William Temple

I spent a large amount of my time at Airbus producing CAD models in both CATIA v5 and 3DXperience (CATIA v6). Initially I completed training on CATIA v5, learning all the basic tools alongside more complicated ones such as generative shape design, surfacing, PowerCopy and Knowledgeware tools.

Following CATIA v5 training, I was introduced to 3DX. Over the last few years, Airbus has produced a VR museum containing its key products throughout history. The idea of this museum stems from automotive companies that would display a history of their products to key stakeholders in a showroom. Unlike other engineering companies, Airbus’ satellites are deployed into space and are not mass-produced, so there are very few physical products to show on Earth. Therefore, the museum acts as a compromise to show people products at a 1:1 scale, using engineering data from the actual model if available.

For my first project, I was tasked with producing an exhibit for this museum of ESA’s Spacelab. As this was an older product, no engineering data existed in a form that I could use in 3DX, meaning I had to produce the model from images, drawings and measurements. Spacelab’s interior is full of intricate modules to be used in space by crew members. Some of the more interesting tools included GSD/surface design to produce curved handrails and valves. Once the 3DX model was complete, I exported it to be rendered in Blender.

Throughout my time at Airbus, I was also tasked with creating simplified models from more complex assemblies, such as ESA's TRUTHS satellite and Exo Mars rover, for use in programs and tools with limitations on model complexity. I created these using mainly 3DX but partially in CATIA v5, before finishing them in Blender.

One of the larger CAD projects I completed was a 1:1 scale model of Airbus' Portsmouth site. This required a very large assembly in 3DX containing subassemblies of each building, each containing furniture and windows. I produced this assembly using a combination of my own models which I produced fron .dxf floor plans, in conjunction with existing models on the Airbus 3DX database. This project was to be used for multiple other projects in the near future. An example of this is that it was used in conjunction with data obtained from meters around the site, such as water, electricity and gas usage from each building. From this, we produced a heat map that allowed inefficiencies to be easily located.

Airbus has a collection of simulations and models that have been accumulated over the years. These are stored on a drive under various folders that are hard to navigate. The location of each of these simulations is also not well documented. As I had previous experience with code and application design, my project was to produce an application with an easy-to-use interface that would manage all the simulations in one place. I was instructed to use C# for the backend and XAML for the frontend.

Some of the final features included:

• Running simulations directly from the program
• Reading and writing to JSON files
• Displaying important information and images of the simulation to act as a “preview”
• Copying the simulations to a local drive (used asynchronous code for progress bars)
• Easy-to-use interface so admins can edit which simulations appear and their information
• Customisable launch options
• Filter the simulations shown by a search filter
• Security classifications shown to the user (used SDKs to produce API calls from another company’s program)
• Dark/Light mode
• Loading Screen
• Ability to run from a company home page

The result was a program that was deployable to any computer via a link on Airbus’ website hub, allowing others outside of my department to access specific VR material, but easily managed by those within my department. I also had to produce detailed documentation for the program, explaining how to use it on Confluence, and include comments throughout the code for anyone who would like to continue its development. This was shown overseas to the counterpart team in France, internal and external visitors, as well as apprentices. Those who used it gave positive feedback, and I released a few updates to fix any issues they faced.

In my dissertation, I investigated the conceptual design, modelling, and optimisation of a superconducting slotless stator for use in future electric aircraft motors. Motivated by the aviation industry’s shift away from combustion propulsion, I explored how superconducting technology could overcome the limitations of conventional electric motors, particularly their low power-to-weight ratios. Superconductors exhibit near-zero electrical resistance at cryogenic temperatures, allowing far higher current densities and greatly improved efficiency.

To develop my motor concept, I built a full physics-based model using COMSOL Multiphysics, creating a permanent-magnet rotor and a slotless stator. I began by recreating and validating COMSOL’s example models, ensuring my simulation setup and torque calculations were accurate. I then iteratively refined the geometry by analysing how parameters such as coil height, coil width, stator diameter, current, back-iron thickness, and air-gap size affected torque, power output, magnetic flux density, power factor, and overall power-to-weight ratio.

Through this process, I showed that a slotless design significantly reduces cogging torque and produces smoother current and voltage waveforms, though it initially results in lower torque density. I addressed this by optimising coil geometry and operating current, using parametric sweeps to identify configurations that delivered high power without compromising efficiency or magnetic performance. My final optimised design targeted 0.5 MW output, a power factor above 0.85, and minimal motor mass. Attached are some example images I used throughout my report. The end result was that the model I produced matched the theory perfectly.