Bristol University Aerospace Admissions News

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 15:29:00 +0000

Congratulations to all our accepted offer holders on results day; we look forward to meeting you all in the autumn!

UoB fees position on EU referendum

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 15:09:00 +0000

With the referendum result to leave the EU, please read the University of Bristol's statement here. I hope this will reassure you, as it applies to all future years of your programme. Bristol is, and always will be, a wonderful and welcoming city for anyone from the EU or elsewhere to come to study.

University of Bristol has no plans to change the tuition fees for EU students that have already been published for 2016/17.

EU students who are registered at the University in 2016/17 (either as a new or continuing student) will continue to be charged the home rate for tuition fees for all subsequent years of their programme. Please be aware that fees may increase annually in line with inflation.

Awards, bursaries and scholarships

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 09:48:00 +0000

A good question we're often asked relates to funding opportunities. The best place to look in the first instance is here on a UoB maintained search page, and also here on the faculty of engineering pages.

Reading material

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 11:43:00 +0000

We hosted our University open day on the 19th and 20th last week. This was a great event and a fantastic opportunity to meet students thinking about aerospace engineering for next year. I was delighted to meet such a diverse crowd of talented students!

I was asked a few times about relevant reading material.

This is a tricky subject, and when going to university, you can have confidence that your library will be well stocked on the textbooks your need, so there is no need to set off on a buying spree.

However, if you enjoy a couple of solid texts you can return to in times of need I have a few suggestions:

1) I'd recommend Fundamentals of Aerodynamics by JD Anderson. This gives a good background for aerodynamics, and supports the yr 1 and 2 teaching in this area quite well. It is designed to be accessible to post A-level students, but some of the topics may be a bit advanced initially.

2) Any reasonable engineering maths text would be useful too - Mathematical Methods for Science Students by G Stephenson is good (I bought this during my degree, and have used it a lot since), or Engineering Mathematics by Stroud (this has strong reviews, but is not on my shelf).

Slide Rule by Nevile Shute is not a textbook, and contains no maths, but a good read anyway, and fun.

Understanding Flight by Eberhardt and Anderson is also good, but aimed at a general audience and not suitable for degree study beyond yr 1.

There is also an excellent blog written by one of our PhD students in aerospace http://aerospaceengineeringblog.com/ - this has the advantage of being free.

In a nutshell - our library is well stocked, so you don't need to buy any textbooks, but one maths text and one aerodynamics text would be useful. That's what I bought at uni and I felt it was about right.

Aerospace Industry in Bristol

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 16:43:00 +0000

Something we're often asked is what makes Bristol a special place to study aerospace. Many high quality universities teach the subject, so why pick one over another? One answer to this is our location.

Bristol has a long history of association with the aerospace industry, which places us in a geographically excellent position; only 6km away from the main university precinct is the Filton site. This proximity translates in to benefits for both our teaching and research. Airbus UK, AugustaWestland and Astrium are partners on our group design project, which means their technical staff provide supporting lectures and supervision for the design project groups.

In later years, these connections benefit undergraduate research projects, as our academic staff collaborate closely with industry and research topics for undergraduates follow those of the supervising staff.

The presence of the industry in Bristol, or its proximity to the university, is not necessarily obvious, so I've created a map with some key locations. Collaboration over a few kilometres is an easier task - our department really sits in the heart of UK aerospace.

Second year team wing build

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Engineering is the science of compromise. For an aircraft, this entails not only the right balance between aerodynamic and structural performance, but also includes maintenance and cost of purchase for an airline. Studying engineering involves not only a great deal of mathematical study, but also practice at striking the right compromises in the real world.

One of the projects we have been developing at Bristol that is aimed at giving our students experience of these compromises is our second year wing build exercise. Teams of 20 students design, build and test a 1.5m semi-span aluminium wing of riveted construction. The objectives are complicated - the wing must be light, strong enough to withstand a set tip load and yet still produce good lift to drag ratios as measured in our wind tunnels.

Engineering is not just theoretical; it certainly involves maths and physics, but it also involves working as a team, making mistakes - then correcting these mistakes - and improving your understanding and design solution. It is the day-to-day story of evolving ideas and the people those ideas came from.

To put this in perspective I've uploaded a movie one of our teams made during the exercise last year. Keep in mind that although this covers perhaps thousands of rivets, it also covers two terms, and the work of a group of 20!

If you'd like to know more, please visit us on one of our Wednesday UCAS afternoons and we'll be happy to show you the details of this work and the wing featured here.

(Note: although the original featured a fabulous soundtrack, for copyright reasons I've removed this).

Aerospace in Bristol

noreply@blogger.com (Tom R) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:13:00 +0000

Having hosted two Wednesday afternoon admissions sessions, it is overdue for us to introduce ourselves as the Bristol Aerospace admissions tutors taking over from Arthur.

