BEng (Hons) Aerospace Engineering with Pilot Studies

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose this course?

You’d like to design aircraft and have a passion for flying.

We’ll teach you how to design from a pilot’s perspective. We’ll train you up in everything you need to know, from aircraft structures and materials to aerodynamics. There’ll also be opportunities to fly. We’re passionate about aerospace, and it’s an important part of our institution’s history. It’s how we began. Working with the de Havilland Aircraft Corporation and BAE Systems, the first aerospace engineers started their training back in 1952. As a result, our degree has an excellent and well-established reputation within the aerospace industry.

University of Hertfordshire aerospace engineers graduate with practical experience in design and development for future aerospace systems. You’ll get hands-on with our flight simulators, wind tunnels, specialist laboratories and CAE software. We have an open-access laboratory policy for students doing experiments in their own time. With an emphasis on Computer-Aided Engineering, you’ll be using industrial standard software wherever possible.

We’re members of the C.D.I.O. Initiative (Conceive Design Implement Operate), a worldwide network of academic professionals, industry representatives and engineering leaders who have a passion for engineering education and engineering leadership. The C.D.I.O. framework has been embedded into our undergraduate degree programme, ensuring you’ll put into practice what you learn through “Design and Build” projects during your studies.

Our TEF Gold rating, which recognises our excellent teaching and support. You’ll be taught by experienced aerospace staff, who’ll share their industry knowledge with you. There's plenty of support on offer to help you gain the skills you need to succeed. You'll get a personal tutor for the duration of your course, who can guide you all the way to graduation. You can also access our specialised Centre for Academic Skills. Our Learning Resources Centre is open 24/7, so you can study whenever suits you best, plus you’ll have access to online resources and online discussions with staff and students.

Like the students before you, you’ll benefit from our strong links to the industry. Our students have had work placements at companies such as Airbus, Virgin Atlantic Engineering and BAE Systems. Recent Aerospace Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including The Royal Air Force, Jaguar Land Rover and BAE Systems.

What's the course about?

In your first year , you’ll learn the fundamental skills and knowledge required by a modern engineer, including principles of flight and aircraft operations. You’ll be introduced to computer packages commonly used in the aerospace industry. You’ll also have the opportunity, at an additional cost, to sign up for a Flight Experience course at our partner flying school, Northwestern Michigan College in the USA and fly over the great lakes.

In your second year , the first-year core themes are developed for use in aerospace engineering. You’ll learn about the components and the electronics inside the airframe that enable the aircraft to be so widespread and the safest form of transport available. You’ll learn how aircraft are designed for their handling qualities, and expand your knowledge of aerodynamics, with wind tunnel experiments. You’ll also build your pilot skills by studying elements of PPL Ground School.

Additionally, you’ll learn about the design process through our practical C.D.I.O. modules. In a group, you will design and manufacture a model aircraft. The best models of the year will be taken to compete at the University Challenge organised by the British Model Flying Association. Your aircraft may be the winner!

Work placement/study abroad option : Between your second and final year, you can choose to take a work placement or a study abroad year. Both are valuable experiences and something you can add to your CV to make you stand out.

In your final year , in addition to your flight training you’ll work on two projects:

• The Aerospace Design group project - is where you’ll showcase your engineering skills. You will be allocated to a team to design a full-size aircraft and test fly it using our flight simulator. Every year the design task is different – in previous years, our students designed wide-body commercial airliners, heavy cargo aircraft, fire-fighting aircraft and even strategic bombers.
• The Individual Project - is where you’ll immerse yourself in an area of aerospace engineering, you’re passionate about, using either the University or industrial facilities. This is a rewarding part of your degree that can lead to future employment.

Flying training is supported further by a Pilot Studies and Flight Analysis module and our flight simulation facilities.

At the University of Hertfordshire, we see your potential, we hear your ambitions and we support your futures. From the moment we meet, we will set you on a path to achieving your goals. We will drive you forward, we will actively guide you every step of the way. You may not be confident or you may have questions – but we believe in you and we will help you find the answers. You may have a goal that you want to achieve – we can help focus you. You may want an experience – we can get you some. Here at Herts, there are many pathways to success, so let us empower your future, and take you all the way. This is your platform, your opportunity to succeed – so what are you waiting for?

