Air Service Training To Future-Proof Industry

cotland’s aerospace and defence industry is regarded as one of the most vibrant and successful sectors of UK business, accounting for around 10% of the UK’s aerospace industry with worldrenowned manufacturers such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce positioning the country as a key player. As the aviation industry flourishes globally, Perth College UHI in partnership with Air Service Training (AST), the oldest aviation training organisation of its type in the world, continue to develop and run a range of innovative Aeronautical and Aircraft Engineering courses to meet the increasing demand for an experienced, highly-skilled workforce. Attracting students from across the world to its conveniently central location, Perth College UHI’s newest offering, the BSc Hons Aircraft Maintenance Engineering and Management degree is the very first of its kind to be available in Scotland and brings together an expert staff to provide graduates with a training certificate in addition to an Honours degree, designed to facilitate a more efficient and productive pathway to becoming an aircraft engineer. Year upon year, Perth College UHI continues producing industry-ready graduates of the highest calibre through a unique marriage of practical skills and robust classroom learning, readying students for both the challenges and benefits accompanying careers within the modern day aeronautical industry through its state-of-the-art education and research facilities. With both civilian and military backgrounds, the specialist teaching staff, which includes former engineers from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fleets and aerodynamicists who have worked with Formula 1 teams, coupled with their world class facilities which include hangar space, functioning aircraft, fixed base and full motion simulators alongside wind tunnels and research facilities ensures that graduating engineers and technicians are capable of responding to each stage of the product life-cycle, from conceptual design through to in-service support. And in efforts to drive innovative and industrial advancements, Perth College UHI alongside AST and others is leading plans for The Aviation Academy of Scotland (AAS), one of the Tay Cities Deal projects. Following a multimillion-pound investment in the region, the Academy has ambitions to integrate local, regional and national aviation education and specialist training and skills and its Perth campus will focus on Engineering and Air Traffic and Aviation Management skills, helping develop a workforce with the skills necessary to respond to aviation’s global growth and to the emerging clean technologies and low carbon transport sectors. With demand continuing to rise – and a global increase which will see air traffic doubling over the next 15 years if current growth rates continue – the need for experienced personnel to fly, support and maintain the required aircraft will be unprecedented. With new Research Degree-awarding powers, as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, Perth College UHI now has the opportunity to increase the number of PhDs in the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths. The co-location of the AAS and an Engineering Innovation and Development Incubator affords opportunities for industry – set real life research projects Perth College UHI delivers partnership learning opportunities for the aviation industry S

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to be undertaken by Perth College UHI researchers so developing skills and knowledge in the student whilst also improving research-teaching links.

Dr Efstathios Tingas, Perth College UHI Lecturer in Engineering and Aviation says the combination of skills and knowledge brought by Perth College UHI and AST within the AAS will reinforce provision of an unrivalled centre of training excellence in Scotland.

He added: “The project brings together the key private and public aviation training facilities across Tayside in a new collaboration that will boost the sector’s skills and technology base to become more competitive in an international marketplace. It will establish the only internationally recognised facility in Scotland capable of meeting the full needs of the aviation industry and of providing world class training.”

Already delivering Engineering Foundation apprenticeships, Perth College UHI has further ambitions to offer specialist apprenticeships to Perth and Kinross schools, helping provide this burgeoning industry with a pool of workready engineers from the point of leaving education.

t a time when the Scottish forestry industry is enjoying record growth, Perthshire forest management firm RTS Forestry is looking towards further expansion of its business after the recent purchase of EGGER Forestry Management. With an already strong presence across Scotland, RTS Forestry welcomed this purchase as an opportunity to expand their forestry management services and gain a greater foothold in southern Scotland and the north of England. As part of the deal, which was finalised in October 2019, and which includes the ongoing management of 8,000 hectares of privately owned woodland, EGGER’s forest management team moved across to RTS Forestry to ensure existing clients continued to receive an uninterrupted, quality management service. Founded in 1984, RTS Forestry has a £15m annual turnover and employs 40 people between the company headquarters in Crieff, its Aboyne office and the new premises in Hexham. It marks a significant year for RTS Forestry in this expansion of the company’s forest management services. RTS also celebrates ten years of the company’s woodfuel division which was developed to provide added value to locally grown timber by processing within Perthshire. Producing 30,000 tonnes of biomass woodchips a year, RTS supply to more than 85 installations across Scotland including 13 Perthshire schools which are heated with this renewable energy source. This marks a significant reduction in the use of fossil fuels for these sites while also delivering additional business expansion within Perth and the wider region. RTS Forestry’s Managing Director Norman O’Neill said the purchase of EGGER’s forestry division indicated confidence in the RTS Forestry Take Over EGGER In £12m Deal

continuing growth of the forestry industry. “At a time when the whole world is recognising the importance of trees to all our futures in terms of global warming, our business is seeing continued growth within this vibrant sector of the rural economy,” he explained. “Perthshire is an area renowned for its forests, both for their beauty within the landscape, and for their significant commercial contribution to the area’s economy. For many locals and visitors to Perthshire our forests are seen as a great place to walk and enjoy the outdoors. This is then coupled with a progressive and expanding industry which continues to break records in terms of its contribution to both the local economy and employment statistics. “RTS Forestry are active across Scotland and with the recent purchase of the EGGER forest management team, based in Hexham we now have a base in North England, an area renowned for its forestry,” added Norman. With woodland management as its core business, RTS Forestry understands the significance of clients’ individual woodland priorities. This allows the company’s forest managers to design and deliver a tailored service to specifically meet those needs. With clients ranging from private individuals to large multi-national companies, conservation charities and government organisations, RTS Forestry offers a range of services from woodland contracting – which includes woodland creation and establishment – to timber and biomass harvesting and marketing. They are also a leading infrastructure woodland clearance company in Scotland working in tandem with other agencies to fulfil overhead line and renewable energy projects across the country. rtsforestry.co.uk This progressive and expanding industry continues to break records. A