With the Clifton suspension bridge celebrating its 150th anniversary through a beautiful firework display, now is an opportune moment to consider why you might choose to study in Bristol. The UK is fortunate to have many high calibre aerospace departments, and choosing which to attend for three or four years as a student is no easy task.

This is a question often asked on Wednesday afternoons by students and parents alike; the key point we make in answer is that you should choose somewhere you feel you will be happy studying. Four years is a long time, and throughout you will need access to a comfortable environment for learning, the support of your friends and teachers, and the opportunity to engage in activities beyond your studies. The City of Bristol, with its small city charms, easy access to outdoor pursuits and convenient location, is a fabulous place to live, and one we recommend from years of personal experience.

Academically our department boasts not only an excellent record in teaching and research, but also deep industrial links fostered at an early stage through our design and research projects, with benefits to your future employability. Our proximity to the aerospace industry in north Bristol at Filton is what makes this possible.

Most importantly of all, after your offer is received, make sure come and visit us on a Wednesday. This will give you the opportunity to hear first hand not only from us - the staff - also from our current students. They are conveniently identified by their blue t-shirts, and will be delighted to provide you with insights you might otherwise miss.

We look forward to meeting you soon, and happy Christmas!

(The festive image below is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of some seasonal characters. CFD is a technique used to model aerodynamic problems through computer simulation, and one of the many techniques you will be taught during your degree. The simulation here represents flow at four times the speed of sound).

Dr Tom Rendall
Dr Steve Burrow
Dr Pia Sartor

FAQ: What sort of laptop should I buy?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 10:02:00 +0000

It's not essential to have a laptop or PC: we provide all the software you'll need in student computer rooms. There are large computer rooms dedicated to Engineering both in Queens Building and in the Merchant Venturers' Building. You also have access to many other computer rooms around the University. We do our best to keep these open as much as possible, including one with 24-hour access.

Meanwhile, many of you will want to bring your own computers, often laptops, and I'm often asked what sort of laptop would be suitable. We do not recommend (or advise against) any particular brand of laptop, nor do we have any recommended specification.

One caveat: to support your first year course in CAD, you can get a free student-licensed version of the Autodesk Inventor software we use, and that only works on Windows. (It can be made to work on a Mac, but it sounds like a pain: you need to run it with an emulator, and there are rumours of file compatibility issues if you bring work back to a Windows PC. No-one's ever asked me if it'd run on Linux and I don't fancy the odds.) Of course, you can still use the same software in our computer rooms.

The university runs a walk-in student laptop and mobile clinic that can assist with both Windows and Mac software problems. As well as general issues, they'd be able to help you connect to University services such as campus WiFi, student filestores and remote desktop access. They can also help with smartphones as well as laptops.

Cycles

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 09:01:00 +0000

In admissions jargon, each year of student "intake" is described as a "cycle". Although clearly annual, a cycle is in fact about 15 months long. It starts with an Open Day in mid June, when we first interact with potential applicants, and finishes in September the following year, when some of those visitors (and others) start their courses. Right now we're in the overlap of two cycles. This post contains a message for each.

Numbers

Well done to the 40-odd students who have already secured places, such as those who met their IB offer conditions. For those of you awaiting results the week after next, the burning question is of course: "will I get in?" (The same applies to IB applicants who have just missed their offer terms - sorry for the agonising wait, but we have to see the A-level outcomes before we can treat everyone fairly.)

Obviously, if you get your grades, you're in. I've posted before on what happens if you don't: we are likely to take some "near misses" but it's impossible to say how many or how close until the results are out. (The blog stats show that FAQ page getting a lot of traffic in the last month.) I think it will be harder to secure a place as a "near miss" than in the last few years. More of you have put us as your first, firm choice than last year, up by about 30%, but our number of places has stayed the same. We sometimes take a few extra to make up for shortfalls elsewhere in Engineering, but the Faculty total is also looking healthy this year.

From the Department's point of view, it's been a healthy year. Applications are up about 10% from both UK and overseas students. The number of offers being accepted as first choice is up as well. There's also been a substantial rise in the number of our offers being accepted as insurance places. I've blogged before about my reservations about putting Bristol as insurance, but with higher requirements elsewhere, I suppose it's bound to happen.

Decisions, Decisions

Our Open Day last month was very well attended. If you missed it, another opportunity is coming up in September. It's interesting to note the trends in questions at these events. Two new ones in particular arose this year: choosing between Mech and Aero, and the possibility of transfers between courses.

Choosing courses between Mechanical Engineering ("Mech") and Aerospace Engineering ("Aero") is very similar to the choice between universities, in that it seems almost impossible to make in some cases. This year's variation on the "how should I choose?" question came from a family who caught me right at the end of Open Day. Having spent the day with us, their daughter really liked the look of Aero... and really liked the look of Mech.

