Master’s students are using RIED Design to support innovative research projects, including “Growing Lock Plates”, undertaken by recent Queen’s University Belfast graduate Lewis Brown.
Lewis graduated with First-Class Honours in MEng Aerospace Engineering with a Year in Industry and was awarded the Spirit AeroSystems Stage 4 Prize for achieving the highest weighted average mark in his cohort.
His Master’s project, Growing Lock Plates, was completed in collaboration with the RIED Design team and Rolls-Royce. The project explored the use of a bio-inspired evolutionary algorithm to optimise design logic generated by a neural network for lock plate components used in gas turbine engines.
Using the RIED application, Lewis developed a novel approach that accelerates the preliminary design process through the creation of a “cyber-seed”—a reusable digital model that captures the learned design logic of a neural network trained on a baseline component. This cyber-seed can then be adapted to generate similar lock plate designs with different specifications, enabling the rapid production of viable engineering solutions.
The project demonstrates the potential of combining artificial intelligence, evolutionary computing and engineering design to improve efficiency and innovation within the aerospace sector.
Following his success at Queen’s, Lewis will begin his new role as a Wing Structures Graduate at Airbus Broughton in September. We wish him every success as he embarks on the next stage of his engineering career.