Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
This Burlington House Lunchtime Scientist talk is with Emma Ryan, a senior development engineer working to improve the efficiency of materials and machines for use in the aerospace industry.
The Royal Astronomical Society is collaborating with the Linnean Society to present a series of informal, one-hour astrobiology-focussed events, with a talk and a 20-30 minute Q&A. We have asked our speakers to share their field of science and the path they took to get there tailored for GCSE and A Level science students. Most importantly, we want to make sure that we give students ample time to ask their questions.
About the speaker:
Dr Emma Ryan is a senior development engineer and Production Lead for Applied Technology at Reaction Engines. She directs efforts into setting up a production line, manufacturing thin walled heat exchangers. This involves managing a team of around 20 people, ensuring that heat exchangers are repeatedly made to budget, to time and to high quality. Her first role at Reaction Engines was a development engineer, developing novel manufacturing techniques for heat exchangers. She previously worked at Lockheed Martin UK in a similar role, industrialising wire and arc additive manufacturing for aerospace applications. She is also a technical author of an international standard (BSI EN ISO 6010) on feedstock material for additive manufacturing.
Emma is currently the Events Coordinator for the UK Mars Society, an active member of the ASTM Committee F42, was a founding member of the Women in STEM committee at both Lockheed Martin and Reaction Engines and helped set up the first IOM3 accredited Student Materials Society.
She completed an engineering doctorate on improving the reproducibility of wire and arc additive manufacturing at the University of Surrey. She earned a BSc (Hons) in Physics at the University of Edinburgh where she specialised in astrophysics-based modules and had a summer internship at the Astronomy Technology Centre based at the Royal Observatory.
This Burlington House Lunchtime Scientist talk is with Emma Ryan, a senior development engineer working to improve the efficiency of materials and machines for use in the aerospace industry.
The Royal Astronomical Society is collaborating with the Linnean Society to present a series of informal, one-hour astrobiology-focussed events, with a talk and a 20-30 minute Q&A. We have asked our speakers to share their field of science and the path they took to get there tailored for GCSE and A Level science students. Most importantly, we want to make sure that we give students ample time to ask their questions.
About the speaker:
Dr Emma Ryan is a senior development engineer and Production Lead for Applied Technology at Reaction Engines. She directs efforts into setting up a production line, manufacturing thin walled heat exchangers. This involves managing a team of around 20 people, ensuring that heat exchangers are repeatedly made to budget, to time and to high quality. Her first role at Reaction Engines was a development engineer, developing novel manufacturing techniques for heat exchangers. She previously worked at Lockheed Martin UK in a similar role, industrialising wire and arc additive manufacturing for aerospace applications. She is also a technical author of an international standard (BSI EN ISO 6010) on feedstock material for additive manufacturing.
Emma is currently the Events Coordinator for the UK Mars Society, an active member of the ASTM Committee F42, was a founding member of the Women in STEM committee at both Lockheed Martin and Reaction Engines and helped set up the first IOM3 accredited Student Materials Society.
She completed an engineering doctorate on improving the reproducibility of wire and arc additive manufacturing at the University of Surrey. She earned a BSc (Hons) in Physics at the University of Edinburgh where she specialised in astrophysics-based modules and had a summer internship at the Astronomy Technology Centre based at the Royal Observatory.
