We went to interview Ben Jones, Aerospace Collaboration Manager, in Research and Innovation Services to find out what his job involves and what his average day consists of.

A description of Ben’s job:

My job is to consolidate aerospace activities, to win more funding for the University and raise the profile of aerospace internally and for the University in the aerospace sector.

My average day:

08.30 – after driving in from Chandlers Ford, I fire up my emails and take a look at what is on the agenda for the day.

09.00 – my day is currently taken up with heading up two key projects. The first is organising an event in February which will see key speakers, industry partners and academics come together to develop new collaborations and partnerships for aerospace. The second project is working with Clean Sky 2, an ambitious European aeronautical research programme, to decipher what level of involvement Southampton should have.

12.30 – lunchtime, I pop over to SUSU shop for a sandwich.

13.30 – afternoons are often busy networking with industries. Last year I was regularly out of the office, building partnerships with companies such as Rolls Royce, Airbus, Boeing and with SMES at Chilworth Science Park.

15.30 – if I am not out of the office, I will regularly be networking with people across the University and will be visiting colleagues to seek out new collaborations. I am particularly interested in multidisciplinary collaborations – so if you think your work may in some way link with aerospace let me know!

17.30 – I leave work and try not to take my work home with me!

Evening – I have recently bought a new house, so my evenings are currently spent refitting my kitchen!

To get in touch with Ben and find out more about his work email B.Jones@soton.ac.uk and to find out about Ben’s Autonomous and Advanced Systems Showcase event on Monday 3 February click here.