About this course
- Entry year: 2012/13
- Course code: H404
- Applications: UCAS
- Level: Undergraduate
- Tariff points: 300
- Department: Engineering, Design and Mathematics
- Campus: Frenchay
- Duration: Four years full time/five years sandwich.
- Delivery: Full time, sandwich
- Programme leader: Dr Chris Toomer
- Key fact: Up to date, relevant and in demand - our Aerospace Engineering course provides you with both the depth and breadth needed for your future career!
Introduction
This is a time of great opportunity for engineers in the aerospace industry. Not only are there several major projects in the civil aviation sector, but there is increasing activity in two new areas - civilian space flight and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The South West of England plays an important part in this global market, with one of the largest clusters of aerospace and defence companies in the world. UWE is well-placed within this important sector to offer you an aerospace degree which is up-to-date and in-demand.
UWE has a long history of working with the aerospace industry regionally, nationally and internationally. We work collaboratively on numerous research contracts and projects with local companies with which we have significant contact.
We work in partnership with large regional employers, through our Engineering and Computing Consortium, including Airbus, GE Aviation and Agusta Westland. These companies work with us to ensure our curriculum is up to date; provide work placement and graduate employment opportunities.
Modern aircraft, both civilian and military, are immensely complex machines that take years to develop. Each of the many components that make up an aircraft must be designed and manufactured to perform accurately, so that the whole machine functions correctly. An Aerospace Engineer needs to have a detailed knowledge of the structures and aerodynamics of aircraft as well as an understanding of flight control and aero-propulsion. They should also have an understanding of manufacturing processes.
This new course brings together three previous Aerospace courses - Aerospace Design Engineering, Aerospace Systems Engineering and Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering. The industry requires Aerospace Engineers who have a good knowledge of different perspectives within the design and build process, as well as knowledge of how the industry operates. This course responds to this change in requirement. Alongside the fundamentals of aerospace engineering, you will specialise in either Aerospace Design, Aerospace Systems or Aerospace Manufacturing.
Additionally, you will have the opportunity to learn to fly and to possibly gain your PPL through our collaborative relationship with Northwestern Michigan College, US.
plan+make degree show June 2011
Have a look at our students' work which was on display at the plan+make degree show 2011. Students from across the Department of Engineering Design and Mathematics exhibited along with students from across the Faculty. The event, held in June each year, enables our students to showcase their final year projects to both family and friends as well as employers from the region.
Lara Small, MEng Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering, exhibited at the degree show. Hear what she has to say!
Structure
Content
Your first year will concentrate on the underlying engineering principles applicable to aerospace engineering. You will study materials and manufacturing processes, stress and dynamics, aerospace design, electrical interfaces, thermodynamics and fluids. One of your first year modules will give you a full introduction to aeronautics and you will also study mathematics modules, including engineering mathematics.
It is from your second year onwards that you will choose to specialise in either design, manufacture or systems. Modules for each pathway are as follows:
Design
Year 2
- Aerodynamics
- Mathematics for Mechanical Engineering
- Stress Analysis
- Dynamics
- Design Embodiment and Materials Selection
- Group Project and Management
- Flight Mechanics
- Stress and Dynamics Laboratories
- Aerostructures
Year 3 (BEng Hons and MEng)
- Individual Project (BEng only)
- Individual Project A (MEng)
- Operations Planning and Improvement
- Aeropropulsion
- Flight Mechanics
- Finite Element Analysis
- Aerodynamics
- Mechanics of Materials
Year 4 (MEng)
- MEng Individual Project
- MEng Group Project
- Aerodynamics
- Aircraft Structural Design
- Aeroelasticity
- Aeroacoustics
Manufacturing
Year 2
- Mechatronics
- CAD/CAM Applications
- Mathematics for Mechanical Engineering
- Design Embodiment and Materials Selection
- Group Project and Management
- Aerostructures
- Flight Mechanics
Year 3 (BEng Hons and MEng)
- Individual Project (BEng only)
- Individual Project (MEng)
- Operations Planning and Improvement
- Aeropropulsion
- Integrated Manufacturing Systems
- Flight Mechanics
- Component Inspection
- Automated Manufacture
- Materials and Composite Materials
Year 4 (MEng)
- MEng Individual Project
- MEng Group Project
- Lean Engineering and Decision Support Tools for Continuous Improvement
- Electromechanical Systems Integration
- Concurrent Engineering
- Aerospace Manufacturing Technology
Systems
Year 2
- Aerostructures
- Mathematics for Mechanical Engineering
- Mechatronics
- Avionic Systems
- Control Systems Engineering
- Group Project and Management
- Flight Mechanics
- Aerodynamics
Year 3 (BEng Hons and MEng)
- Individual Project (BEng only)
- Individual Project (MEng)
- Aircraft Systems
- Aeropropulsion
- Avionic Systems
- Operations Process Improvement
- Flight Control and Simulation
- Flight Mechanics
Year 4 (MEng)
- MEng Individual Project
- MEng Group Project
- Electromechanical Systems Integration
- Concurrent Engineering
- Flight Test and Airworthiness
- Lean Engineering and Design Support for Continuous Improvement
Additionally, all students will have the option of doing a work placement year, which is sandwiched between years 2 and 3 of your degree.