Important point: if you're struggling with this decision, you're not necessarily missing anything. Both degrees are similar in content and possible jobs afterwards. For a job in aerospace, an Aero graduate would have an edge over a Mech graduate, but a good Mech graduate would probably still be in with a shot. For most other engineering jobs, both Aero and Mech graduates would be strong contenders. So, if you're really motivated for a career in aerospace, why wouldn't you take Aero? But if you're motivated for engineering but sensibly want to keep your options open, then both choices will suit your needs.

My recommended remedy is to go through the details of both courses and let inspiration come to you. Look at the option choices available, or at the individual research interests of staff, or at the research or group project work that the students do on each course. These are the fine details where differences will emerge. They're also places where something unexpected might catch your eye. See what sticks in your mind a few days later...

Transfers

Transferring courses is very difficult at Bristol. I try and highlight this at every Open Day. We specialise early so we can go a little further in what we cover. Every year, there are a handful of people who email a few days or weeks into another course, saying they've made the most awful mistake and asking to transfer. Most often, there is nothing we can do, short of starting afresh the following year, with all the financial implications that brings. We already account for a small percentage of students who never arrive or leave very early, so there are no empty places waiting to be filled. I'm also very concerned about making a bad decision worse. If, after a year of applications, open days, visit days, conversations, advice, etc, you never quite figured out what you wanted, why is a knee-jerk decision after three days of lectures going to be any better?

Please, please, don't let this happen to you. Despite all the gloss and the pitch, university admissions are primarily about helping you make an informed choice. Come to the Open Days; read the cryptic timetables and the dreary course structures; consult students, staff, internet forums, parents, relatives, teachers... anyone. Never trade course satisfaction for place satisfaction: even if you love Bristol, you still have to pass your course exams to stay, and that's far harder if you're not motivated for the course itself.

Other Cycles

After four (?) years as admissions tutor, I am handing over to colleagues. This is a good thing: our course evolves and so must the way we present it and recruit to it. Meanwhile, I shall be devoting my time to our new Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics.

Insurance: A Cautionary Tale

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 21:07:00 +0000

The first responses are starting to come in. Naturally I'm pleased to see a good number of applicants firmly accepting our offers. The rate of firm acceptance is roughly on a par with last year, but it's noticeable that a greater proportion of students are choosing Bristol as their insurance place. I imagine this is because at least one other university is asking for two A-stars in their conditional offers.

I'm reminded of a cautionary tale from last year. An applicant had a conditional offer from Bristol and a higher conditional offer, by one grade, from Imperial. He went firm with Imperial and insurance with Bristol. Come August, he unfortunately missed the conditions of Imperial's offer by two grades and hence missed Bristol's by one grade. He was subsequently rejected by both universities and was left without a place at all, despite having pretty good grades in general. I gather he did find a place elsewhere but only after a very stressful experience of phone calls and clearing.

If you miss your firm choice conditions, it's their discretion whether or not to take you anyway. Lots of people still get in as "near miss" acceptances. We aim to work this way, as it's really the only way we have to control our actual numbers. If your firm choice doesn't take you as a near miss, but you've met the conditions of your insurance offer, then your insurance university is required to admit you.

If you put Bristol as insurance and you then miss our offer conditions, we are extremely unlikely to admit you. This is because we always work through the "firm" near miss candidates first. That's because we can be confident they'll accept the place. An insurance near miss could still be taken up by their first choice. We normally have enough firm near misses to fill our places, so insurance near misses rarely ever get a look in.

So, an insurance choice just one grade lower than your firm choice is pretty risky, or even no insurance at all. Miss by one, and you still stand a good chance of getting into your firm choice. Miss by two, and you could get nothing.

Bristol could be the right insurance choice for you. Maybe you somehow know you won't miss your firm by more than one grade. Or maybe you're committed to withdrawing and resitting If you don't get Bristol's grades or higher. Those seem unlikely, but they are consistent with how insurance works.

BUT if Bristol is your second choice, then that doesn't make it a good insurance choice. Or perhaps you can't decide between the last two but you let the grades do it for you (as there's no point accepting a harder offer as insurance than firm). Your insurance choice ought to be the lowest offer you would be prepared to accept, and that's not necessarily the same as your second choice.

This post isn't intended to just pile extra pressure on making your firm choice. I'm aware this might sound a bit like "firm us or nothing" and there's a lot of that around. But please just think it through - I don't want more people to end up like my cautionary tale simply because they didn't know the risks.

A Day in the Life

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:55:00 +0000

Admissions tutor Arthur Richards captures the activities of various Aerospace Engineering students over a 24-hour period in March.

I spent Thursday afternoon and Friday morning on the prowl around Queen's Building, looking for Aerospace Engineering undergraduates going about their business. The results are rather less polished than you'll find in our prospectus, but here's a collection of genuine "aeros" just caught in the act.

