To develop a detailed understanding of the nature of the design process in Aerospace Engineering.
To integrate technical insight into Aerospace configurational design.
To be able to select and use the appropriate tools for the detail design of selected aircraft components.
To appreciate the importance of teamwork and group activity to achieve a complete engineering objective.
To stimulate awareness of the marketing, costing and business dimension in the Aerospace project.

(LO1) Students will be able to select and be competent in the use of appropriate conceptual design tools and techniques in an aerospace context

(LO2) Students will be able to plan and conduct an experimental flight test and present the analysis of  their results in an appropriate manner

(LO3) Students will demonstrate understanding of and be able to show that they have had to make some of the trade-offs that have to be made to come to a realisable and saleable aircraft design

(LO4) Students will be able to select and be competent in the use of appropriate detail design tools and techniques in an aerospace context

(S1) On successful completion of the module, students should be able to show experience and enhancement of the following key skills: Oral presentation, Written communications, Oral communication and team-working skills, Computing and IT skills, Problem-solving.

(S2) On successful completion of the module, students should be able to show experience and enhancement of the following discipline-specific practical skills: Using IT tools for implementing simulations of aerospace systems.

(S3) On successful completion of the module,students should be able to demonstrate ability in applying knowledge of the above topics in: Reviewing and developing the market requirement and the customer view. Developing a physical embodiment of the aerospace product concept. Checking the detail design against the system specification. Simulating aerospace design concepts quantitatively. Applying existing aerospace knowledge from other modules in new contexts.

(S4) On successful completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: The stages of the design process from concept to detail. The relation of the detail design stage to the conceptual and requirement definition stages;The necessity of teamwork and consistency checking in the detail design stages. The role of project planning in the aerospace project life-cycle.

The module is organised into 2 main sections which themselves have several stages. The first section involves the conceptual design of an aircraft to meet a series of pre-defined performance criteria. In the second section, you will be issued with a “request for proposal” which describes a high level description of a requirement for an aircraft issued to your team. The task is to generate a technical document which describes an aircraft design that meets this requirement. Your team will be required to go through 5 stages to generate the technical document.
Stage 1 : Problem Definition (including identification of market and interested parties, definition of technical criteria on which to judge your design, survey of current aircraft that might meet the requirement, brainstorming, more detailed definition of requirements in the following areas – market/mission, airworthiness standards, environmental/social issues, manufacturing issues, requirements for syst ems and equipment).
Stage 2: Generating Configurational Options (generation of one or more aircraft layout options with some initial supporting data, initial aircraft sizing)
Stage 3: Trade Studies and Optimisation (examination of parametric influence and optimisation for your retained configuration(s)
Stage 4: Analysis (detailed analysis of your design). Each member of the group will be assigned a specialist role e.g. aerodynamics, stability and control, structures, systems, chief engineer, etc.)
Stage 5: Test, Validate and Refine (detailed model validation and test). You will build a whole vehicle simulation model. All models are wrong, some are useable. You will need to verify that your models perform as you expect them to and validate that they give sensible results. You can then use these models to predict performance and iterate around the design process to demonstrate that your solution meets the design requirements. Reviews with academic staff will be held t hroughout the year. You will also be able to consult several academic staff for advice within a defined time budget for your team.

Teaching Method 1 - Synchronous meeting sessions weekly using Teams or Zoom to replace lectures, supplemented by provision of asynchronous self-study materials in Canvas
Description: Each week, you will meet as groups with members of staff who will act as consultants to help you to solve design problems that you have come up against. These sessions will help to guide you through the process. On occasion, you will be required to present your progress more formally, including to industrial representatives.

Teaching Method 2 – Active Learning Laboratory Build Sessions
Description: As your design progresses, you will need to attend the Active Learning Laboratory to start to fabricate your design prior to component, sub-system and full system test.

Teaching Method 3 – self-directed learning
Description: Outside of the progress/help sessions, you will be expected to advance your design project either on your own on within your groups. These sessions are to be self-organised.
These learning and teaching methods will be used for hybrid delivery, with social distancing on campus, as planned for semester 1. The following changes may be required in response to circumstances:
(a) fully online delivery and assessment, (i.e. if full lockdown is necessary): The on-campus active-learning build sessions will be stopped. The testing of the design will move to simulation.