Contact David Thorndycraft
- Tel: 07850405510
- Email: D.C.Thorndycraft.274@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Background
I am studying for a Masters by Research at Cranfield University following my retirement in 2025. I have previously held Defence related roles in Research and Development for BAe Systems, DERA, QinetiQ and most recently Thales Avionics in Crawley. Whilst at QinetiQ I conducted international flight trials in both Canada and the UK and I am a Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) Rotorcraft Systems award winner for my contribution to international research collaboration and have a number of peer reviewed papers to my name in the area of 3D conformal symbology concepts. As Thales Flight Trials Officer and System Engineer on the CH-47 Julius upgrade programme I was responsible for Mission Planning aspects of the programme. I have wide Systems engineering Experience and worked on the A300M Voyager program whilst at Thales. I am a Chartered Engineer and do volunteering and mentoring duties for the Institute of Engineering Technology (IET) and the Institute for Systems Engineers. I graduated with a MSc in Psychology at Greenwich in 2024.
Research opportunities
My current research is investigating the likely impact that introduction of Intelligent Agents will have on the mission lifecycle and Crew Resource Managment (CRM) for rotorcraft and fixed wing multiengine aircraft operating in challenging environments. I am also interested in advanced display technology, 3D symbology and the underlying perceptual and cognitive processes .