Rolls-Royce — Design Engineering Showcase 2022

Student: Elyse Marshall
Team: System Design Integration, Core Engineering
Role: Engineering Intern
Sector: Aerospace and Transportation
Links: LinkedIn; Website

Rolls-Royce PLC is a large engineering company that designs, develops, and manufactures power and propulsion systems. My role was within the defence aerospace sector which focuses on creating engines for military aircrafts. More specifically, I was situated in the System Design Integration core engineering team who are responsible for the complete definition of systems and integration of sub-systems. My contributions were in the design proposal of a new electric aircraft and the analysis of tools and current design processes used.

Role and Contributions

The project I was working on (with two other interns) had three main sections:

1) Test and develop a new ‘rapid product development’ digital tool that will be used by engineering teams in the future.

2) Complete a design challenge focused on the product definition of an electrical vertical take-off or landing (eVTOL) system, using the digital tool, model-based system engineering, and new and existing design processes.

3) Work with a team of graduate employees to develop a physical prototype of the eVTOL for design testing and validation, as well as exploring digital twin capabilities and build process.

My Design Engineering skills were extremely useful in the creation of an effective design process consisting of research, ideation, concept development, CFD for design analysis, data handling from the physical prototype, and the creation of strong communication materials presenting key information to employees across the company. Our team was successfully able to use and develop the digital tool ready for other teams, create a strong concept for a new eVTOL design which proves certain key principles that can be extremely useful for later projects, and build a full digital twin of the system, giving Rolls-Royce a better insight into how it can be used in their company.

Project Details

Role and Contributions