This module builds on the student’s understanding of mechanics and dynamics to develop an understanding of feedback control systems and the parameters that influence their stability and performance. The module covers time and frequency domain analysis of dynamic systems and considers both Laplace and state-space system representations. Starting with a review of general linear systems theory, the ideas of dynamic and static stability are developed. The relationship between system poles (or eigenvalues) and performance and stability are described and used to determine system responses to control inputs. The design of feedback control systems is then introduced together with the ideas of disturbance rejection, multivariable systems and design tradeoffs. The lectures are complemented by a set of in-depth design examples in which the techniques presented in the course material are used to solve real problems. Regular coursework is used to provide formative and summative assessment and Matlab examples and problems used to develop application skills.
All modern aerospace systems rely upon electronic and mechatronic subsystems to sense, process and respond to their environment. Aerospace engineers need to be able to use a range of technologies and theory to design these responsive systems which address complex engineering problems. In this module you will apply the theory of electronic circuits, transducers and control systems from your lectures to solve complex engineering problems in a range of practical laboratory and group design exercises. This module will help you become proficient in designing, building and testing electronic instrumentation and control systems, which you will apply to engineering tasks throughout your degree and beyond.
This first-year module introduces the physical origins and properties of materials and explores how these properties govern their selection in aerospace engineering applications. A variety of materials will be studied, including metals and alloys, high-temperature materials, ceramics, composites, and advanced emerging materials such as self-healing materials, smart materials, and metamaterials. The module establishes a foundational understanding of aerospace materials, forming the basis for subsequent topics in key modules like Statics and Dynamics, Aerospace Structures, and Aircraft/Spacecraft Structural Design. The focus is on linking material properties to their practical applications in aerospace components, providing a foundation for tackling complex aerospace design and structural challenges.
This second year module continues to develop the links between structures and materials, building on the fundamentals established in the first year course on mechanics, structures and materials. The relationship between composition, microstructure and properties of materials is linked to a deeper understanding of their structural performance. This assessment of structural performance is also developed through more advanced stress and deflection analyses for more complex engineering components and systems. This combination of approaches will strengthen the students’ understanding of the interplay between materials engineering and structural design. This module also develops the foundations for more advanced third year and fourth year modules in materials and solid mechanics.
This module introduces the fundamental concepts of aerospace mechanics and control including modelling, motion analysis, stability, characteristic motion response as well as design of control systems for aerospace vehicles. The main focus is on the three main components of a closed-loop control system: - dynamic systems, presenting their definition, as well as tools to analyse their response and stability characteristics; - control systems, formally introducing them and concentrating on their design as well as how they can be used to modify the stability characteristics of a dynamic system; - and sensing systems, overviewing their different types and working principles, basic design/selection criteria and their impact on the stability characteristics of a dynamic system. Throughout the module control design strategies to deal with uncertainty in both the dynamic and the sensing system are covered.
This module introduces some advanced programming, simulation and design modelling frameworks and tools. Teaching activities are a combination of taught sessions, expanded self-study supported by the Professional Skills Hub and practical hands-on sessions in computer laboratories. The tools and techniques studied in this module are also used in the companion design module in practical hands-on applications. For Aerospace Electronics students, the analogue relationship between aerospace and electronic systems are explored, enabling electronic circuit problems, aerospace and mechanical systems to be treated in the same framework. Efficient approaches to represent, simulate and analyse dynamics systems are developed and applied. Modelling, analysis and programming techniques are also introduced to understand, simulate and visualise such dynamic systems.
Aerothemodynamics is essential to the design of high speed flight vehicles (in this context high speed refers to anything above about Mach 0.3). The subject integrates thermodynamics and fluid mechanics concepts to cover the fundamentals of compressible flow, along with applications to external and internal aerodynamics.
You might watch a stunning film, hear a delightful song, enjoy a beautiful sunset, read a dreadful poem, attend an elegant dance, or see a garish building. Experiences like this can stimulate thoughts and feelings of great depth, and provide pleasure or displeasure of an utterly unique sort. Indeed, our experience of works and art or of nature can be transformative; they can change one’s thoughts and feelings about the world. It is no surprise, then, that many of the great philosophers from ancient times to the present day have contributed to aesthetics, by investigating the nature and importance of such experiences and the judgements they give rise to. This module aims to introduce you to some influential theories and arguments in philosophical aesthetics and to give you the tools to reflect critically on those theories.
In Africa, the ideal of freedom has the capacity to evoke multiple layers of struggle and aspiration: from state decolonisation and the end of official racial segregation, to gendered, national, economic and spiritual freedoms. Historically, the novel has been a key cultural mechanism via which African freedoms were imagined and fought for. This module scrutinises ways in which canonical African novels in English have helped to engender the continent's imaginaries of freedom. The module asks you to pay particular attention to the political and social implications of novelistic form: classroom discussions will focus on how (i) character construction and character systems; (ii) genre; (iii) style; and (iv) the interface between narration and focalisation have participated in forging new and emancipatory understandings of what 'freedom' might entail.
This module examines aspects of Jewish experience in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It explores refugee experiences in the aftermath of war; it explores Jewish debates over post-Holocaust futures, in Europe, in Israel, elsewhere; it examines attempts to re-establish Jewish communities in areas where they had been destroyed; it examines dialogues between Jews and others in the post-war world, and the presence of the Holocaust in those. Its emphasis is on the ways in which the suffering of the Holocaust did not simply end with the moment of liberation. Rather, it explores how, from the initial struggles in Displaced Persons camps and other sites of liberation through emigration, the rebuilding of shattered lives, conflicts over restitution and (in cases) renewed experiences of antisemitism and persecution the lives of Jews and their interlocutors remained shaped by the events of the Holocaust for decades after.
