Silas Vanden Branden, Aerospace Engineer Student at UoB!

What were your first steps (education or work) after Redhill and how did you enjoy it?

I studied Maths, Physics and French at King Ed’s in Stourbridge. I enjoyed the academic side of it, however I feel socially it was quite different to Redhill. I was lucky to have been involved on a French exchange programme there. I stayed with a French family in La Rochelle and did work experience in a bakery!

I’m currently studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Birmingham. I’m on a 5 year integrated masters + industrial experience course. I’m just finishing my 3rd year. Next year I’ll be working for a company at Silverstone who work in cycling performance aerodynamics and wind tunnel testing, then the year after that I’ll go back to uni for one more year.

I’ve specialised in the aerodynamics and computer modelling side of the subject more. I’ve done a lot of work in using CFD (a type of computer modelling that allows you to simulate fluid flow and aerodynamics) to optimise the shape of jet engine nozzles to reduce noise and improve fuel efficiency. It’s a very long, slow process, that effectively involves you taking a CAD model, and finishing (usually after months of banging your head against a computer screen) with a lot of graphs and contours of the fluid flow. This I’ve taken a deep interest in, and I imagine is what I’ll probably pursue as a career after graduating.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the degree is extremely hard, it takes up the vast majority of my life and at times causes me an unhealthy amount of stress. However even with this, I still love it. Its always been my passion. I love the feeling of academically pushing myself and growing continuously. Seeing some incredibly complicated looking maths or problem, then breaking it down, teaching yourself what you don’t know, and then solving it, is deeply rewarding to me. Engineering is just a glorified game of problem solving, the better you get, the better your understanding of problems becomes, and the bigger your toolbox becomes. I love being in an environment where everybody is equally as hard working and motivated, that’s one thing that’s really special, particularly in 3rd year.

I’ve always loved engineering. From planes, to rockets, to Formula One. I think for teachers that would probably be a memorable thing about me, potentially I had a tendency from time to time to talk about this a bit much…

I think the strong foundation of core subjects really instilled a love of academia in me. I could have done, English, Sciences or French and still had a deep passion for them. The teachers at Redhill really have a passion for their subjects, and this very much rubbed off onto me. They gave me a level of education and love for learning that enabled me to really choose what I wanted. I still find myself tempted to take completely different career paths such as medicine, even in the 3rd year of my degree.

Since Redhill, I have taken up cycling. I enjoy training and racing, as well as riding with friends. I fit anywhere from 15-25 hours of this into my week around uni. I have met a lot of people doing this and have seen myself grow and mature as an athlete. I think it supplements the academic side of me very well.

I have had a few different jobs since leaving Redhill to fund cycling, and just life as a whole. A few years ago I spent the Covid period (after Uni was put on hold), working as an NHS 111 Call Assessor. I worked in delivering patient care in a variety of situations. 111 hired a lot of students at this time since there was a massive load on the NHS, and a lot of students with no uni. I met so many different people, many I’m still friends with today. Many of them inspired me tremendously. I also spent another summer working as an NHS test and trace call assessor, although this was less rewarding, it was still a good experience. I also worked in a fish and chip shop for a while. All of these have taught me a lot about life, and if anything made me want to work even harder at what I love.

At uni, I have met a lot of new people. Some of them hold a very special place in my heart. I am still close to my original friendship group from Redhill. We’ve all gone our own ways, some in the military, police, or university. But we all love coming back to Stourbridge and having a good laugh with each other seeing each other again. I’m one of 4 siblings. All of us have gone to Redhill. My brother has also gone onto study Aerospace Engineering. My sister is currently at King Eds, and my littlest brother is lucky enough to still be at Redhill! My family are really important to me, the older I get the more I realise this. I think we all realise the impact Redhill has had on our life and education.

People often say you don’t realise how good something is for you, until its taken away. The older I get, and the longer its been since I left, the more lucky I feel to have spent my time in secondary school at Redhill. To me it just felt like a big family. I had a laugh and a joke, enjoyed myself. At the end of it, I came away with fantastic level of education, that I’m extremely grateful for and proud of.

I was involved in so many things. From charity work to trips to sports. Some of my fondest memories are being stood around the pond on results day and having that mutual feeling of achievement with my teachers. My favourite school trip was either the Belgium residential or the Dutch exchange. A lot of the people I went on these trips with are still some of my best friends.

My plans after graduating are to get a graduate job as a CFD engineer for a company like Rolls-Royce or Airbus. I’d work in aerodynamic modelling of different aircraft systems, with the aim of improving efficiency and performance. In the future, I’d like to one day start my own company. The journey of companies such as Space X resonate with me a lot, and I dream of one day achieving something similar. I just want to make a difference really. I love what I do, I’ve dreamt of getting here forever, so it’s very exciting to be finally at the point where its all happening. With problems such as emissions, fuel prices etc facing the world, I’ve got a real opportunity to make a difference. I want to use my passion to make the world a better place, and just enjoy doing that. As an aspiring engineer, my greatest inspirations are Elon Musk, and Jim Lovell.

There are so many teachers who I’d love to thank and send my gratitude to, but I’d have to go on forever.

Firstly, my Year 10/11 maths teacher Miss Ashfield. Maths is something I use so much now, it’s the language of science and engineering. I always tried hard, and sometimes felt that it didn’t really get me anywhere at first. Miss Ashfield believed in me and gave me the opportunity to go be in a higher set. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this, and it really have me the opportunity to succeed. I think her attitude to teaching as a whole is also really inspiring. She really gave us all the impression that all she wanted was for us to do well, and her job was just to help us do that.

My year 10/11 science teacher Mrs Kokumo. Triple science felt like a drag at the best of times. We’d spend more time in science than any other class. Mrs Kokumo made us feel like a bit of a family. Year 11 science is the place I first discovered ‘banter’, and she was very much part of the experience.

My year 7/8 science teacher Mrs Glover. She saw I had a love of science, and just a genuine desire to learn how things work. She made me feel really special about this, and if anything made me love it even more.

My form tutor Mr Wilkinson. I feel like he just ‘got me.’ He always made me feel like I could just come for a chat.

Finally, Mr Hanson. If passion for a subject was a person, it would be Mr Hanson. His commitment to the subject is something else, going out of his way to make a blog to help us. It wasn’t just a job for him. I think his appreciation for learning, and academic development is special too. I was in his top set A-half, but I know he had a lower ser B-half too. To him both of us were the same. We were students on an academic journey, exploring the subject alongside him. It very much felt like he was on a journey with us, not just guiding us. His excitement when someone would develop a perceptive idea, and concepts would ‘click’ in their head, is something I feel that all students should have the opportunity to experience.

My message to current students would be: if you’ve got a passion, work hard and stick with it. Do what you love and enjoy it. Sometimes in life and education things will go wrong, and question how much you love it. Times like these make you stronger. If people try put you down about what you enjoy and want to do with your life, don’t take any notice of it. If anything, use it to make you want to do it more.

I’m sat here writing all this now. My last exam is tomorrow, I should probably wait a few days to write this but revision can wait (and I’ve finished everything anyway). To be honest I’m just excited and want to tell everyone that if you work hard, you can get anywhere you want. That’s the number one thing I think current students should know.

I hope everyone at Redhill is well, and I’d once again like to send my gratitude and appreciation for my time there!