Teaching and learning
Learning is through lectures, tutorials and seminars with a programme of laboratory, practical and project work. Examples include a group project centred on the design, manufacture and flying of a radio controlled aircraft. In your first year, you will have the opportunity to actually work on a light aircraft in the Aerospace Design module.
Assessment
All work is normally assessed by a combination of assignments, examinations, continuous assessment and group work depending on the nature of the module. In your final year the project report and presentation form part of the assessment.
Additionally, you will be encouraged to exhibit your final year work at our unique annual Degree Show where you will discuss your work and celebrate your achievements with family, friends and invited representatives from a range of different organisations!
Special Features
Professional accreditation
This degree has been accredited by the Royal Aeronautical Society under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council. Accreditation is a mark of assurance that the degree meets the standards set by the Engineering Council in the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC). An accredited degree will provide you with some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for eventual registration as an Incorporated (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng). Some employers recruit preferentially from accredited degrees, and an accredited degree is likely to be recognised by other countries that are signatories to international accords.
In the Department, all programmes which are determined as appropriate for accreditation and exemption are regularly inspected by the relevant institutions. Accreditation visits are cyclical and it is important that you check the current accreditation status of programmes. For more information, visit the Royal Aeronautical Society's website at www.raes.org.uk.
Find out more about Department's accredited courses.
Placements
We encourage all students on our degree courses to do a placement year in an industrial, commercial or public sector organisation, doing work of value to the company. There are many companies who provide placements to university students. Past student have been placed with Airbus, both in the UK and in Europe, Smith Industries, E-Stress, GE Aircraft and Marshall Aerospace to name but a few. The Department's Placements team has close links with the business community and advertises hundreds of work placements every year. We will show you how to prepare your CV correctly, advise you on how to write letters of application and help you learn successful interview techniques. Find out more about our work placements on our department's website.
Learn to fly
Working in collaboration with Northwestern Michigan College (NMC), we are able to offer you the chance to spend time in the US learning to fly during your summer breaks. Current students who have joined the NMC summer school have benefited from an intensive period of training and flying hours enabling them to work towards their Private Pilot Licence (PPL). Costs in 2011 were approx $10,000 for a six week course, which is long enough for those with aptitude to gain their PPL. Shorter courses are also available. The fees include all tuition, board and lodging but not travel to the US. Acceptance is subject to medical and security checks, including visas. Gliding experience is a useful pre-course activity and we would strongly encourage you to join the UWE Gliding Club.
Fieldwork
There are many opportunities for fieldwork during your degree. This will include visits to a number of different aerospace organisations, from large companies such as Airbus to museums such as the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil. Additionally, in your second year you will participate in Wings Week, where you will be required to design and build the wings for a model glider aircraft. Your aircraft are then 'raced' against each other at different venues each year.
Study facilities
You will have access to two subsonic wind tunnels and one supersonic wind tunnel, stress and materials laboratories, computer-aided design, simulation and planning software on both Sun workstations and an extensive PC network.
You will also work on the Department's Merlin MP521 engineering flight simulator. The simulator has a wide bodied capsule with a full width instrument panel and a real-time visual scene. The flight software is very sophisticated and provides a full six-degree of freedom model. The capsule is mounted on a full six axis hydraulic motion system, which provides a realistic flight feel for the aircraft designs being simulated. Model data is directly entered by the students and does not require any computer programming. The simulator provides a valuable link between the theory and practice of mechanics of flight and aerodynamics.
Careers/further study
Graduates with an Aerospace Engineering degree are likely to pursue careers in the aerospace industry. The combination of the design, systems and manufacturing elements of the course prepare you for employment in many high technology companies, such as Airbus UK, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Agusta Westland. Previous graduates have taken up employment in companies concerned with the design and manufacture of civil and military aircraft, helicopters and jet engines.
Meet Our partners
Our degrees can lead to a wide variety of career choices. To ensure that our degrees make you as employable as possible, we have entered into a unique consortium with seven major aerospace and related organisations in the region. Partner employers
Entry
Typical offers
- Tariff points: 300
- GCSE: Maths, English Language - Grade C or above
- Specific subjects: A level Maths grade C; IB Maths (Higher) grade 5; Advanced Diploma Additional Specialised Learning in Maths; BTEC unit Further Maths for Technicians; or equivalent.
Also one of the following Chemistry; Computing / Computer Science; Design and Technology; Electronics; Engineering; Information and Communications Technology; Music Technology; Physics.
- EDEXCEL (BTEC) Diploma: BTEC Nationals accepted: Aerospace Engineering; Communications Technology; Electrical / Electronic Engineering; Engineering; Manufacturing Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Operations & Maintenance Engineering; Polymer Processing and Materials Technology; Telecommunications.
- Access: Achievement of the Access to HE Diploma; achievement of level three credits in Maths (to include algebra and calculus), achievement of level 2 credits in Maths and English Language.
- Baccalaureate IB: Accepted (see the UCAS website for the UCAS tariff points that you can gain from the IB to put towards our points requirements)
Advice on typical offers
In addition to the 'typical offer' given here, please read the general information about entry requirements.
How to apply
Please see the general information about applications.
For further information
Page last updated 14 December 2011