Prepare to succeed

Show employers what you’re made of. We’re big on placements – and for good reason. Research tells us that over 70% of employers prefer students with work experience. That’s because placements aren’t just an excellent way to put what you’ve learnt into practice, they also show employers what you’re like as a person – with all those attributes like ambition, teamwork and a can-do attitude. To make sure our students get that work experience advantage, we’ve developed strong links with businesses and organisations here and internationally. These have allowed us to build valuable placement opportunities, from short-term experience to full-year paid placements, into many of our courses. What’s more, you won’t have to pay fees during the year you’re on placement.

Passport to success

Many students at Hertfordshire have the chance to study or work overseas – for a semester, a summer or even a whole year. Studying or working abroad is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture, broaden your horizons and create many unforgettable memories. We have partnerships with many universities across the world, including in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and across Europe. The cost of living in many countries is lower than in the UK and you’ll still be eligible for any grants or loans you’d get if you were studying here. Most students also pay no tuition fees during the year away and may be eligible for one of our scholarships to help with living and travelling costs.

Learn from the best

We like to think our teaching is a little different. Not only are our academics experts in their respective fields, but everything they teach is shaped by businesses and industry, giving you the subject-specific and transferable skills for an exciting career. Alongside your core subject, you’ll also be able to pick up other qualifications to help you stand out to employers. From mentoring to Microsoft qualifications, City & Guilds awards to getting your pilot’s licence, there’s a tonne of ways to build an impressive CV.

Key Facts

• TEF Gold : Our teaching is among the best in the UK.
• 170 : Study abroad at one of over 170 universities in 40 countries around the world.
• National Rankings : 4th Economics 7th Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management 10th Engineering: Electronic and Electrical.
• Number 1 for Games : TIGA Games Industry Award 2019.
• 96.5% of students in employment or further study within 6 months.
• Award-winning : Employment mock assessment centre simulation (Institute of Student Employers).
• Career enhancing experience : Our students have undertaken placements at companies including KPMG, Tesla Motors (UK), Microsoft and GSK.

Learning and teaching

Whatever your background, wherever you are from, we believe that higher education can be a transformational experience.

We develop graduates who are capable, creative and enterprising. Through engaging with employers and professional bodies who contribute to the development of our curriculum and our status as one of only 20 University Enterprise Zones, we transform the lives of our students.

We offer the flexibility, opportunity and community students need to succeed. We achieve this by:

combining traditional teaching methods with digital resources including our online student network, StudyNet teaching courses that are designed with the input of business and professional bodies giving students the chance to learn about employability through listening to the experience of our alumni organising networking events where staff, students and graduates can meet offering a vibrant multicultural campus by increasing the proportion of international students on campus giving students the option of studying at one of our partner universities overseas supporting students in their learning and living offering students valuable work experience in research, business or industry before their final academic year.

Vision

Our vision is to transform lives. This means whatever your background, wherever you are from, we will drive your potential, powering you to succeed.

We are committed to having a positive transformational impact on every member of our university community, and to share our successes with the community around us.

Our strategy

We support a diverse range of students, staff, businesses, researchers and members of the community. What they all share is the desire to make the most of the opportunities in front of them. Our strategy will enable us to power their potential and achieve their goals.

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Key strategic themes

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Offering opportunity

We offer every student the opportunity to succeed, with varied and well-signposted routes into university and clear pathways through study. We support students to achieve to the best of their ability and will support them in preparing for global opportunities after graduation. We will use our links in business, our research expertise, and our global outlook, to transform lives.

Building community

We are a diverse and welcoming community with a global reach and a common purpose, to transform lives, which we will work together to achieve. Through communities of learning, exploration and knowledge, we celebrate diversity and share our passions. We want all our students and staff to find their communities here. We are engaged as a Civic University in our region, supporting schools, colleges and students. We will share our knowledge, culture, research and resources with businesses, the professions and the wider community.

Embracing flexibility

We will respond flexibly to the challenges and opportunities ahead. Flexible modes of study will support our students to succeed and allow them to engage with a greater range of opportunities in education, extra-curricular activities and work experience. We want our students to follow their interests and passions to transform their lives and to be empowered by a choice of pathways that take them to the next stage and open doors to the future.

Our values

We provide opportunities to attract, retain and develop individuals. We are building a diverse and inclusive community and we respond with flexibility to the challenges of the changing world. Our values underpin everything we do. We are friendly, ambitious, collegiate, enterprising and student-focussed.