MScUnmanned Aircraft Systems Design
| Study location | United Kingdom, Southampton (Highfield campus) |
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| Type | Master courses, full-time |
| Nominal duration | 1 year |
| Study language | English |
| Awards | MSc |
| Entry qualification | Undergraduate diploma (or higher) Upper second class honours degree (2:1 or equivalent) in Engineering, Mathematics, Physical Sciences or a related subject. |
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| Language requirements | English IELTS: 6.5 |
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| Other requirements | At least 2 reference(s) must be provided. CV |
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| More information |
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Overview
Interested? To learn more about this study programme, entry requirements and application process, please contact one of our consultants in a country nearest to you.
Programme structure
The University of Southampton has a strong reputation in Autonomous Systems with many world firsts including: SULSA, the first 3D printed plane; the development of a DARPA winning entry to UAVForge and the world’s first affordable maritime surveillance unmanned air vehicle 2SEAS.
This course offers a sound understanding of the relevant fundamental science, methods, analysis and engineering applications. Students design and build a sophisticated unmanned system in the course of their studies and have access to rapid prototyping and testing facilities to put their designs through mission validation.
The emphasis of this course will focus on the design of the vehicle itself rather than the wider systems such as ground station, infrastructure, and software associated with navigation and communications.
The course also focuses on civil and commercial applications of unmanned systems. Although some of the teaching material may make reference to military technology the course will not cover military, defence or weapon specific systems.
The aim of this MSc course is to:
- Provide graduate engineers with the necessary skills and knowledge to become unmanned aircraft systems designers.
Give students realistic experience in undertaking a full conceive, design, build, operate development cycle.
- Provide students with the ability to undertake an individual project where they can undertake a deep exploration of a research topic relevant to unmanned systems.
- Encourage students to explore innovative, but possibly high risk, design solutions that might not be possible within a commercial setting.
- Allow students to undertake a specialist role within a team and to understand and actively influence the interactions between a wide variety of electro-mechanical systems and disciplines.
- Give students a detailed framework and methodology that allows them to undertake realistic trade-offs between capability, unit cost and life cycle cost.
- Provide flexible learning through a wide choice of options. An advanced knowledge of Unmanned Systems.
- An understanding of the use, and an appreciation of the limitations, of computational analysis and design tools in the development of Unmanned Systems.
Also, the course aims to:
- Enable you to acquire advanced knowledge and practical skills needed for a professional career in your chosen specialist theme and to provide you with specialist knowledge and skills relevant to that theme.
- Enhance your transferable skills, including critical analysis, problem solving, project management, decision making, leadership, and communication by oral, visual and/or written means.
- Equip you with specialist knowledge, scientific and technical expertise and research skills for further research and/or application in the design of unmanned systems.
- We are well located in the South East of the UK, where there is a strong aerospace industry. The following organisations provide support for the course with projects, case studies and guest lectures.
Tekever
QinetiQ
DSTL
Cobham
Rolls-Royce
Roke
Thales
AV8 UAS Solutions Ltd
The full-time MSc programme lasts for 12 months. The first 8 months are normally spent mainly on the taught component, with lectures divided into two 12-week periods (Semesters 1 and 2), and with exams at the end of each semester. The final 4 months are spent full-time on a research project, for which some preparation is done in Semester 2.
The taught component comprises a number of modules totalling 120 credit points. Among these, 90 credit points are compulsory, with 30 credits being selected from the optional list in the Modules section. Suitable alternative modules, perhaps from other programmes, may be substituted in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Programme Organiser.