Masters Degrees (Biomimetics)

Learning from nature for engineering - that is the goal of this international Master's degree program (MSc) taught in English. Nature offers a myriad of solutions to engineering problems. Over the course of four semesters, this program focuses on the implementation of numerous nature-inspired innovations into new technologies and sustainable products and offers an exciting overview of all core areas of biomimetics.

The challenges that our bio-inspired engineering graduates will be equipped to face, will be as diverse as biomimetics itself. Potential occupational fields include, for example, applied research and development, technical biology, product development and construction, industry and product design, manufacturing engineering and automation technology, innovation management, and (business) consulting.

The bio-inspired engineering Master's program will enable talented and committed students to discover the riches of biomimetics and to use them to develop sustainable engineering solutions to benefit our society. The program ensures a transfer of knowledge from applied basic research to the creation of prototypes through the high proportion of practical exercises.

COURSE FOCUS POINTS
- 22% Biomimetics
- 17% Engineering principles for biomimetics
- 15% Biology for engineers
- 15% Specialization/Master’s thesis
- 13% Fablab & rapid prototyping
- 8% Science & innovation
- 6% 3D-Design & optimization
- 4% Analytics

Read less

Course Description

The Aircraft Design option of the MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design (AVD) aims to provide a comprehensive overview of aircraft performance, structures and systems. A holistic teaching approach is taken to explore how the individual elements of an aircraft can be designed and integrated using up-to-date methods and techniques. You will learn to understand how to select specific systems such as fuel systems, and their effect on the aircraft as a whole.
This course is suitable for students with a background in aeronautical or mechanical engineering or those with relevant industrial experience.

Overview

Modern aircraft design focuses on the integration of new technologies and systems, with current and advanced configurations to lead us towards environmentally friendly and cost effective aviation in the civil arena and high performance and effective aviation in the military arena. This includes new structures, materials and manufacturing processes. New aircraft design is essential to address issues such as carbon footprint reduction, lower noise pollution and improved passenger comfort as well as contributing to national security.

Our work in this field covers all flying vehicles including civil and military aircraft, helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (UAVS), ultra-high capacity airlines and space vehicles. Current research being undertaken includes:

Advanced Configurations – such as blended wing and morphing wing aircraft design. This includes both fixed wing and rotorcraft vehicles.

Advanced Systems Integration – such as Distributed Propulsion using hydrogen or alternative fuels for power and high temperature superconducting materials technology.

Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes – exploring the benefits achieved through the application of advanced composite materials.

Advanced Design Methodologies – developing techniques to ensure that optimum designs are achieved.

Airworthiness Compliance – ensuring new designs demonstrate the same safety requirements as traditional aircraft.

Operational Aspects – cost, performance, reliability and maintainability are important features of aircraft design as well as advanced techniques such as Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM). Vulnerability and susceptibility also have a major impact.

Biomimetics – taking lessons from nature for example insects and birds, and their application in aviation such as launch, recovery and flight.

English Language Requirements

If you are an international student you will need to provide evidence that you have achieved a satisfactory test result in an English qualification. The minimum standard expected from a number of accepted courses are as follows:

IELTS - 6.5
TOEFL - 92
Pearson PTE Academic - 65
Cambridge English Scale - 180
Cambridge English: Advanced - C
Cambridge English: Proficiency - C

In addition to these minimum scores you are also expected to achieve a balanced score across all elements of the test. We reserve the right to reject any test score if any one element of the test score is too low.

Structure

The Aircraft Design option consists of a taught component, a group design project and an individual research project.

Individual Project

The individual research project aims to provide the training necessary for you to apply knowledge from the taught element to research, and takes place from March to September. The project may be theoretical and/or experimental and drawn from a range of topics related to the course and suggested by teaching staff, your employer or focused on your own area of interest.

Group Project

The extensive group design project is a distinctive and unique feature of this course. This teamwork project takes place from October to March, and recreates a virtual industrial environment bringing together students with various experience levels and different nationalities into one integrated design team.

Each team member is given responsibility for the detailed design of a significant part of the aircraft, for example, forward fuselage, fuel system, or navigation system. The project will progress from the conceptual phase through to the preliminary and detail design phases. You will be required to run project meetings, produce engineering drawings and detailed analyses of your design. Problem solving and project coordination must be undertaken on a team and individual basis. At the end of the project, groups are required to report and present findings to a panel of 200 senior engineers from industry.

This element of the course is both realistic and engaging, and places the student group in a professional role as aerospace design engineers. Students testify that working as an integrated team on real problems is invaluable and prepares them well for careers in a highly competitive industry.

Assessment

The taught modules (10%) are assessed by an examination and/or assignment. The Group Project (50%) is assessed by a written technical report and oral presentations. The Individual Research Project (40%) forms the remainder of the course.

Career opportunities

The MSc in Aircraft 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 design engineers, systems design, structural design or avionic engineers in aerospace or related industries, with the aim of progressing to technical management/chief engineer. Graduates from the MSc in Aircraft 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. Typical student destinations include BAE Systems, Airbus, Dassault and Rolls-Royce.

