over the next 3 years as President of the society, Abdullah led many other teams to success at both competitions and also set up Project Phoenix. After finishing his masters studies at the University of Manchester, he pursued a PhD at the University, and is an active advisor to the society.
Vaz was the 2nd President of the society, having been a member from his 1st year. In 2016/17 as President, Vaz helped 2 teams prepare for the USA competition where they won numerous prizes. He was also part of the team that helped to organise the IT Flies UK 2017 competition, which for the first time, was held at the University of Manchester. Vaz also helped to drive forward Project Phoenix alongside Dariusz Maron. Having graduated with a Masters, he is currently seeking opportunities in the aerospace, automotive or technology industry. Vaz can be reached on
LinkedIn and his
website.
Founder and Former Vice President
Stu began competing in the UK IT Flies competition in 2012, winning first place and the Best New Design award. He used this success as a platform to co-found the society, designing the aircraft design process which is used to teach new members. Alongside mentoring members, Stu was part of the team which placed second in Manchester's US debut in 2013. After graduating and the leaving the society in 2014, Stu used his invaluable experience and knowledge which he gained with the society to join QinetiQ as a Simulation Systems Engineer.
Former Vice President
Andrew joined the society as a first year student in 2012 and left in 2015. During this time Andrew led his team to win an award for 'Best New Aircraft' in Coventry 2013, followed by an overall competition win in Dayton 2014. Andrew helped shape the society as it's General Secretary in his second year and the Vice President in his last year, leading new and existing members to claim similar successes.
Former Vice President
Stefan started out as a junior member in the society. In 2014, Stefan was a key member in his team towards designing a VTOL fighter jet, which ultimately led them to win the US competition. In the academic year of 2014-2015, alongside Andrew Aldridge he also shared the role of Vice President. Stefan is now a Numerical Simulation Analyst at Renault back in Romania.
Former Project Phoenix Chief Engineer
FSSoc gave Virgil an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. He started as a group member competing in IT FLIES and in his final year kickstarted Project Phoenix as Chief engineer. His work in Project Phoenix alongside Nicholas Wong including stripping the cockpit of old parts and producing various CAD designs for the interior, provided a stepping stone for the project the following year. Having first hand experience of flight simulation gave Virgil an edge over others in job interviews, and is now a trainee pilot with Singapore Airlines.
Former IT FLIES Chief Engineer
Fueled by his passion for aircraft design Tomas joined the society in 2014 as a first year in the University of Manchester. In his second year with the society Tomas worked on and designed a STOL Forward Swept Wing Fighter Jet with which he entered the IT FLIES US 2016 competition in Dayton securing a joint 1st place. After the success in Dayton Tomas took the reins of IT FLIES project within the society by becoming its Chief Engineer while also mentoring new teams and leading them to success in IT FLIES UK and US competitions. Tomas is currently enjoying his year placement with Rolls-Royce plc.
Former General Secretary & Website Designer
Ben joined FSSoc in his first year of University and he entered the IT Flies UK competition with a city-to-city business jet with Vaz Gorasia. The pair didn't manage to win that year, but the experience helped them achieve second-place and the most innovative design award in IT Flies USA the following year. Ben also developed a flight simulation tool for pedagogical use PedagogalSim. Since leaving FSSoc, Ben has joined Twist Bioscience, a biotech company, as a software engineer. Ben can be reached at [email protected].
Former Vice President
Seiya joined the society in 2015. In 2015/2016 Seiya took part in a team desiging a business jet for the UK competition which led him to create a design with the same team the following year competing in the US competition. Having taken on quite a lot of responsibility in the society, Seiya has risen to vice president for FSSoc and also takes an active part in co-running the PASS flight simulation scheme.
Former Public Relations Secretary
Kuhu joined the Flight Simulation Society in 2016. She, along with her team designed a Supersonic variable sweep business jet and competed in the IT Flies UK competition. She has joined the committee as the Public Relations Secretary and was supervising new teams while also working on a model to participate in the IT Flies US competition.
