Jetrader - Spring 2017 - 39

Bright Future: An Interview
with ISTAT Foundation Student

Ada Lo
Jetrader spoke with Ada Lo, an engineering
graduate currently working for Rolls-Royce
and an ISTAT Scholarship recipient, to learn
more about how she entered the industry
and benefited from the ISTAT Foundation
and her plans for the future.

How did you get started in the
aviation industry?
Since I was young, I've always liked
planes. At university I studied general
engineering and got exposed to a wide
range of engineering disciplines, including
aerospace engineering. I was fascinated by
fluid dynamics so I specialised in aerospace
engineering in my third and fourth year
of university. I did an internship at RollsRoyce between my third and fourth year of
university and attended ISTAT Europe in
Istanbul in 2014. All of these experiences
confirmed my interest.

When did you find out you had been
selected as an ISTAT Scholarship
recipient?
That was in December 2013, it was a few
days before Christmas and it was a great
Christmas present. Julian Balaam, who is
on the ISTAT Foundation Board of Trustees
and a Cambridge alumnus, made sure the
university received insight into scholarship. At Cambridge there are 31 colleges; I
applied within my college, and from there
the university would pick one candidate
from all of the college applicants. I didn't
have much confidence when I first applied,
but was delighted when I found out I had
been selected. I was very surprised.

How has the ISTAT Scholarship
impacted your career in aviation?
The main impact came from ISTAT conferences; I've attended the past three ISTAT
Europe conferences. From these events I've
learnt the breadth of the knowledge that
comes with the aviation industry. As an
engineer I hear a lot about aircraft manufacturers and such and I thought they were

the dominant force in the industry, but
there are a lot more elements that keep
motion within the industry. Attending
these conferences allowed me to make many
connections with ISTAT Board of Directors
and ISTAT Foundation representatives while
learning about the industry. Through this
networking, I secured a DVB Bank internship in the aviation asset management
team in London. I was then fortunate to get
a two-month engine leasing attachment at
Rolls-Royce, again as a result of some great
connections I'd made at the conferences.
I am not an experienced networker, but
these experiences have really helped me
and changed my perspective on networking.

Bank SE. How did you enjoy this
internship compared to your engineering experiences? Could you see
a future in aviation finance?

What is your current role at
Rolls-Royce?

How do you think the ISTAT
Scholarship recipients?

I am on the engineering graduate development programme, which is an 18-month
programme with four, four-month attachments. The scheme is flexible enough that
I could do an engine leasing attachment
in addition to the other four attachments.
My current role is in the manufacturing
technology team, applying linear friction
welding technique to blisks (a combination
of blade and disk that reduces weight in
an engine).

The financial support helps a lot in supporting tuition costs. But the greatest
benefit is something money cannot bring:
the connections you make with others
in the industry. The ISTAT membership
that comes with the scholarship is a huge
positive. While engineers may not appear
to be the target audience of the conferences, they are invaluable for understanding how the aviation world works. As an
industry novice, it can be challenging to
navigate a conference, but it's a great
opportunity and everyone is very friendly
and welcoming. There are other benefits
to scholars, such as the Internship and
ISTAT University programs. The other great
benefit is being exempt from the ISTAT
conference registration fees, which really
helps with costs.

What are your short-term and
long-term goals for your career?
I really like the aviation industry and want
to keep working in it and get to understand
the products. I aspire to be a jet engine specialist, and am working towards engineering chartership with the Royal Aeronautical
Society (engineering body in U.K.). I'm
interested in possibly working for a space
agency, being chief engineer of a project or
working for airport management all interest
me. I'm also a very active STEM ambassador
and want to promote STEM to young people
throughout my career.

You previously completed a more
finance-focused internship at DVB

I was on the aviation asset management
team, where I developed a tool that calculated engine costs; it was an extremely
new area to me. I was very grateful for
the opportunity and wanted to learn more
about the financial side of the industry.
For now I'd like to focus on engineering,
but who knows what will happen in the
future. Now that I have experience of
working AAM in the bank, if I move from
engineering to financing I can safely make
an informed decision.

What advice can you give to aviation students?
Aviation is challenging, but it's interesting and there are more opportunities
than ever. Learn as much as possible and
seek out opportunities that could help
you find a career. Apply for scholarship
opportunities; - if you don't try you'll
never succeed!
Jetrader * Spring 2017 39

Jetrader - Spring 2017

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