Two students from Cranfield University have won prestigious International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarships in the same year for the first time.
Ao Sun and Yifan Wang – who are both Safety and Human Factors in Aviation MSc students – were awarded the $2,000 scholarships after submitting essays focusing on the protection of mental health for accident investigators and the use of 3D accident scene reconstructions, respectively.
The scholarships aim to encourage the development of students in the field of aviation safety and accident investigation and include sponsorship to attend the ISASI annual seminar, which winners are also invited to present at.
Dr Wen-Chin Li, Senior Lecturer in Cranfield's Safety and Accident Investigation Centre and Course Director of the Safety and Human Factors in Aviation MSc programme, said: "There's a lot of competition to win Rudolf Kapustin Scholarships – award winners have to demonstrate competence and vision to improve aviation safety related to accident investigation.
"It's exciting news that both Ao and Yifan have won this prestigious award through their commitment to improve aviation safety and accident investigation."
Ao Sun – whose essay was titled 'The challenges for air safety investigators: How to take care of mental health and well-being for accident investigators' – said: "I'm very honoured and proud to have been awarded the ISASI Scholarship as it is an encouragement and recognition for the work I have done. It has had a remarkable impact on my future development in the field of flight safety and has given me great motivation.
"I want to express my gratitude to Cranfield University for giving me a great platform and to my supervisor, Dr Wen-Chin Li, for his mentoring."
Yifan Wang's essay was titled 'Developing new ways of investigating: 3D aviation accident scene reconstructions and further applications'. Yifan said: "I am very happy to receive this award and would like to thank Cranfield for providing me with a great learning environment and access to resources, as well as my supervisor Wen-Chin Li, who gave me a lot of meaningful advice to enable me to complete my essay."
Cranfield students previously won Rudolf Kapustin awards in 2009, 2013 and 2016, but there have never been two scholarships in the same year before.
Rudolf Kapustin was a senior investigator of the US National Transportation Safety Board aviation division with a 40-year career covering dozens of major inquiries. The ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Scholarships honour late ISASI members whose contributions have advanced the society's goals.
Applicants for the scholarships must be enrolled as full-time students in aircraft engineering, aviation psychology, aviation safety and/or aircraft safety investigation, and submit an essay focusing on aviation safety or accident investigation. An international review board selected three essays as winners from the submissions received.
