Welcome to your Aeronautical Engineering course

Hello and Welcome to the start of your postgraduate journey here at University of Staffordshire!
Starting a postgraduate course in Aeronautical Engineering can be daunting, so we want to help you prepare in advance and know what to expect to make things as smooth as possible. The information below will help you prepare for your exciting new course at University. 

Course delivery

Teaching will be through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, labs and seminars. Most modules have four hours of contact a week and class sizes will be bigger in lectures and smaller in workshops, tutorials and labs.

Most classes are face to face on campus, and we use a range of assessments including technical reports, lab reports, group assignments and online and traditional exams.

Semester one activities

Welcome Week is your first opportunity to meet your fellow students and the staff you’ll be working with, in one place. We’ll be getting involved in activities and making sure you know more about how the University works and how the next few weeks and months are going to look. We’re hoping that you’ll get to know us and your course mates and be ready to start with the next stage of your journey.

In Welcome Week, you’ll be introduced to the IMechE professional body who accredit the course so you can learn more about becoming a member and the benefits linking in to a local and global network of professional engineers can bring to your future career.

Before You Start - What Can I look at to prepare me for the course?

This is an award for the graduate engineer who wishes to enhance their knowledge of flight engineering whether it be for fixed/rotary wing or subsonic/supersonic.

The course covers a broad range of areas related to Aeronautical Engineering with modules such as advanced aeronautics, advanced CFD, professional engineering skills & project management, advanced structural analysis, engineering design-manufacture-sustainability and gas turbines.

Before you start, these are some fantastic websites to get you thinking and developing yourself for the course;

https://www.instructables.com/

https://www.thingiverse.com/

https://hackaday.io/discover

https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/materials-library

https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/

https://www.imeche.org/Home

Ceramic Knowledge Centre: Contains information about the history of ceramics, manufacturing processes, and their impact on modern society

MatWeb: Online Materials Information Resource including physical , mechanical and chemical properties

How products are made: Explains and details the manufacturing processes used to make a wide variety of products. The list of biographies of a range of inventors is also included.

https://www.aerosociety.com/ (check out their webinars and online presentations)

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/aerospace/ - The Engineer is a great place to keep up with news in the Aerospace and Aviation industries

During your time as a postgraduate student, the following texts will prove useful:

Anderson, J. D., (2016) Fundamentals of Aerodynamics 6th Ed, McGraw Hill

Jenkinson, Lloyd R. and Marchman J. (2003); Aircraft Design Projects for Engineering Students, Butterworth-Heinemann

In addition to:

Raymer, Daniel P. (2018) Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach (6th Edition), AIAA

Aircraft Flight R. H. Barnard & D. R. Philpott

Mechanics of Flight R. H. Barnard & D. R. Philpott

Before you Start – Pre-Arrival Tasks and Activities

Prior to your arrival we’d like you to complete a little activity – there’ll even be a little prize for the best entry! We’d like you to produce a page or two that presents the most important future looking idea in Aeronautical Engineering you think will make the biggest impact in the next 20 years.
You’ll need to explain WHY you have chosen it and explain why you think it will make such an impact. Maybe you think Electric or Solar flight are going to become the mainstay or maybe you’re really looking forward to autonomous passenger transport – we want to know how you think these ideas are going to impact our future!

Before you Start – What do I need to bring with me to start the course?

For the first sessions in Welcome Week – it would be useful to bring a notepad and pen – while we’ll make sure you have access to any information you need – you might want to note a few things down. As you start your lectures and teaching then you’ll want to make sure you always bring a few things to your sessions. Pens and a notebook are a must, while you’ll find that always carrying a scientific calculator will mean that you’re always prepared.

Equipment and software

Once enrolled, you will be able to download a range of software free of charge from the University.

Software link

Keep in touch over the next few weeks...

In the 'related accounts' section below we have linked you to course social media accounts - please join us!

Meet the team

Martin Fiddler

Senior Lecturer

Before working at the university, Martin worked at Lucas Aerospace in Wolverhampton as a graduate apprentice, then as a design engineer.

Martin's profile

Debi Roberts

Interim Head Of Department

Debi has a keen interest in Automotive and Aeronautical Aerodynamics, Engine Design and Engineering History (Automotive and Aeronautical).

Debi's profile

Dr Siva Marimuthu

Senior Lecturer

Dr Siva Marimuthu obtained his aeronautical engineering related academic & research experiences from India, Malaysia & UAE. His main area of interest is the implementation of biomimetic surface patterns to solve problems in the fluid regime.

Siva's profile

Dr Sheikh Islam

Head of Engineering

Dr. Sheikh Islam is the Head of Engineering at University of Staffordshire, bringing over 13 years of experience in academia and industry to his role.

Sheikh's profile

Dr Abdul Waheed Awan

Senior Lecturer

Dr Awan is Senior Lecturer in Mechanical & Automotive Engineering and Award Leader for MSc Automotive Engineering and MSc Mechanical Engineering and Sustainable Energy Technologies within School of Digital, Technology, Innovation and Business.

Abdul Waheed's profile

Dr Alison Griffiths

Associate Professor

Alison's expertise includes smart grids and their protection and renewable integration, smart homes, wireless sensor network design, implementation and optimisation.

Alison's profile

Professor Hamidreza Gohari Darabkhani

Professor-Low Carbon & Renew Energy Sys

Prof Gohari Darabkhani has focused his research and industry collaborations on technologies and projects that directly contribute to resolving current major issues in the energy industry to achieving net-zero emission targets by 2050.

Hamidreza's profile

Dr Mohammad Moghimi Ardekani

Associate Professor

I joined Staffordshire University in 2019 with years of academic & industrial experiences. My main field of interest is CFD simulation of applied thermo-fluid problems for renewable energy technologies, Solar Energy & Thermal Energy Storage.

Mohammad's profile

Humza Umair

Lecturer

Dr Muhammad Fahad

Senior Lecturer

Senior Lecturer Course Leader - BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering Course Leader - Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship.

Muhammad's profile

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.

We look forward to welcoming you to the campus in September.

If you have any questions, please send them to Dr Siva Marimuthu, siva.marimuthu@staffs.ac.uk

Aeronautical Course Team

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