Aerospace Vehicle Design MSc at Cranfield University

This MSc course provides a taught engineering programme with a focus on the technical, business and management aspects that encompass aircraft design in the civil and military aerospace sectors.

Teaching integrates a range of disciplines required for modern aircraft design, for example:

• Aircraft systems design
• Avionic systems design
• Design for manufacture
• Initial aircraft design
• Operation and cost
• Propulsion integration
• Stability and performance
• Structural design and Airframe

Cranfield have been at the forefront of postgraduate education in aerospace engineering since 1946 with the Aerospace Vehicle Design being one of the original foundation courses of the College of Aeronautics. Graduates from this course also become members of the Cranfield College of Aeronautics Alumni Association (CCAAA), an active community which holds a number of networking and social events throughout the year.

One unique feature of the course is that we have a range of external examiners, from industry and from academia who continually assess the quality of the course.

Cranfield University is very well located for students from all over the world, and offers a range of library, IT and support facilities to support your studies. This enables students from all over the world to complete this qualification whilst achieving the right balance of work/life commitments.

The course has an Industrial Advisory Committee with senior members from major UK aerospace companies, government bodies, and the military services. The committee meets twice a year to review and advise on course content, acquisition skills and other attributes which are deemed desirable from graduates of the course. Panel members have included professionals from organisations such as:

• Airbus
• BAE Systems
• BOEING
• Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.
• GKN Aerospace
• Messier-Dowty
• Royal Air Force
• Royal Australian Air Force
• Thales UK

Your career

The MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design is valued and respected by employers worldwide. The applied nature of this course ensures that our graduates are ready to be of immediate use to their future employer and has provided sufficient breadth of understanding of multi-discipline design to position them for accelerated career progression.

This course prepares graduates for careers as project engineers, systems design, structural design or avionic engineers in aerospace or related industries, with the aim of progressing to technical management/chief engineer roles. Graduates from the MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design can therefore look forward to a varied choice of challenging career opportunities in the above disciplines. 

Many of our graduates occupy very senior positions in their organisations, making valuable contributions to the international aerospace industry. Some example student destinations include BAE Systems, Airbus, Dassault and Rolls-Royce.