I joined Helios directly from Oxford University in 2006 following a degree in chemistry. I chose Helios over similar companies mainly as I was impressed by the vibrant and professional attitude of the people I met at interview and because I wished to work within a dynamic and enterprising small company environment.

In the last 5 years I have been fortunate enough to work on a wide variety of projects for organisations at the forefront of the industry. This has included various European institutions, multinational manufacturing companies, airport operators, Air Traffic Control providers and UK Government agencies. Working for these organisations within the UK, Europe and further afield has also provided me with ample opportunity to both travel and experience different cultures.

At Helios you are asked to take early responsibility to deliver specific tasks within a project, working to a given budget and timescale. Compared to many of my university friends I have assumed a customer-facing role very early on in my career. Presenting ideas to decision makers based on sound analyses requires high quality work and a fair degree of confidence! As I can typically be working on three or four projects at any one time, good project and time management skills are also essential.

Analytical tasks typically comprise the cornerstone of my work, and require investigative and research skills, but at Helios you are not expected to spend your life behind a spreadsheet. Developing your skill base to become a fully rounded independent consultant not only allows you to develop a much broader appreciation for a particular business problem or technical challenge, it is also core to Helios’ professional development values. Whether flying at 800ft over the North Sea conducting flight trials, or working with innovative start-up companies and thought-leading universities to develop ground-breaking products and services, my work at Helios has been interesting and varied.

A key part of my personal job satisfaction is the knowledge that my work makes a difference; whether that be improving the safety of air transport, reducing delays for air passengers or reducing environmental impact for communities surrounding airports. For my most recent assignment I have been working closely with a variety of companies from across the country to develop a ‘roadmap’ of cutting edge technologies that promise to revolutionise how aircraft are flown and traffic is managed. This work has included developing a series of project proposals to government agencies to understand where investment can yield the greatest return for UK industry as whole.