About the Aerospace Engineering Discipline

Aerospace Engineering focuses on the design, analysis, manufacture and operation of flight vehicles. The aerospace industry is a global industry and the degree is designed to equip students to work in the Australian Industry or to join international projects working on air borne and space vehicles.

The courses include aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, structures and systems and are placed in context by two advanced design courses. The final year design course involves a team design project integrating all aspects of aircraft design to meet a defined mission specification — for an example of two of our 2007 projects see Flights of Fancy on YouTube. Final year students also complete a thesis, which is an individual project that lasts for two semesters. During the course of the thesis students are in a position to apply various aspects of knowledge gained during the four years of studies.

The Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Degree Plan shares the first two years with the other four plans in the School and no specialisation is required until third year. Third and fourth year then focus on the aerospace disciplines. The course is weighted towards air borne vehicles to match the employment prospects in Australia. Graduates can expect to find employment in the aerospace design and manufacturing industry, the airlines or the regulatory and government authorities including defence. Students with a genuine desire to enter the space industry will be encouraged to broaden their experience through student projects and the final year thesis.

The University also has an Aviation Degree Program in the Faculty of Science. That degree has a pilot training program and an operational management stream. The Department of Aviation owns its own training aircraft and students in the School are able to participate in a flight experience program as part of their study of flight mechanics. With well-equipped laboratories and dedicated staff, and the inclusion of both degrees in the University teaching program, places UNSW in a position of leadership in Aerospace and Aviation teaching and research.

Undergraduate Degrees

For information on
      •  common years 1 and 2 of our BE degrees
      •  combined degrees
      •  scholarships
see Prospective Undergraduate Students.

Postgraduate Degrees

For information on
      •  general postgraduate coursework degrees
see Prospective Postgraduate Coursework Students.
Note: There are no specific aerospace engineering options for coursework programs.

For information on
      •  postgraduate research degrees
      •  research topics in the aerospace engineering field
      •  scholarships
see Prospective Postgraduate Research Students.

Staff

For information on staff in the Aerospace discipline, go to Staff and sort by “Research Group” or “Research Area”.

Laboratories

For information on laboratory and computing facilities, see Labs & Computing.

Research Activities

For information on current research activities, go to
      •  Staff and sort by “Research Group” or “Research Area”
      •  Research & Publications

Consulting & Testing

Consulting and testing for industry is available via MECHLAB @ UNSW.