Best Places to Work in IT team see direct results as aircraft take
off
Mike Bhatti, flight test ground station manager at aerospace and
defence company BAE Systems, has no doubt why his department won a
Computer Weekly Best Places to Work award earlier this year. "It is
job satisfaction," he said. "That is what helps us keep our
staff."
Job satisfaction comes from helping develop some of the most
technologically advanced aircraft in the world. The software
engineers are involved in the whole lifecycle of software
development from initial requirements analysis for an aircraft with
the customer, through design, development and final testing before
the aircraft goes into use.
"We are the service provider to the flight test development
programmes, working on aircraft such as the Typhoon, Tornado, Hawk,
Nimrod and Harrier," said Bhatti. "We get a lot of satisfaction
knowing that we are working with leading-edge technology, making a
contribution to something very important. We can see the results of
our efforts when the planes take off and make a successful
flight."
The data processing group provides the technology to analyse the
performance of aircraft during and after test flights.
"What sets us apart from other flight test centres is that whereas
they monitor flight data during test flights, they only analyse it
offline after the flight," he said. "By contrast, instead of it
taking us a number of days to analyse the data, we have a real-time
analysis facility, so we can analyse most of the telemetry data
during the test flight and determine whether a manoeuvre was
successful.
"By the time the plane lands, the engineers can go straight into a
debriefing with the pilot and the aircraft can be ready to fly
again straight away."
Unlike much of BAE Systems' IT, the 27-strong flight test ground
station team has not been outsourced because its skills are
recognised as vital to the business.
"The ground station is a centre of excellence within the UK, and
our flight test engineers appreciate the contribution made by my IT
staff," said Bhatti.
"Our equipment is keeping pace with technology where business needs
justify it, our datacentre was upgraded last year, and our
real-time analysis facility is being upgraded this year."
Quite a few of the ground station staff are aerospace engineers as
well as IT professionals, which is useful as the team has to be
able to work closely with all the personnel involved in test
flights.
"When we took the team on we ensured that some had an engineering
background, but the real turn-on happens within the flight test
community - people here are not as concerned about salaries as they
are about the flying," said Bhatti.
The enthusiasm for flying carries on into private lives as well. A
number of the IT staff have their own pilots' licences.
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