Down in the wind tunnel labs, a group of first years are performing a fluids lab. They're using a manometer to measure pressure distributions on an aerofoil, including the effect of changing the angle of attack.

Over in the student workshops, second years are working on their wings, as part of the design-build-test project. These aluminium wings are designed and built by student groups. Later, they'll be tested both in the wind tunnels, for aerodynamic behaviour, and in the structures labs, where they'll be loaded to destruction to test deflections and strength.

Down on the dynamics lab mezzanine, third years are working on their control coursework. They're designing control laws for the helicopter-like model on the blue arm. Reversing the sign of the feedback led to some interesting moments (not shown) but the end result is stably hovering and responding to commands.

Back down in the wind tunnel lab, another third year student is performing some experiments in the low turbulence tunnel for his individual project. He's using the Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) to measure the flow around a perforated disc.

Upstairs in the avionics corridor, two fourth years are working on their individual research projects. Lucy is working on feature detection for aerodynamic shapes, to predict where vortices could form. Alex is working on task allocation and route planning for unmanned aircraft teams. I think they were rather embarrassed to be photographed - that or they're finding their projects for too enjoyable.

In the composites lab clean room, fourth years Phil and Karim are making composite coupons for their research projects.

And, of course, there are lots of lectures going on all around the building. Here are my third years (or at least a rather thin selection of them) fresh from the delights of control compensator design using frequency methods.

Thanks to all of the students for agreeing to be photographed.

Wednesdays

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:12:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who has made the effort to attend one of our Wednesday visit sessions for offer holders today and last week. I know it's often been difficult due to travel and weather problems. I hope everyone has a safe trip home and a useful visit. To prove that the sun does sometimes shine in Bristol, here's a photo of Queen's Building I took last week, under both sun and moon.

For those who are yet to visit, or as a reminder for those who have been, here's an outline of what happens. Our goal for Wednesday is to give you an in-depth look at Bristol's Aerospace Department, particularly its facilities and people. You'll get tours of our wind tunnels and our composite manufacture and testing labs, guided by the academics who teach and research in them. Time permitting, you'll also get a look at our activities in dynamics and control, including our work in aerial robotics. Every visiting offer holder gets an informal one-on-one appointment with a member of academic staff ("academic speed-dating", which is nowhere near as awful as it sounds). Most importantly, lots of our current undergraduates will be around, and you'll be left in their company for a candid discussion about life as a Bristol Aero student.

Unfortunately we are unable to fit in a visit to any student accommodation. Bristol's student residences are all some distance away from the precinct where the Aero department is located - well who wants to live right next door to their lab/office/lectures anyway? While they're no more than a brief walk or bus ride away, it would take a chunk out of our afternoon to include them. However, there is plenty of information on the Accommodation Office website, including video tours and details of each residence. Also, it may be possible to arrange an individual visit when you're in town, e.g. on a Wednesday morning. Please contact the residences directly to pursue this opportunity. I don't know how easy it is to arrange and of course it depends on someone being available to host you. Note you can also visit accommodation on any of our Open Days.

I'm pleased to see a good handful of people have already accepted our offers. If you're still thinking about it, we have another five Wednesday sessions to come and find out more. Please book early to avoid disappointment!

What is aerospace engineering?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 11:39:00 +0000

I was chatting to a colleague the other day - Dr Raf Theunissen, experimental aerodynamicist and provider of wind tunnel laser shows, whom some of you have met on our Wednesday afternoon admissions visits. Raf was discussing the surprise expressed by students at the topics turning up in their final year research projects. We always try and convey to applicants how broad an aerospace education can be, so here's a brief selection of surprises that may be in store.

Aerospace engineering is...

...computer vision. Dr Theunissen was talking about a project to deduce airflow from video footage of shadows and clouds around aircraft. Full scale in-flight measurements of aerodynamics in action would be extremely useful in refining aircraft design. We as humans are pretty good at spotting patterns in motion, but we need a computer to see and record that data for us on a large scale. How?

...chemistry. Some recent projects with Dr Lowenberg have looked at the impact of aviation on climate, and how different aircraft types and flying practices could mitigate climate impact. This is much more complicated than just CO2 and requires the study of chemical reactions that occur at different levels in the atmosphere.

...zoology. Besides wings, aviation to date hasn't adopted many ideas from bird flight. That's changing though, as we develop new roles for aircraft like deliveries in cities and searching damaged buildings. Colleague Dr Shane Windsor is running projects studying how birds fly and especially how they sense airflow. This understanding will help us build robust small UAVs.

...geology. Asteroid mining is a cool challenge, and don't knock it just because it sounds like sci-fi. So was the phone I'm writing this on, once. Dr Lucy Berthoud ran a project asking if it made any real sense, and that depends on the resources you expect to find there and what you propose to do with them. So what's in an asteroid?

