Study Programmes 2015-2016
APRI0004-1  
Aerospace design project
Duration :
30h Th, 10h Labo., 260h Proj., 5d FW
Number of credits :
Master in aerospace engineering (120 ECTS)10
Lecturer :
Ludovic Noels
Substitute(s) :
Thomas Andrianne
Language(s) of instruction :
English language
Organisation and examination :
All year long, with partial in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
This course aims to introduce students to the integrated design process of civil aircraft. The subject is multi-disciplinary, each technical field being a sub-system interacting with all the others.
An introductory lecture uses a historical approach to describe the interactions between the different aspects of aircraft design, while a concluding talk introduces the design project that the students will work on.
Between these two lectures, academic and industrial partners will introduce various different design concepts, such as as (non exhaustive and not definitive list)


  • Aerodynamics
  • Structures
  • Propulsion (flow and mechanical design)
  • Performance
  • Stability
  • Aeroelasticity
  • Certification
  • ...
All this information will then be used by the students in order to carry out the conceptual and preliminary design of an aicraft (airplane, UAV, ...).
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of the class the student will have acquired the necessary methodological and technical tools to carry out a conceptual/preliminary design in aeronautics (airplane, UAV, ...).
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Basic knowledge in
  • Solid mechanics
  • Fluid mechanics
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course is divided into four types of activity:


  • Theoretical lectures by several professors (~30 h);
  • Lectures by industrial partners who will illustrate the practical application of theoretical concepts in the aeronautics industry (attendance is compulsory) (~10h);
  • Supervised project sessions during which the student groups can interact with the professors and assistants to conduct their assignment (attendance to the majority of the sessions is compulsory) (~45h);
  • Presentations of the projects (attendance is compulsory) (~5h).
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Face to face and supervised project sesions
Recommended or required readings :
  • Aircraft Design: Synthesis and Analysis, Ilan Kroo, Stanford University, http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/AircraftDesign.html
  • Synthesis of Subsonic Airplane Design, Egbert Torenbeek, Delft University Press, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, ISBN 90-246-2724-3, 1982.
  • Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, Daniel P. Raymer, Ph.D. AIAA Education Series, Reston, VA, 2012 ISBN 978-1-60086-911-2
  • Lecture notes on http://www.ltas-cm3.ulg.ac.be/classes.htm
Assessment methods and criteria :
The evaluation is based on a project fulfillment, which consists in the conceptual/preliminary design of an aircraft (airplane, UAV...).
This project will be presented in front of professors and  classmates.
The evaluation will be based on group report(s) (90%) with an the oral presentation (10%). An individual report detailing the students' personal contribution to the group project can also be asked in case of problem in group, in which case only the latter will be used for the grading. Such report will be asked for a resit exam and only this report will be used for the grading.
If opportunities arise, the project will be part of an international/national contest, in which case it will be adapted to comply with the contest rules.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
The design project is carried out during both terms.
Contacts :
L. Noels (L.Noels@ulg.ac.be)
G. Dimitriadis (gdimitriadis@ulg.ac.be)
Items online :
Lecture notes
Lecture notes