This module provides a critical understanding of the dynamics of ageing in Africa, drawing on empirical evidence. You will evaluate the policy implications of the context of ageing in Africa and critically examine the social, health and economic polices implemented across the continent. You will gain an understanding of the development of social gerontology in Africa and the national and international discourses regarding older age in the region. This module is multidisciplinary and draws on the health and social sciences disciplines. Throughout the module you will develop an understanding of the linkages between ageing research and policy. You will be encouraged to critique the research presented, and evaluate policies in light of it. Examples will be drawn from across the continent and the diversity and importance of context for understanding experiences of ageing will be highlighted. The module provides an opportunity to identify and share your own examples of ageing research, policy and programmes as you actively contribute to the development of African gerontology.
This module introduces the study of ageing at the individual and societal level in China and South-east Asia. It will introduce demographic evidence relating to population change. The module combines insights from Social Policy, Demography, Sociology and Economics. Students will be familiarised with key patterns and trends in population ageing, older people's living arrangements, challenges to health and social care of older people and support to older people by families and the state in these contexts.
This module introduces the study of ageing at the individual and societal level in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The module will provide an overview of demographic transitions, social change and development in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia, examining research conducted in a wide range of countries in the regions. It will introduce demographic evidence relating to population change, and you will be familiarised with key patterns and trends in population ageing, older people’s living arrangements, migration and its impact on older people and communities, challenges to health and social care of older people and support to older people by families and the state in these contexts. This interdisciplinary module combines insights from Social Policy, Demography, Anthropology, Sociology and Economics.
This module aims to provide you with foundation of knowledge in the areas of health and well-being in later life and the impact of inequalities. You will be introduced to key issues and literature concerning the nature of ageing, quality of life, and well-being and how it is defined, and the structure and workings of healthcare systems and policies relating to health and social care of older people. Indicative topics include the debates and literature on inequalities in health; the concepts of informal care and frailty, and policies relating to older people. This module will critically examine the relative importance of different factors in health and the quality of life of older people and how policy and lifestyle choices and behaviours can influence these.
This module aims to provide you with foundation of knowledge in the areas of health and well-being in later life and the impact of inequalities. You will be introduced to key issues and literature concerning the nature of ageing, quality of life, and well-being and how it is defined, and the current structure and workings of healthcare systems and policies provided by the World Health Organization, focusing on health and social care of older people. You will become familiar with the debates and literature on inequalities in health, the concept of informal care and frailty, and the WHO framework on healthy ageing and integrated care for older people (ICOPE). This module will critically examine the relative importance of different factors in health and the quality of life of older people and how policy and lifestyle choices and behaviours can influence these.
This module aims to provide you with foundation of knowledge in the areas of health and well-being in later life and the impact of inequalities. You will be introduced to key issues and literature concerning the nature of ageing, quality of life, and well-being and how it is defined, and the current structure and workings of healthcare systems and policies provided by the World Health Organization, focusing on health and social care of older people. You will become familiar with the debates and literature on inequalities in health, the concept of informal care and dementia, and the WHO framework on healthy ageing and integrated care for older people (ICOPE). This module will critically examine the relative importance of different factors in health and the quality of life of older people and how policy and lifestyle choices and behaviours can influence these.
This module explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping work, labour markets and the modern workplace. It will examine the effects of AI on job roles, organisational structures, skill requirements, and innovation.
This module is concerned with the development of modern societies and the nature of 'modernity'. It will draw on the writings of contemporary sociologists in order to consider what the most important processes of social change taking place are and how these have come about.
The goal of this module is to put into practise the skills and knowledge learned over the previous three semesters, and develop an original solution to a complex problem. Students will develop group working skills, and use appropriate engineering methods to identify requirements, design a solution, and manage the delivery and test of the solution. An example of the type of project that could be tackled would be the development of an intelligent robot system, integrating aspects of hardware design, computer engineering, software, artificial intelligence, and signal processing. Examples of the types of skills applied from other modules might include: - Designing custom PCBs to integrate sensor and compute modules - Writing embedded C code and assembly to interface algorithms and peripherals - Creating custom digital IP blocks to accelerate computationally intensive functions - Creating SoCs with multiple CPUs and IP cores to meet sensor, processing and actuator requirements - Modelling and implementing control loops for managing system functions - Selecting and customising learning algorithms to perform specific tasks - Integrating low-level control loops and high-level planning to achieve goals - Designing and implementing signal-processing pipelines in software and hardware - Optimising software algorithms and implementations to meet performance and power constraints - Managing on-device storage of training and classification data - Using analysis and filtering to pre-process and combine data streams into features The project is introduced in the first semester to run alongside systematic design, so that students have a concrete example to think about in that module. This also gives students time to think about the project from a design point of view, without immediately moving to implementation. The bulk of the hours will be spent in the second semester, where the project development, integration, and testing will occur.
This thought-provoking module introduces you to the surveillance and predictive AI technologies informing policy and practice in contemporary. criminal justice systems. Theory and research from the fields of criminology, criminal justice studies, sociology, law, and the interdisciplinary STS scholarship are used to explore the prospects, challenges, and governance of the technologies. To deepen and broaden your knowledge of the key issues, international comparisons are embedded throughout. Participation in this module does not require prior technical knowledge of AI design processes. The module focuses on their implementation, challenges, and governance. It is as such suitable for postgraduates from diverse professional and academic backgrounds.
In this module you will examine the socio-technical influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on governance practices and global economic systems. You will explore how AI shapes decision-making processes, labour markets, international trade, public policy, ethics, and security, while also highlighting how these in turn affect the data, intellectual resources and human engagement on which the success of AI depends. The module also explores the challenges related to trust, regulation, inequality, and global cooperation. The course will address both the theoretical and practical aspects of AI integration into governance and economic structures.