For further information

on this course, please visit our course webpage http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/Courses/Masters/AVD-Option-Aircraft-Design

Read less

The MSc in Robotics will provide you with the ability to understand, design and implement modern robotic systems. Robotics is increasingly prominent in a variety of sectors, from manufacturing and health to remote exploration of hostile environments such as space and the deep sea, and as autonomous and semi-autonomous systems that interact with people physically and socially.

This programme exposes you to a wide range of advanced engineering and computer science concepts, with the opportunity to carry out a practical robot project at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, one of the UK's most comprehensive robotics innovation facilities and a leading centre of robotics research.

The programme is jointly awarded and jointly delivered by the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, both based in Bristol, and therefore draws on the combined expertise, facilities and resources of the two universities. The Bristol Robotics Laboratory is a collaborative research partnership between the two universities with a vision to transform robotics by pioneering advances in autonomous robot systems that can behave intelligently with minimal human supervision.

Programme structure

Your course will cover the following core subjects:
-Robotics systems
-Robotic fundamentals
-Intelligent adaptive systems
-Robotics research preparation
-Image processing and computer vision
-Technology and context of robotics and autonomous systems
-Bio-inspired artificial intelligence

Typically you will be able to select from the following optional subjects:
-Computational neuroscience
-Uncertainty modelling for intelligent systems
-Introduction to artificial intelligence
-Learning in autonomous systems
-Design verification
-Animation production
-Advanced DSP and FPGA implementation
-Statistical pattern recognition
-Control theory
-Advanced techniques in multidisciplinary design
-Advanced dynamics
-Virtual product development
-Biomechanics
-Sensory ecology
-Transport modelling
-Electromechanical systems integration
-Advanced control and dynamics

Please note that your choice of optional units will be dependent on your academic background, agreement with the programme director and timetable availability.

Dissertation
During your second semester, you will start working on a substantial piece of research work that will make up one third of the overall MSc. It is possible to work on this project at Bristol Robotics Laboratory or in conjunction with one of our many industrial partners. Within the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, there are a number of themes from which projects may be chosen, including:
-Aerial robots
-Assisted living
-Bioenergy and self-sustainable systems
-Biomimetics and neuro-robotics
-Medical robotics
-Nonlinear robotics
-Robot vision
-Safe human-robot interaction
-Self-reparing robotic systems
-Smart automation
-Soft robotics
-Swarm robotics
-Tactile robotics
-Unconventional computation in robots
-Verification and validation for safety in robots

Further information is available from the Faculty of Engineering.

NB: Teaching for this programme is delivered at both the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England campuses. Students attending the programme will be given free transport passes to travel between the two universities.

Careers

Robotics is a huge field spanning areas such as electronics, mechanics, software engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology and biology. Career opportunities include: automotive industry, aerospace industry, advanced manufacturing, deep sea exploration, space exploration, food manufacture, pharmaceutical production and industrial quality control.

Read less

Composite materials are increasingly replacing traditional metallic components in several industrial applications, such as aerospace engineering, wind turbine blades and the automotive industry. This MSc provides you with an in-depth theoretical understanding and practical knowledge of advanced composite materials.

The programme is based in the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), one of the world's leading centres in composite materials, which houses a number of state-of-the-art composites manufacturing facilities.

ACCIS has strong industrial and research links with companies like Rolls-Royce, Airbus, BAE Systems and GE Aviation as well as government research labs such as the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the European Space Agency and the US Army International Technology Centre.

Programme structure

Core subjects
-Composites Design and Manufacture
-Smart Materials
-Nanocomposites and Nano engineering
-Research Skills
-Elements of Polymer Composites

And either:
-Advanced Composites Analysis or
-Structures and Materials

after discussion with the programme director.

Optional units
You will select from a list of options which will include the following:
-Engineering Design for Wind and Marine Power
-Nonlinear Structural Dynamics
-Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Testing
-Structural Engineering 4
-Advanced Techniques in Multi-Disciplinary Design
-Nonlinear Behaviour of Materials
-Nature's Materials - Biomimetics, Biomaterials and Sustainability

Project
To complete the programme you will carry out a research project, which may be either academically or industrially led.

Careers

Graduates from this programme could enter a career in one of the rapidly growing composites-related industries, such as aerospace, marine, automotive and wind turbine, materials testing/manufacturing or in engineering consultancy sectors. Some of our MSc graduates continue to PhD study, either at Bristol or other relevant PhD programmes.

Read less

Mission and goals

The programme provides the student with an Engineering education applied to medical and biological issues, through deep basic and specialist training in various biomedical topics. The educational path is intended to train students for designing equipment, devices, materials and procedures and for a correct introduction, development and management of biomedical technologies inside Companies and Health Structures, as well as freelance. The peculiar multidisciplinary structure of the programme allows developing a strong knowledge in electronics and informatics, mechanical, chemical and material engineering and promotes the integration of technical studies with life science disciplines (biology, physiology and medicine).

