b'24 Partner News Winter 2023CorporateApprenticesexceptional feedback from her supervisors at both Leonardo and Strathclyde University, where she is in her third year of her studies for a BEng in Engineering look through aDesign and Manufacture. This is due to the highly evolved approach Natalie is taking to technology creation, right down to the integration of sustainability into the design, even though she is still in the early years of her engineering career.sustainabilityNatalie has been entrusted to create the first fully functioning demonstrator for the power supply for a radar technology being developed for the Global Combat Air lens atProgramme (GCAP). This exciting work could eventually influence the design of the brand-new fighter jet being developed to go into service with the Royal Air Force in 2035.Leonardo inNatalie said: This demonstrator is a proof of concept for the capacitors, the energy storage devices, needed for the power supply. This demonstrates the amount of energy we will need. I work as part of the team that creates power supplies for a Edinburgh number of projects within the company and it is fascinating for me to learn from experts in our business. They have been guiding me through each stage of the project.Because sustainability is a particular area of interest for Natalie, she finds it stimulating to look for opportunities to embed this ethos into the structures she is being entrusted to design from scratch. Natalie said: Im creating new designs what will be introduced into the manufacturing halls in a few years time. At the weekends, things pop in my head, and it doesnt switch off when my laptop closes. I like thinking Apprentices working on some of theabout ways to make my designs more UK MODs largest defence contractssustainable, so I am always aware of the at Leonardo in Edinburgh are takingcomponents and materials that the team action to look at their engineering tasksIm creating new designs thathas in storage that could be used. through the lens of sustainability, so greenwill be introduced into the engineering principles are built into theirmanufacturing halls in a fewFor example, one of my team members core from day one. could no longer use the hardware he years time. I like thinkinginitially selected for a design task, as This includes carefully considering theabout ways to make mythey contained a material which is not long-term environmental impacts of nextfit for flight. Luckily, my demonstrator generation technology, as well as itsdesigns more sustainable. is not flying when powered on, so I was potential to be reused and repurposedable to incorporate the hardware into my across flexible environments and scenarios,Natalie Simpson,projects electrical circuitry to repurpose some of which are top secret.Graduate Apprentice it, so it wasnt wasted. My third-yearproject has been a great success for my Design Engineering Graduate Apprenticeteam and the wider project, and I am Natalie Simpson, 21, attended Bonessexcited to get involved with more design Academy in West Lothian and now workstasks as I progress to the final year of my for Leonardo in Edinburgh. She has receivedapprenticeship.'