Two Maltese postgraduate students at Cranfield University, the UK – Karl Zammit and Christopher Conrad – recently received prizes for outstanding results in their respective courses.
Zammit completed an MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design, a one-year full-time course focused on the technical, business and management aspects integral to aircraft design in both the civil and military aerospace sectors.
At the end of the course he received three top awards: the ‘Course Director’s Prize for Best Individual Research Project’, after taking inspiration from nature while developing a method that uses AI to decrease the time to come up with new wing designs for ground effect aircraft; the ‘Course Director’s Prize for Best Performance in the Group Design Project’, for his work in market, cost and infrastructure engineering as the lead systems engineer of a group of over 100 students that sought to design an aircraft fuelled by liquid hydrogen; and the ‘Joe Young Memorial Prize’, which is awarded to the student with the highest overall course mark.
Engineering always piqued my interest; I’d frequently spend hours breaking apart machinery- Karl Zammit
Zammit followed his time at Cranfield with a stint in the UK automotive industry, after which he returned to the University of Malta, where he is conducting research at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
“Growing up, engineering always piqued my interest; I’d frequently spend hours breaking apart machinery, sometimes quite literally, and discussing principles and memories with my grandfather, Emanuel Robert Mallia, an ex-naval architect and retired university lecturer. I stand proud having followed in his footsteps and worked so hard for these achievements and am looking forward to the next big thing,” Zammit said on his career path to date.
Meanwhile, Conrad completed an MSc in Advanced Air Mobility Systems, a one-year full-time course focused on innovative automated and autonomous solutions for integrating uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) with traditional crewed aircraft.
On completing the course, Conrad was awarded the Course Director’s Prize for achieving the highest overall course mark. His research on intelligent management of vertiport traffic had also earned him the prestigious SESAR Young Scientist Award in 2023.
It is an incredibly exciting time to be entering this field- Christopher Conrad
In recognition of his “exceptional academic performance, dedication and contributions to the university”, Conrad also received the Vice Chancellor’s Prize in 2024. This prestigious award is given to only one postgraduate student across all taught master’s degree programmes at Cranfield.
Conrad said: “Cranfield provided an excellent opportunity to engage with top experts in the field of unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM), from leading academics to industry professionals. The MSc equipped me with the tools I needed to pursue a career in aerospace research.
“Emerging technologies, policies and systems are set to revolutionise the aviation industry and dramatically expand the potential of aerial operations. It is an incredibly exciting time to be entering this field.”
Conrad is currently working as a researcher at Cranfield University on the EU-wide SAFIR-Ready project, which aims to develop the systems required for large-scale drone operations. Alongside his research work, he is pursuing a PhD at Cranfield, focusing on resource allocation and mission prioritisation for UTM.