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Me, Helicopters and Women in
Aviation
Anthea Mills
Women in Aviation Australia Conference
29 October 2016

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Contents
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1. About me
2. QinetiQ
3. My current role
4. What is Aircraft Structural Integrity?
5. Helicopters -Fatigue machines
6. Why managing helicopter fatigue is like being a female engineer?
7. Do we need more females in non-traditional roles?
8. Attracting and supporting women in aviation

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Education
• Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
• Graduate Diploma in Commerce (Human
Resource Management)
Previous Work at QinetiQ
• Usage Monitoring and Environmental
Degradation Management
• Caribou and P-3
• Contract Manager
Project Team Lead Military Helicopters
Wife and mother
Part-time work
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1. About me

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Our Company
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QinetiQ Group Companies
QinetiQ Group Markets
Government Defence
Infrastructure
& Utilities
Financial & Professional
Capabilities

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Our Numbers
5
8
Years
A$54
Million
In Revenue
270
Employees
QinetiQ
Australia
Established
2008

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Our Markets
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Defence Government Industry
Advice Services Deep Technical
Expertise

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Our Services
Aerospace Life of
Type/Ageing
Platform
Audits
Health
and Usage
Monitoring
Aerospace
Advisory
Services
Non-
Destructive
Testing
Structural
Integrity
Transport Aircraft
Engineering
Surveillance
Aircraft
Engineering
Fighters & Trainers
Engineering
Military
Helicopters
Engineering
Repair and
Modification
Design

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Our People
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Engineers
Test and Evaluation
Professionals
Software Developers
Integrated Logistics
Support Professionals
Risk Managers
Project and Program
Managers
Prototypers
Security Advisors
Naval Architects
Cost Analysts
Change Managers
Model Makers

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3. Project Team Lead – Military Helicopters
Military Helicopter Team is comprised of
12 professional engineers
Provide support to:
• HSI - DAVENG as part of the DASA
− Strategic advice on Aircraft Structural
Integrity
− Specific engineering investigations
− Routine reporting and analysis including
UM, SCM, FM and EDM
• Defence Science and Technology
• Through Life Support contractors
• System Project Offices
− Modification and Repair design

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3. Project Team Lead – Military Helicopters
My Role Includes:
• Helping to shape technical direction
for the team and customers
• Providing Technical Advice
• Staff Management
• Project Management
• Checking and Approval

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4. What is Aircraft Structural Integrity?
Photo: NTSB
1990 Nomad Accident
Metal Fatigue causes tail plane to
fail
1988 Aloha Airlines Accident
Metal Fatigue exacerbated by
corrosion

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4. What is Aircraft Structural Integrity?
Aircraft are designed to an
approved standard
Military usage may be different
than assumed usage
Condition of the aircraft may
deteriorate due to environmental
factors or metal fatigue
Closed loop systems
Determine review life of aircraft
based on collected data
Change inspections or Component
Retirement Times
Change aircraft life
Environmental
Degradation
Management
Structural Life
Assessment
Fatigue
Management
Condition
Monitoring
Usage
Monitoring

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Helicopter
10,000 parts rotating rapidly
around an oil leak waiting for
metal fatigue to set in.

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High Cycle Fatigue – 500 rpm
• Difficult to measure the loads on
the aircraft due to fast moving
rotating parts
• Large number of cycles means
small change in the loads can
cause large changes in the crack
growth
• Full scale fatigue testing difficult
because of the large number of
load cycles
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5. Helicopters – Fatigue Machines

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6. Managing helicopter fatigue is like being a female engineer:
The principles of managing fatigue on a
helicopter are the same as for fixed wing aircraft,
except ….EVERYTHING IS MORE COMPLICATED
• Loads Measuring
• Fatigue Testing
Being a female engineer is the same as being a
male engineer, except …. EVERYTHING IS MORE
COMPLICATED
• Expectations outside work
• Discrimination
• Unconscious bias

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7. Do we need more females in non traditional roles?
We need more male Primary School
teachers
Getting the best person for the job –
helping everyone to reach their potential
• Using people’s natural ability without
reference to their gender
• Reaching potential
• Diversity improves solutions

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8. Attracting more women to aviation and supporting them
Talk to women who are not engineers
Female role models in non-traditional roles
• Help young women to consider non-traditional roles
• Be a role model – be obvious, be seen, tell your story
• Step up – sit at the table
Unconscious gender bias
• Women have unconscious gender bias – that doesn’t make it right
How does my hair look?

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