Michael Colling

Mike Colling is a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering in the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science. He teaches a variety of aircraft performance and flight mechanics topics and contributes to the delivery of the University’s pilot studies courses. His main research interests are civil supersonics and trajectory optimisation, with a particular focus on climate-optimal flight routing.

While completing his MEng in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Surrey, Mike spent 16 months at BAE Systems and was primarily involved in wind tunnel testing and flight testing of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Following graduation in 2016, he joined QinetiQ as a flight physics engineer at MOD Boscombe Down, where he worked closely with Lockheed Martin on a C-130J flight trials programme.  Mike left QinetiQ in 2017 to undertake commercial pilot training with a major UK airline and subsequently flew the Airbus A319/20 to destinations across Europe. He took voluntary redundancy from the airline during the coronavirus pandemic and has been a full-time academic since 2021.

Mike is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and was formerly on the committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Boscombe Down Branch.