The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Bristol Branch was pleased to host the Young Persons’ 2026 Lecture Competition across two engaging evenings in April, organised by the Branch’s Young Persons Working Group (YPWG) and showcasing the depth of talent and enthusiasm among early-career professionals and students in aerospace.
Held at UWE Bristol on 23 April and the University of Bristol on 28 April, the competition brought together participants from across the region to deliver original presentations on a diverse range of aerospace topics. Each lecture was followed by a Q&A session and assessed by a panel of judges comprising members of the Bristol Branch Committee, the Young Persons Working Group, and aerospace industry professionals.
Celebrating Our Winners
We are delighted to congratulate the 2026 winners and runners-up:
Under 22 Category
- Winner (£250): Dan Myers – A Parametric Reinforcement Learning Framework for Autonomous Thermal Soaring of Fixed Wing UAVs
- Runner-up (£125): Sunshine Ayah – Investigating N-Butanol as a Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Performance and Emissions
Left to right: Tasha Collingham (YPWG Vice-Chair), Sunshine Ayah (Under 22 runner-up), Dan Myers (Under 22 winner), Mikhail Sizonenko (Under 22 participant) and Rania Regaieg (YPWG Chair)
Under 30 Category
- Winner (£250): Dan Sykes – The Mach Initiative: Building a 500 MPH Jet-Powered Model Aircraft
- Runner-up (£125): Riya Deshmukh – An Analysis of the Visual Flight Rules Stabilised Approach
Left to right: Tasha Collingham (YPWG Vice-Chair), Harry Stringer (Under 30 participant), Dan Sykes (Under 30 winner), Riya Deshmukh (Under 30 runner-up), Kawthar Alkateb (Under 30 participant), Basel Hammond (Under 30 participant) and Rania Regaieg (YPWG Chair)
Dan Myers’ winning lecture explored how reinforcement learning can enable UAVs to autonomously exploit thermal updrafts, demonstrating the growing intersection of aerospace engineering and artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Dan Sykes presented an inspiring and practical account of designing, building and testing a jet-powered model aircraft with the goal of breaking the world speed record, showcasing innovation driven by hands-on experimentation and teamwork.
Recognising All Participants
The high standard of this year’s competition reflected the dedication, expertise and creativity of all participants. In addition to our winners and runners-up, we would like to recognise the following presenters for their contributions:
Under 22 Category
- Mikhail Sizonenko – Why the Perfect Wing Still Doesn’t Exist
Under 30 Category
- Basel Hammond – British Aviation in Art: From Illustration to Airframe
- Kawthar Alkateb – Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Shark-Skin Denticle-Inspired Vortex Generators on Aeroacoustics of a Stationary NACA 0012 Aerofoil
- Harry Stringer – Implementation of the MRF Method into the XCALibre CFD Solver
The breadth of topics presented across the competition from sustainable aviation fuels, autonomous flight and aerodynamics to computational fluid dynamics, aeroacoustics and aviation art demonstrated both the technical excellence and diverse interests of the next generation of aerospace professionals.
We extend our sincere thanks to all presenters for their hard work and commitment, as well as to our judges for their time, expertise and constructive feedback. Events such as this would not be possible without their support.
The NE Rowe Competition
The Bristol Branch competition forms part of the pathway to the Society’s prestigious NE Rowe Young Persons’ Lecture Competition, which recognises the best presentations from across RAeS branches.
The NE Rowe Award, established to encourage high-quality technical presentations by young professionals, is awarded annually in two age categories and includes a medal and a £500 prize for each national winner.
We are pleased to confirm that both Dan Myers and Dan Sykes will be put forward to represent the Bristol Branch at the national NE Rowe Competition. We wish them every success as they progress to the next stage and continue to showcase the strength of talent within the Bristol region.
The Young Persons’ Lecture Competition continues to play an important role in supporting the development of emerging aerospace talent, providing a platform for young people to share innovative ideas, develop their presentation skills and engage with the wider aerospace community.
The Branch would also like to extend special thanks to Rania Regaieg, Chair of the RAeS Bristol Young Persons Working Group, and Tasha Collingham, Vice-Chair, for their dedication in organising the competition and hosting the two evenings. Their commitment and leadership were instrumental in delivering another successful Young Persons’ Lecture Competition and providing a valuable platform for emerging aerospace talent.
This year’s competition once again demonstrated the exceptional talent, passion and innovation emerging within the aerospace sector. On behalf of the RAeS Bristol Branch, we congratulate all participants for their outstanding contributions and thank our judges, volunteers and supporters for making the event possible. We wish Dan Myers and Dan Sykes every success in the forthcoming NE Rowe Competition and look forward to continuing to inspire, support and celebrate the next generation of aerospace professionals.
RAeS Bristol Branch 