Former General Secretary
Ana has been member of the Flight Simulation society since 2012, this year joining the committee as General Secretary. Ana has participated and won in both the UK and US competitions with her teammates Thomas and Yufei with their Stingray and Elektron concept models.
Dariusz steered the direction of Project Phoenix as Chief Engineer over the course of two years from 2016-18 having initially joined in 2015 alongside Muktim Coşkuner and Timos Chronis. Over this period, the scope of the project was significantly altered with the introduction of virtual reality headsets with an ultimate goal of achieving an augmented reality flying experience. He left the society in 2018 to explore societies outside of the field of engineering.
An avid flight simulation enthusiast, Tim was a committee member for project phoenix during the 2017-18 academic year and an active member since 2015. Tim is currently taking a year in industry and is planning to return next year to continue his work with the society.
Former IT FLIES Project Manager
Thomas has been part of FSSoc since his first year. His team (Ana & Yufei) won first in the UK & US IT Flies competitions along with Best Presentation - one of the only teams to do so. He has supervised projects designing a broad range of aircraft types; with interests extending to spacecraft as he participated in The Student Aerospace Challenge held in Paris. He has experience working with rotorcraft designs; recently completing an internship with Airbus Helicopters.
Former AIAA Chief Engineer
Together with his teammates, Yufei won the IT Flies UK Competition in first year and the US Competition in second year. Now, as a third year Aerospace student and a senior member of the society, he is in charge of the society’s latest project; AIAA, aiming at the annual AIAA Design Competition.
Daniel joined the society in 2014, working with teammates Seiya, Charly and Kavin to develop a private jet. In his second year, he became the society's website developer and PASS coordinator. Later he developed a 777 upgrade model with Prandtl's 1930s bell spanload wing design, eliminating adverse yaw effects. Daniel is now looking forwards to a MSc course in Astronautics and Spacecraft engineering at Cranfield University. Daniel can be reached at [email protected] or on his LinkedIn profile.
Former Treasurer
Kavin has been part of IT Flies since his first year as an Aerospace Engineering Student. He has worked on business jets and hybrid airliners. He has entered the IT Flies competition and won most innovative design and 2nd Best presentation along with his team. He has also supervised first years on their projects and has experience with supersonic, light and cargo aircraft.
Former Senior Member
Arvydas joined FSSoc in 2013 due to a love for for flying and aircraft design. In his first year, he worked on an unconventional push-prop canard configuration aircraft which won the first place prize in the UK IT Flies competition in 2014. In his second year Arvydas was involved in project Phoenix, while also assisting a first year team as their supervisor. Being a part of the society helped Arvydas to stand out and win several flying scholarships. After leaving University in 2015 he was selected for the BA Future Pilot Programme (FPP), and will complete his training at FTEJerez in 2017.
Former Senior Member
Tom was part of a team that designed a small training aircraft during the first year of the society. They went on to compete in the 2013 IT FLIES UK competition and won the award for “best new aircraft design”. This team then designed a short take-off and landing fighter jet and won the 2014 IT FLIES US competition. During his final year he mentored new students to success in both the UK and US competitions, giving lectures on CAD, wing layouts and undercarriage design. He currently works as a design engineer in the HVAC sector.
Former Social Secretary
Alessia joined the society in 2017. During her first year she designed a fighter jet for the Flight Simulation society, and cured the hybridization of a rocket motor for MANSEDS. She was working on a new aircraft concept, and helping new members of the society to succeed with their projects. As Social Sec, she was managing the society’s recreational events, making sure that all got the well-deserved recreational time.
Former Public Relations Secretary
Jason has been a part of the society since his first year, 2016. During his time at the society he has taken part in the US competition where his team won "Most Innovative Design" for the flying car they designed. He was the Public Relations Secretary where he expanded on previous work to get the society more involved with industry... and socials... he liked (and still likes!) to drink.