...origami. Composite materials have great potential for aerospace and our ACCIS researchers are leading many of these developments. Your basic composite has layers of straight fibres in different directions, or perhaps woven fibres, but what about folding? Origami teaches us how simple folds in flat sheets can create structure and interconnections. Our staff are looking at how these ideas can be exploited in future composites.

I could go on about robotics (and I do - that's my own speciality) and countless other interests of our staff. Of course the things you'd expect are here as well: aerodynamics, structures, controls, design. But you're going to spend four years on this, so a little variety could go a long way.

More offers coming

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 15:46:00 +0000

I took advantage of a crisp autumn Saturday to walk over to my local icon, the Clifton suspension bridge, and took the above photo. What has this to do with Aerospace Engineering Admissions? Not a lot, but I think I can be forgiven for sharing a bit of life in Bristol.

We have received about 440 applications altogether so far, about 55 up compared to this date last year. Furthermore, the standard seems to be very high indeed. After a review this week, we have decided to release about 40 extra offers. We have to do this in a managed, cautious way, as we don't know what applications are yet to come. Effectively, the bar starts insanely high, and then we can adjust downwards a bit as the standard emerges. Sorry for the agony this causes to those of you who are still waiting. I know there are many well qualified applicants in this difficult situation and I hope to make offers to many more of you. However, it is a competitive process and I only have so many offers to make. We will be regularly reviewing the position over the coming months.

On Wednesday, I met with our student helpers to finalize plans for our Wednesday afternoon taster sessions, the first of which is in December 4th. If you already have an offer or you get one this week, please give some thought to giving us a visit before Christmas if you can. We have two dates available in December, the 4th and the 11th. After that, we take a break again until February, after the January exams. I appreciate the appeal of waiting until after then to do your visits, but they do get heavily subscribed and we can only accommodate so many people. Those of you who patiently followed me in a huge group around the labs at the September Open Day will understand the attraction of a quieter visit day!

Our Wednesday taster sessions aim to offer you something much more in-depth than an Open Day. We'll give you more details on the course structure plus a sample lecture, either on aerodynamics or flight controls, to give you a taste of that aspect of Aerospace life. You'll also get much more opportunity to meet the people in the Aerospace Department, including current students and academic staff. We want you to be able to make an informed decision about your university, so our goal for Wednesday is to give you as much experience of Bristol Aero life as we can in an afternoon.

How on earth should I choose?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:31:00 +0000

Aerospace admissions tutor Arthur Richards follows up on a question from a visitor at Saturday's Open Day.

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come and visit us at an Open Day over the summer, either on the Saturday just gone or back in June. We hope you found it enjoyable, informative, and not too exhausting.

I want to follow up on a simple but difficult question asked by the father of a prospective applicant on Saturday: "We've been to the universities of X, Y, Z and now Bristol. They all look amazing, so how on earth is my son supposed to decide between them?" I'm redacting the names of the others to avoid any potential misrepresentation, but they're all research-intensive universities offering four year MEng Aerospace/nautical degrees and asking for the same grades as Bristol or one higher. I'm sure you can guess the ones I mean.

I'm sympathetic: it's been a long time since I made this choice myself, but I'm currently looking at buying a house, and there are similarities. (Sorry, parents, if this analogy only compounds your stress.) It's easy to rule some in or out, but choosing from the shortlist is difficult. There are a bewildering array of factors to consider and enormous pressure to get it right.

The dirty little secret of admissions is that you'll probably be very happy at any of them. All of X,Y,Z and many more besides are great universities and we work with many of them in our research as well - like us, they're smart people running very good programmes. An Aero degree from any one of them will make you a highly skilled and employable individual across a wide range of job sectors. Besides which, much of your university experience will be made by you yourself. All this means it's perfectly OK to make this decision on instinct - or as the father asking the question concluded "go with your gut".

That said, it is important that your gut is well informed. If you've been to an Open Day, you've made a good start. I know they're only brief but impressions matter. Below are a few other things you can easily look up that might help your instincts:

1. Look at the course structure (ours is here) and figure out if you'll specialize in aerospace from the beginning or have a common first year or first two years. If it doesn't say explicitly, you'll probably be able to tell by looking for "aero" courses in the first two years. Bristol specializes immediately, because we think it makes it easier to engage with aerospace from the start and you learn more aerospace material through examples and context. If you want to hedge your bets and have the flexibility to switch disciplines, maybe a common start would suit you better: your choice.

2. Look at the options. The core content probably includes the same stuff in most places, but the options may be more diverse, reflecting specialities of staff and departments. Ours aren't openly online at the moment (you need a student login) but the lists include: Computational Aerodynamics; Experimental Aerodynamics; Advanced Materials & Structures; Aeroelasticity; Heat Transfer; Vibrations; Optimisation Theory and Applications; Non-linear Dynamics and Chaos; Applied Aerodynamics; Structures & Materials 4; Aircraft Dynamics& Control; Advanced Techniques in Multi-Disciplinary Design; Composites Design& Manufacturing; Dynamics of Rotors; Advanced Composites Analysis; Advanced Space Systems; Engineering Design for Wind and Marine Power. Got all that?

