Case studies: Postgraduate in aerospace vehicle design: Natalia Garcia Farnandez

Natalia enjoyed the teamwork on her MSc, and although daunting, found presenting her final group project to 250 people from industry and academia very exciting

I always knew that I wanted to work in the aerospace sector and I decided to study for a degree in aeronautical engineering with the option of aircraft engineering.

My next goal was to gain a postgraduate qualification and I wanted to study in the UK as I wanted to diversify my experience. However, I found that my three-year degree from Madrid was not enough to get me onto the MSc Aerospace Vehicle Design so I enrolled onto the pre-Masters at Cranfield with a thesis related to aeronautics. But this is not necessarily the case for everyone, as I know of other students who were on my degree course who have gone straight onto the Masters. So it's best to contact the university to see what would suit you.

Taking on the nine-month long pre-Masters was a good decision for me as I got a taster of the lectures and topics I would be studying for the MSc and it helped to increase my knowledge.

The MSc in Aerospace Vehicle Design is quite intense and you get very busy from the start, as you attend lectures from 9am to 5pm and you also attend group design project meetings once a week.

We spent five months on the group project and you have to work with about 65 students to start with and then in smaller teams and have to choose between structure, avionics or systems. I was the coordinator of structures in composite materials and it was a very good experience. Working together with 65 students was hard work but I also enjoyed it very much.

My undergraduate degree had more emphasis on maths, physics, structures, etc. and this provided a very good basis for the Masters. I found that I could apply the theoretical aspects of my previous degree through practical work in my MSc.

My advice to others thinking of taking a postgraduate qualification in aerospace engineering would be manage their time effectively as you do have to juggle a lot of activities and you do need to work hard. I would also say that you need to stay in contact with other students and not isolate yourself, as you can get help and support, which is very important.

In addition, you need to be thinking of applying for job opportunities and I am very pleased that I was successful in getting onto a graduate training programme for Airbus and will soon be starting at their base in Filton, UK. 

AGCAS

Sourced by Ayesha Peeran, Cranfield University

Date: 

July 2012

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