Explore the Latest Advances in Automated Test, RF Communications, and Measurement & Control at the 2011 Aerospace & Defence Forum Hosted by National Instruments UK & Ireland

Dr Mike Steeden, Immediate Past President of the Royal Aeronautical Society will deliver the Keynote address, giving an industry viewpoint for aerospace and defence engineers.

Currently Director, Strategic Relations in the UK MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), a Non-Executive Director with Ploughshare Innovations Ltd and a Past President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Mike’s 32 year career has included 26 years in the MoD and 6 years in the private sector. He began his MoD career at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) Aldermaston, and spent 2 years as Counsellor and Attache, Defence and Head of the Atomic Co-ordinating Office on the British Defence Staff in the UK Embassy Washington DC. He subsequently occupied senior military aerospace related acquisition, research, and test and evaluation roles in turn in the MoD Procurement Executive, at DERA Farnborough and at DERA Boscombe Down. He was President and Managing Director of Computing Devices Company Ltd between 2000 and 2002, and Director, Civil Air Transport in the SBAC between 2002 and 2006. Immediately prior to his current role, he was Dstl’s Technical Director for 3 years. Mike is chairman of the RAeS Medals and Awards Committee, a member of the University of Bristol Department of Aerospace Engineering Industry Advisory Board, the Jill Dando Institute External Board and the Imperial College Theory and Simulation of Materials DTC Advisory Board. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1995. Mike is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Physicist, a Fellow of the Institutes of Directors and Physics and the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.

Sean Thompson, NI Platform Manager for Government and Military Applications, will also present on “Improving Life‐Cycle Management for Testing Aerospace and Defence Electronics”, highlighting the benefits of the modular, industry-standard PXI platform to ensure system stability, expandability and deployment longevity.

The Aerospace & Defence Forum will focus on three main technology topics:
Advances in Automated Test: Incorporating longevity and advanced functionality into the design of complex, next generation test systems for aerospace and defence applications.
Measurement and Control: Adding measurements to military and aerospace applications, from embedded control using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and reconfigurable I/O, to high-channel-count and structural testing.
RF Communications: Implementing flexible, software-defined test for RF and high-speed digital technology.

Aerospace and defence experts from QinetiQ, SELEX, Diagnostic Sonar Ltd and NI will present on industry topics including signal intelligence, submarine testing, and a new technology to create live 3D models of structural aircraft faults, using sonar.

Held at the prestigious Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, London, this free one-day conference and accompanying exhibition features technical demonstrations, presentations, case studies, ten hours of hands-on experience and one-to-one system advice. Attendees are also invited to view the RAF Museum’s world-class collection of aircraft, aviation artefacts and memorabilia.