3. Look at the research. The research specialities differ between institutions and do feed into the taught programme: research in a particular area can enhance the facilities and topics available for student projects, among other things. Aero research at Bristol is summarized here and, if you're really keen, you can click on the name of each staff member here and their research tab will tell you a bit about what they do. Find something that catches your imagination?

Of course there are many general things to consider as well: the location, other facilities, clubs and societies, etc. The above is just intended to help choose between Aero courses. Also, if you do apply to Bristol and get an offer, we'll invite you to visit again one Wednesday afternoon where you can meet current students and chase up on some of the above.

We're getting slightly ahead of ourselves. For now, you only need to narrow it down to your five UCAS choices. That still might need some tough choices for the last slot, but not quite so intense as choosing the final one. If Bristol makes it on to your list, we look forward to receiving your application in the coming weeks.

Summertime...

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:47:00 +0000

...and the living's not really easy, but pleasantly different at least. It's balloon fiesta week here in Bristol including twice daily mass ascents of hot air balloons over the city. The University is quiet without the students but there is still much to be done: planning staff and demonstrations for our forthcoming Open Day in September, timetabling and teaching preparation for next year, on-going research activities and administration. I'm finishing off a research paper on flight trajectory optimization, then off to a conference in Boston, and by time I'm back it'll be time to gear up for the new term.

A big week next week with the release of A-level grades. Good luck, especially to those waiting with our conditional offers. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about but if you do find yourself dwelling on "what if I miss?", it's been asked many times before and some information on our process can be found in this post. You might also spare a thought for those students taking other qualifications who already know they have narrowly missed their offers: they're having to wait until next week to find out if they're close enough to get in.

It's worth a few words on what our students are up to at the moment, although I don't have a complete picture of course. I know some of mine are doing internships, including one doing a summer placement at Lockheed and another finishing a year at NATS. Others are doing summer research placements around our various labs, including a few doing composite materials work and flying robotics. I've set my summer student the contradictory task of finding a big, light, slow model aircraft for our indoor flight lab and tracking it with cameras. Some students also have some studying to do as well for resits in September (yes, Universities do have them).

In Admissions we talk in 'cycles', from August to August and each leading up to a new intake of students in the immediately following September. If you're in the 2013 cycle, resolution draws near and we look forward to welcoming many of you on to our course in a few weeks time. If you're going to be in the 2014 cycle, we look forward to receiving your application and perhaps meeting you at an Open Day, if we haven't already.

Why Bristol?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:01:00 +0000

Sorry for the long silence. Various things have kept me busy over the last couple of months, including writing a machine learning code for our autonomous quadrotor and finalizing our paper on trajectory planning for the forthcoming joint EU-US Air Traffic seminar in Chicago. Teaching continues of course, and I'm pleased to have just finished marking the third year helicopter control lab reports. Meanwhile my final year research students wrapped up their eclectic mix of projects on catapult launchers, cooperative helicopters, robot aerobatics, London weather and- I kid you not- whiskers for quadrotors. Welcome to the hectic whirl of Bristol life.

Our side of the admissions process is just about finished: we've made all our offers and have only a handful of late applications left in the system. Our regrets to those of you who didn't get offers: we've had another year of strong application numbers so competition has again been tough to get the offers. Thanks to those offer holders who came to one of our Wednesday afternoon taster sessions. We hope you found it interesting. (My flight simulator is now enjoying its annual maintenance period.)

All that's left now is for our offer holders to respond. I'm pleased to see a healthy number of you accepting our offer already, up from this time last year, on top of a spike in the number of people making us their insurance choice. For the remainder, it falls to me to try and help you with one of the handful of questions you must be juggling right now: why Bristol?

Hopefully, between web sites, open days and visit days, our much celebrated six things you should know about Aerospace at Bristol are familiar to all of you, and they cover the key points about our course and Department. If not, refresh your memory via the link.

Bristol is also simply a great place to live, mixing all the amenities you'd want from a city with easy ways out for unwinding. I can tell this by how often I bump into former students who are still living nearby, and it helps further that we have most of Europe's aerospace industry on our doorstep.

Of course, I realise that there's only so much help I can be with your decision making, biased or otherwise. Much of your university experience will be shaped by what you and those around you make of it anyway. I hope we've managed to give you a feeling of what Bristol life could be like and, of course, I hope you liked what you found. If your instincts bring you here, we look forward to welcoming you.

Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:11:00 +0000

A slightly late "happy new year" to all our applicants. Today's snow disruption has given me some time for a blog update and an excuse to post a photo. I snapped the above on my walk home from the University earlier today.

Our Wednesday taster sessions for offer holders are filling up. We don't run these for most of January to avoid clashes with exams and weather disruption - see above. Our first three of 2013 are January 30th and February 6th and 13th, which are all full. Please check your VIP page if you were on the "reserve list" for 30 Jan or 6 Feb, as we have made some extra places available. February 27th is nearly full and March 6th and 20th still had space when I checked earlier in the week. Book now to avoid disappointment!

The passage of the UCAS deadline last week gives us a moment to reflect on the state of play in terms of statistics. As of 15th January we had received 525 applications, compared to 527 on the same date last year. I'd say that's consistent enough. With the deadline passed, we will be making some more offers. Late applications can be accepted but we don't have to treat them the same as all others, so we no longer have to hold back some offers in case of a later surge.

The statistics surrounding offers and places are misleading: between changes in fees, exam marking, prediction patterns and variations in other courses within the Faculty of Engineering, it's been a long time since we had two years the same. Beware trying to draw conclusions from one year for the next. We are looking for roughly 120 students and we will make roughly twice that many offers, but there are variations of about +/- 20% on those numbers depending on the factors mentioned. This means I am frustratingly unable to give a simple answer to the question "What do I need to get into Bristol?" There is no strategy - just work hard and show your interests.

Good luck in your exams if you have them.

Christmas Break

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:11:00 +0000

A very merry Christmas to all 557 of our applicants! (so far)

Applicant and offer numbers are running smoothly and very close to last year's trends so far. If you're still waiting to hear from us, please be patient. We will be closed next week but will be making more offers in the new year.

We've had two really good Wednesday taster sessions already and the 2013 Wednesdays have filled up rapidly. In response, we have made more dates available on-line, which should be open now or very soon. If you've had an offer but been unable to register for a Wednesday visit, please check your Hobsons' VIP page again.

I look forward to meeting more of you in 2013.

Wednesdays

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:12:00 +0000

Just one week to go until our first visit afternoon for offer holders on Wednesday 28th. There has been a good uptake but there are still a few places left on this date and the subsequent Wednesday, December 5th. All offer holders are invited.

Our goal for these visits is simple: we want you to get a quick taste of life as an undergraduate here. This includes a short sample lecture on autopilot controls and a tour of our lab facilities hosted by staff members from our three technical disciplines: aerodynamics; structures and materials; and dynamics and control.

Visitors also get a slot to talk one-to-one with academic staff members. We call this academic speed-dating, because that's what it most resembles. It was an experiment last year and I feared at first that it might turn out to be awkward. However, our staff are a talkative bunch and seem endlessly able to find common interests with the visitors, so it's worked out well - our problem now is dragging visitors away when it's time for the next part of the itinerary.

Last but most important, there will be lots of our current students around to talk to, plus time when we leave you alone with them. That's not meant to sound sinister: rather, the point is for you to be confident that you get uninhibited opinions on student life. I met last Wednesday with this year's student helpers, who span from our second year to our final year and don't seem particularly inhibited anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem. They are your best source of information about the student experience, so please feel free to ask them about anything from academic workload to social life.

We have over one hundred offers out already and more in the pipeline, so we hope to see many of you signing up for Wednesdays soon. Places are limited - it gets congested on the lab tours otherwise - so please register as soon as you can. We do make an effort to make this a much more detailed event than we can provide at the University-wide Open Days.

Applications seem healthy. After a large initial surge, arrival rates have leveled a little and we're now about 10% up on this time last year. This means we are still being somewhat cautious on offer making, so if you have yet to hear a decision, please bear with us.

And they're off

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:43:00 +0000

Today is the end of our "Week 1" and I met my first year tutor group this morning to ask then how they'd found their first week as Aero students. To begin with, they struggled to remember (!) but happily short term recollection isn't the same as long term learning. After a bit of reflection, they agreed on "hard", but apparently grabbing their interest anyway.

Later, having a quick catch up on emails at the end of the day, my regular statistics update tells me we've had over 100 applicants already for next year. Those are pretty fresh though so not many of them have made it all the way through the system yet. I am happy to say, however, that our first few offers have been actioned and should be with their recipients any time.

We have a slight change to offer processing this year. We haven't changed what we're looking for or what we'll be asking for, but there is a new person in the role of reading all your applications. For this reason, we're being deliberately cautious on offer-making for now, until things bed in and we can form a view on the standard of our applicants.

So, while it's very exciting to see so many applications already, the message is the usual one: please bear with us. It's important that this is done right, as I'm sure you'll agree.

Meanwhile, I've also been drafting in new recruits for our student ambassadors. These are the people you'll be meeting if you get an offer and are invited to one of our Wednesday afternoon taster sessions.

