Former student Tom Ciesco has contacted Alsop High School with the news he has been awarded an MBE for his services to the Royal Air Force. Tom is an Atlas Performance Engineer for Airbus UK, and is part of Team Atlas at Brize Norton.

 

Tom writes:

“Just to let you know I was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday honours list. Alsop High School was a huge part of my formative years and education so thought I'd give you the news and say thank you.”

 

Tom attended and achieved 10 GCSE’s, 1 GNVQ and 3 A Levels. From Alsop Tom studied at Salford University and gained a BSc (Hons) Aviation Technology with Pilot Studies. He also holds a MSc Air Transport Management.

 

Mr James Kerfoot, Executive Principal of Alsop High School comments:

“Congratulations to Tom on receiving an MBE for his services to the Royal Air Force. This is a fantastic achievement for a former student. We do hope you will visit us in the near future.”

 

Tom has recently shared his story with Alsop students. He writes:

“After finishing education with a master’s degree, I got my first job working at an airline where I was fortunate enough to spend many months in America doing further training to become a Flight Operations Engineer. This niche role is a mix of aircraft engineering, designing safe departure and arrival paths for aircraft to follow and developing aircraft systems to keep up with the latest technologies. It still surprises me how I ended up in this field as maths never came naturally to me (I use it every day now) but I worked hard, starting at Alsop where I resat my maths GCSE twice to get a better grade!

 

“After this, I transferred to Airbus where I am now based at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, leading a team of engineers to provide the RAF with operational support to its Air Transport fleet. My role has been pivotal in many high-profile operations including the evacuation of people from Afghanistan where I designed the procedures to get the most people out of Kabul airport. I also enjoy returning to Cranfield University where I lecture master’s students about Aircraft Performance, providing a real-life aspect to their studies.”

 

Tom holds fond memories of his time at Alsop:

“I always enjoyed taking part in school plays and performances as I played piano (getting out of lessons to rehearse was always a bonus!). I once got the opportunity to play at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall to over 1500 people which was nerve-wrecking, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

 

His advice to Alsop students of today:

“Work as hard as you can but don’t forget to enjoy yourself whilst you are at it! If you are lucky enough to have an idea of what you want to do, drive towards it, seek advice about how to get to your goal and don’t get distracted along the way! If you are less clear about what you want to do later in life, play to your strengths and keep an open mind. Whatever you do - have fun, be confident in yourself and proud of your achievements.”