HHRR Team Aernnova Group
9 June 2023
The aerospace sector is experiencing an increase in new engineering development projects, which is driving the remarkable growth of Aernnova Engineering Division (AED).
Among these projects are the design of the flaps, wing and canard of the new Lilium Pegasus; the development of the new electric aircraft of the Swedish manufacturer Heart Aerospace, designing the fuselage, empennage and wing of the new ES-30 model; aircraft conversion projects such as the participation with the company IAI in the modification of an A330 or the design of the Overture of BoomSupersonic.
For this reason, AED is carrying out an ambitious transformation plan that will allow us to adjust to this new and demanding market.
To achieve this, we have needed to address two major challenges: (i) Staff training and (ii) Attracting new talent and developing young one.
Regarding the first of these, the aforementioned projects have positioned Aernnova in the most demanded technologies for the new air mobility.
The new projects have required training in design software programmes, such as CATIA v.6 or NX Fibersim, or in geometric tolerances. In calculation, it has been necessary to reinforce knowledge of calculation tools such as UNIX and Hypermesh, as well as in analytical methods.
It should be noted that these new engineering developments are carried out with different clients to the usual ones. This has led to an equally different kind of project management, in which communication with the teams, their managers and customers has been reinforced.
In terms of attracting new talent and developing young one, the effort in the selection of new professionals has been important. As a result, up to 6 selection processes have been carried out with different professional profiles and different geographic locations, handling a curricular volume of close to one thousand CVs.
The first thing we should point out is that Aernnova continues to be recognised by candidates as a reference in the aeronautical employment market, due to the number of proposals received.
As a complement to traditional recruitment processes, we have increased the active search for candidates in employment networks.
But it is not only the integration of new talent from the market that has taken place. Aernnova has set as a priority activity the attraction and development of young talent, for which it is vital to maintain a close relationship with universities through conferences, participation in forums and job fairs and seminars.
Our company attracts the interest of the group that attends these events. Some students come to find out about our activity, others are looking for summer internships, Master’s and Bachelor’s degree final projects and others for their first job.
The motivation of the people who ask us for information is very diverse: some focus on process engineering, others on logistics, many on product development and project management.
We mention some events held recently: participation in the Aeroempleo fair (ETSIA). It is worth highlighting the good reception by the students of the presentation made by Juan Carlos Ortiz, Director of Aernnova Engineering Division; employment fair of the Carlos III University (Madrid), with a large number of students; JEPE forum (Employment and Company Presentation Days). UPV Bilbao; Engineering and Employment forum – Aeronautical and Industrial Engineering School of Toledo, Virtual Employment Fair of the University of Navarra (Tecnun), etc.
Collaborations with the different universities started more than 10 years ago.
Since then, Aernnova has been welcoming students to carry out their Master’s Thesis.
This way of developing young graduates takes the form of a four-year talent development and retention programme, in which they are taught the necessary knowledge to carry out their professional work on Aernnova Engineering projects: Calculation Tools; Design Tools; Composite and metallic aeronautical materials (light alloys); Static, dynamic, fatigue and damage tolerance calculations, non-linear, CFD; Structure, systems, mechanism and interior designs.
Throughout this training itinerary, the newly-qualified professional gradually joins projects that require greater complexity. In the first year, training activities account for the largest number of hours of their working day. With the help of an AED professional expert, during the second year, the employee reduces the number of hours of traditional training and increases training within AED engineering projects. In the third year of this talent development programme, the newly qualified engineer is expected to be assigned to an international project.
The programme concludes in the fourth year with the integration of the engineer in a technological project in Spain.
For all these reasons, Aernnova has had to set up new workspaces in Spain.
Parque Empresarial Alvento (Madrid)
