Helen Brocklehurst, Head of Skills & Research at the ATI’s Hydrogen Capability Network (HCN), discusses the gaps and priority areas for UK aerospace in the hydrogen skills landscape.

In the past year, the message from industry has been that organisations are struggling to recruit suitably qualified and experienced people to support the development of liquid hydrogen fuel storage and delivery systems on aircraft. In response, the HCN is recommending a set of pilot initiatives to accelerate action on skills and coordinate the sector’s skills needs in cryogenics and LH₂ systems.

Over the next year, we will be working with government to set up and deliver the following initiatives:

• Building a ‘hydrogen in aerospace’ community: Trialling ways to connect researchers and academics to industry through site tours and expert seminars. We plan to run hackathons, aerospace industry tours and a cryogenic hydrogen research conference to grow the community in this space. We’re particularly keen to link with researchers who work in different sectors to leverage their different perspectives for the aerospace industry.
• Signposting: A public database of UK and international training opportunities, which will be developed to promote PhD and employment opportunities. We’re keen to make this as comprehensive as possible and have been working with the Hydrogen Skills Alliance to populate this and welcome input from cross-sector skills providers.
• Explore Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities: working with delivery partners to identify routes for CPD.

These initiatives have been identified through talking to industry and have been inspired by tried-and-tested strategies from other sectors, including the Nuclear Skills Academy,  the Faraday Institution for battery technologies and the Alan Turing Institution.

Alongside this, the proposed hydrogen hubs and CHyMES project will provide opportunities for ‘learning by doing’ and will increase the sector’s knowledge, capability, and familiarity with dealing with cryogenics.

LH2 Research Conference

The HCN is planning a research conference to bring together UK experts in the field of cryogenic hydrogen materials, thermofluids and health & safety to share knowledge and expertise, build a community and signpost aerospace as a career path. This is likely to be held in the week commencing 6th January 2025 in or around London.

In order to help us shape such a conference and a suitable venue, please let us know if you are interested in attending or presenting your research by clicking on the link below:

Link to Research Conference interest form

HCN Network Map

The HCN recently launched a database to showcase the training courses, research projects and facilities that are present in the UK’s hydrogen in aerospace community – the first activity to signpost existing capabilities and training. The HCN Network Map is populated with entries from users across the community and is maintained by the HCN team. Through the Network Map, users are able to browse:

• Training opportunities focusing on many topics, ranging from hydrogen fundamentals to cryogenic fuel systems and propulsion.
• Hydrogen facilities and infrastructure projects that are available to access now or are planned to open in the future.
• Research projects taking place in the UK across academia and industry.

We encourage users from across our network to keep the Network Map up to date. To submit a new entry to this database, or suggest an edit, please visit the link below. Submissions will be reviewed periodically by the HCN team before being added to the Network Map.

Access the HCN Network Map here

Submit an entry to the HCN Network Map here

Staying in touch

To find out more about our work to develop the UK’s skills base, the HCN’s Skills Recommendations provides an overview of the UK’s current skills landscape, case studies from other sectors and the HCN’s plan of action through Phase 1 and beyond.

We will continue working with industry and academia to develop a strategy for a UK ‘hydrogen in aerospace’ skills roadmap. The HCN works closely with colleagues in the Aerospace Growth Partnership’s skills working group and the Hydrogen Skills Alliance amongst others to identify a route for a future cross-sector hydrogen academy.