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Young engineers
The ESA Scholarship for Young Engineers was established at the University of Strathclyde in memory of David Mitchell, former Standards and Legislation Director and a highly respected leader in the sealing industry.
The current scholarship recipient, Ms Ilya Gladkikh, has completed her third year of the five-year MEng Aero-Mechanical Engineering programme. We remain committed to supporting Ms Gladkikh as she continues her studies at the University of Strathclyde. A short interview with Ms Gladkikh about her experience is available in this article.
In addition, we have been exploring opportunities to extend this support to students at other universities across Europe.
A Young Engineer, Mr Martin Wand, commenced a project at DHBW Mannheim in October 2025. The objective of his project is to investigate the performance of various expanded graphite packing types in hydrogen valve service. The study will involve testing and comparing leakage performance using hydrogen and, where available, helium, based on data provided by the packing manufacturer.
The project is academically supervised by Prof. Thomas Klenk of DHBW Mannheim. Monthly progress reports will be submitted to both the Institution and the ESA Packings Division.
We continue to seek additional young engineers interested in undertaking projects related to sealing technology, sustainable packaging, or recycling solutions for end-of-life fluoropolymers.