Former President
Luka has been active in the society for since 2016, designing fixed-wing and tilt-rotor military cargo aircraft. As president, he further developed cooperation between the subdivisions of FSSOC and with the other Aerospace Societies. He seeked to expand the society with new projects, a diverse membership and improved the society's relationship with industry.
Former Project Phoenix Chief Engineer
Muktim joined the society in 2016, and had worked on the Hawk cockpit for 2 years before the project scope changed. He is an aircraft and video game enthusiast who wants to merge the two fields together to develop a new fully functional flight simulator with VR and AR for Project Phoenix.
Former Special Projects Manager
Ugne has been a part of the society since 2016, achieving 3rd place in IT FLIES UK 2017 with a closed wing light aircraft with her teammate Ruta. In IT FLIES US 2018, with her teammates Ruta and Luka, they won the 2nd Most Innovative Design with a military quad tilt-rotor cargo aircraft. She aimed to expand the society by introducing more projects and including more students from different schools in 2018-2019 academic year as Special Projects Manager.
Former Treasurer
Simonas joined the society as a Mechanical Engineering student. Simonas found his way to the society due to his love for racing and flight simulators. In his first year he designed a business jet, gaining valuable experience. He worked on designing new aircraft and looked after the small IT issues of the society, as well as he was a Treasurer in his 2nd Year.
Former Web Developer
Nedas was a Computer Science student, and thus, not really related to the aerospace engineering. Even if he wasn't a MACE guy, he helped the society in other ways, particulary all the "higher tier IT issues", such as website maintenance, for example (He doesn't turn on and off again computers for repairs, though, although he can).
Former President and Treasurer
Ruta, a Third Year student in Aerospace Engineering, has joined the society in 2016. Since then she has won 3rd place in UK IT Flies competition and 2nd most innovative design in US IT Flies. Starting as a member she then became the Treasurer and after finishing a year long placement at National Instruments, she came back as the president. She motivated and lead the society members and further facilitated and increased the society's success.
Former IT FLIES Project Manager
Lauren was a 4th year Aerospace Engineering student who has been part of the society since 2016. Throughout her transition she has worked on numerous jet aircraft - including a super-heavy airliner, a single-engine Bizjet, and a successful VTOL fighter aircraft. She hoped to take a more "hands-on" approach to her Project Manager role; helping to test and fix junior member designs, and developed further VTOL aircraft for the simulator, as well as developing further activities using the Simulators.
Former Project Phoenix Chief Engineer
Adelina has been with the society since 2014. In the past, working on her own aircraft models for the IT FLIES UK competition and a being an active member of Project Phoenix, in 2016 Adelina was taking the position of Chief Engineer.
Former IT FLIES Project Manager
Ciaras joined the society in 2014. During 2014/2015 he was part of a team designing a light aircraft for the UK competition. Last year, as Social Secretary, Ciaras was in charge of organising trips to businesses and projects associated with the society, as well as organising other social events. In his third year in the society, Ciaras has taken up the position of IT Flies Project Manager.
Former General Secretary
Antonella joined the society in 2014 and designed an aircraft for the UK 'IT Flies Competition' with her team. In her second year in the society, Antonella took up the role of treasurer, managing the society's finances and budgets, while looking for sponsors for the society. Antonella starts her third year in the society as its General Secretary.
Former President and Social Secretary
Charlie joined the society as a first year student working on an aircraft model for the IT FLIES UK competition. This year he is looking forward to developing a new model to take to the US competition as well as taking the responsibility of managing the position of Social Secretary in the society.
Former Public Relations Secretary
Alannah was a 3rd Year Aerospace Engineering student who has been a part of the society since her first year while also running PASS sessions, Open Days and School Visits. As PR and Industry Representative she hoped to further the society's ties to industry, giving a real-world context to the spreadsheets! In addition, she intended to collaborate with other societies within the University, creating the opportunity for a wider array of future projects (...and socials).