To those hundred odd who have already applied, we'll be back to you as soon as we can. To the others, I look forward to hearing from you.

On Gender

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:46:00 +0000

It was good to meet so many prospective applicants and guests at Saturday's Open Day. I hope the event was enjoyable and helped demystify some of the admissions process.

Two questions came up on Saturday that deserve blog posts. A discussion on applicant numbers at the different stages of our process will follow shortly. Today's post is inspired by a conversation with a young woman and her father: "Quite male dominated, your line of business, no?" As yet another man in engineering, I only hope I can address this without the sort of gaffe that is likely to keep it that way.

The under-representation of women in engineering is well-known: there are numerous articles on the subject (eg here and here), organizations to support and inspire more women engineers (e.g. WES and WiSET), competitions (e.g. the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year) and even a Wikipedia page on the subject. The headline figure, quoting an IET study from this article, is that 6% of the engineering workforce in 2012 are women.

Does Bristol's Aerospace programme do any differently? Not significantly. Of the 130 students about to start their degrees in a couple of weeks time, 10 are women (7.7%). Tracing back through the selection process for home students, 42 of our 542 applications came from women (7.7% again), and 29 of our 273 offers went to women (10.6%). Roughly, then, a female applicant stands the same chance of getting an offer and a place as a male applicant, and the low proportion of female students can be traced back to a correspondingly low proportion of female applicants, broadly in line with the proportion in the profession as a whole. This makes sense as gender isn't a factor in our selection process: in fact, your name and gender are two of the boxes on the UCAS form that are least likely to be even looked at. Sorry if that sounds impersonal but they simply make no difference, nor should they. (I have been asked whether or not we'd consider positive discrimination. That's a minefield I'd rather avoid.)

I'm obviously not the one to describe what it's like to be a female Aerospace Engineering student at Bristol. If you're good enough to get an offer, come along to one of our Wednesday taster sessions and ask one yourself. Anecdotally though, I was interested to hear from some of my tutor group that they'd held a "Women in Aero" dinner, where female students across all years got together to talk about their experiences. Also, hat-tip to PhD student and former undergraduate Isobel for reminding me of the blindingly obvious: your programme is only part of your university experience, and in halls, the precinct, clubs and societies, etc, you're part of the entire University student community, of which 51% are women. This is ducking the question, of course, in that it doesn't solve the problem of under-representation on our degree or in the engineering profession. However, if you're a woman interested in an engineering degree but held back by the male-dominated environment, I hope it might help you to do one thing that can reliably increase the number of women in engineering: apply.

Interlude

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:39:00 +0000

We're now in the short quiet period between our 2012 entry cycle, which is all but concluded now the A-level results have been settled, and the 2013 cycle, which starts in about a week when UCAS opens to applications. (We haven't forgotten, however, about the small number of applicants to who are still awaiting results, and those of you who have already applied for deferred 2013 entry.)

What can 2013 applicants learn from the 2012 cycle? Not a vast amount, I'm afraid. With all the changes in grading, we ended up taking more than the usual number of "near-miss" candidates. However, that experience will be fed back into next year's offer decisions, so it's hard to predict what'll happen next August. Applications were up by about 8% on 2011 cycle, but again, that's not consistent enough to be a clear trend.

Planning has been going on all summer for our activities for the 2013 cycle. We don't have any major changes in store - entry criteria will remain the same. However, we've had some feedback on our processes from last year and we'll be refining our visit day programme to help offer holders get the most out of their chosen Wednesday.

To those of you who have secured places this year: we look forward to seeing you in a few weeks time. To those thinking of applying for 2013: we look forward to seeing many of you at the forthcoming Open Day on September 22nd and to receiving your applications.

What's the difference between aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:58:00 +0000

For our purposes, none. Our course was named Aeronautical Engineering many years ago, when that seemed to be the most suitable title. At a different time, our Department was named Aerospace Engineering. From 2013 onwards, our degree course will also be titled "Aerospace Engineering". The change is entirely cosmetic. Our course still includes lots of aeronautical topics, like aerodynamics, as well as space topics, like spacecraft mission design.

FAQ: Can you arrange work placements for students?

noreply@blogger.com (Arthur Richards) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:55:00 +0000

We don't provide this as an automatic service: it's up to individual students to do the ground work. However, we can exploit our industrial links to help in various ways. For example, companies often send us details of opportunities that we circulate amongst our students, and we can help make contact with the many companies we work with. The Faculty of Engineering has an Industrial Liaison Office to bring all these contacts and opportunities together for easy access.

We encourage students to pursue industrial experience in parallel with their studies, either by taking a year or during summers. Oddly, far fewer students actually go through with the full year than ask about it at admissions events. One factor is that it typically means you finish your degree with a different cohort of peers than the one you started with. That said, students who do gain experience often emerge in their final year as academically stronger, more mature, and having a good job lined up.