See the website http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/biomedical-engineering/

Career opportunities

Graduated biomedical engineers find employment for the design, development and commercialization of biomedical devices, as well as in the pharmaceutical sector. Career opportunities are found: 1) in manufacturing companies which are active on health-care market with systems for prevention, diagnostics, therapy and rehabilitation; 2) in public and private hospitals for the management of health technologies; 3) in medical plant and equipment service companies; 4) in specialised biomedical laboratories; 5) in biomedical research 6) as freelance.
For a more specific training in scientific research in the area, a Ph.D. in Bioengineering is available.

The programme has 4 advised paths (besides the possibility to develop a personal path with some constraints):
- Clinical Engineering
- Electronic Technologies
- Biomechanics and Biomaterials
- Cell, Tissue and Biotechnology Engineering

Presentation

See http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/uploads/media/Biomedical_Engineering_01.pdf
This postgraduate programme provides students with an engineering education applied to medical and biological issues. The educational path is intended to train students in the design of biomedical equipment, devices, materials and procedures and to offer a correct introduction to the management of biomedical technologies in companies and health bodies. The peculiar multidisciplinary structure of the programme allows the development of a strong knowledge in electronics and informatics, in mechanical, chemical and material engineering and promotes the integration of technical studies with life science disciplines like biology, physiology and
medicine. The programme is taught in English.

Subjects

Four specializations available:
- Clinical Engineering
- Electronic Technologies
- Biomechanics and Biomaterials
- Cell, Tissue and Biotechnology Engineering

Mandatory courses for all areas:
- mathematical and digital methods for engineering
- bioengineering of the motor system
- mechanics of biological structures
- bioengineering of autonomic control and respiratory systems
- biofluid dynamics
- biomechanical design
- biomachines (with laboratory)
- biomaterials
- endoprostheses
- biomimetics and tissue engineering
- biotechnological applications and bioreactors
- design of life support systems
- laboratory of tissue characterization
- laboratory of biomaterials + lab. of instrumental analysis
- laboratory of biofluid dynamics
- laboratory of biomechanical design
- computational biomechanics laboratory

See the website http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/biomedical-engineering/

For contact information see here http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/educational-offer/laurea-magistrale-equivalent-to-master-of-science-programmes/biomedical-engineering/

Find out how to apply here http://www.polinternational.polimi.it/how-to-apply/

Read less

Application period/deadline: November 1, 2017 - January 24, 2018

• Research-oriented degree provides an exciting opportunity to study in a leading-edge research environment

• The studies combine both theoretical and practical approach

• Specializations in Applied Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Egineering

The International Master’s Degree Programme in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is a two-year research-oriented programme concentrating on intelligent digital solutions to real world problems. During the past decades, Computer Science and Engineering has had a significant impact into our daily lives. The development continues and soon computers will not be used as separate devices anymore. Instead they will blend into our living environments and offer us rich sets of services through natural and intuitive user interfaces. The graduates from Computer Science and Engineering will play a key role in this development.

The two-year programme has three specialisation options:

• Applied Computing

• Artificial Intelligence

• Computer Engineering

Applied Computing focuses on the next generation of interactive systems that place humans at the focus of the technological development. Adopting a multidisciplinary real-world approach, students have to spend a substantial amount of time working in group projects to develop a variety of systems ranging from interactive online services to games and mobile applications, with a strong focus on innovation and design.

Artificial Intelligence focuses in various fields of AI, such as machine learning, machine vision, and data mining. This specialisation provides students with a solid theoretical understanding and practical skills on processing and analyzing digital data and the ability to create intelligent solutions to real world problems with modern AI techniques.

Computer Engineering focuses on both hardware and software aspects of computing with emphasis on embedded system development. In this specialisation, students also study signal processing and its applications, and work with projects on modern signal processors and embedded computers. The specialisation gives the students a good basis to work with Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

In addition to the core specialization options, students can take optional courses to widen their specialization expertise into:

• Biomedical signal analysis

• Machine learning

• Machine vision

• Signal processing

• Embedded systems

• Ubiquitous computing

This Master’s programme is provided by the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, and students are strongly encouraged to work closely with research groups in the faculty that are international leaders in their fields. The Center for Machine Vision and Signal Analysis (CMVS) is renowned world-wide for its 35 years of expertise in computer vision research. The Center for Ubiquitous Computing (UBICOMP) has created a unique research environment for Ubiquitous Computing including multitouch wall-sized displays, smartphone sensing middleware and sensor networks. Biomimetics and Intelligent Systems Group (BISG) is a fusion of expertise from the fields of computer science and biology. During the studies the research groups provide students trainee and master’s thesis positions, with the possibility to continue as a doctoral student, and even as a post-doctoral researcher.

The programme will provide the graduates with sufficient skills to work in a wide variety of positions offered by research institutes and companies mainly operating in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). The graduates are most likely to be employed in research and development related positions, but also management positions and entrepreneurship fit into the profile.

Possible titles include:

• Research Scientist

• Software Engineer

• System Designer

• Project Manager

• Specialist

Students applying for the programme must possess an applicable B.Sc. degree in computer science, electrical engineering or relevant fields such as physics or applied mathematics.

For all enquiries, please refer to our enquiry form: http://www.oulu.fi/university/admissions-contact

Read less