Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan Flight to Excellence. Faculty of Aerospace. Engineering

Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015 Faculty of Aerospace Engineering Flight to Excellence Aerospace Engineering long-term str...
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Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015

Faculty of Aerospace Engineering

Flight to Excellence

Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015 Flight to Excellence

Contents 1. Our mission

4

2. Trends and Position

6

3. Organisation and key target parameters

12

4. Research Infrastructure

16

5. Research and education strategy of the departments

22

5.1 Department Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance & ­P ropulsion (AWEP) 



22

5.2 Department Control & Operations (C&O)

29

5.3 Department Aerospace Structures & Materials (ASM)

35

5.4 Department Space Engineering (SpE)

40

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46

6. Education 6.1 The market position

46

6.2 The profile of our graduates

47

6.3 The curricular framework

49

6.4 The Bachelor’s

50

6.5 The Bridging Class

50

6.6 The Master’s

51

6.7 Post-initial education

52

6.8 Minors

52

6.9 Excellence programmes

52

6.10 Study success

53

6.11 Internationalisation

53

6.12 Teaching and learning methods

54

6.13 Organisation

54

6.14 Quality Assurance

54

6.15 The Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering

55

7. Staff and facilities

56

7.1 Education and Student Affairs

56

7.2 Finance

58

7.3 Human Resources

59

7.4 Marketing & Communications

61

7.5 ICT

63

7.6 Housing and Real Estate

64

8. Implementation

66



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1. Our mission

1.

miss

Our

Aerospace Engineering in Delft stands for: modern education

-

no 1

-

aerospace engineering

inspiration

-

-

future sustainable society

-

future of aerospace

aeronautics- space engineering

-

highest

quality - multidisciplinary - teamwork - international

excellence ambitious

-

innovative research

sion To be the best Aerospace Engineering faculty in the world, inspiring and educating students, staff and society through modern education techniques and performing ambitious research of the highest quality for the future of aerospace. The coming years the faculty focuses on the topics: • Sustainability/Green Aircraft (highest priority) • Miniaturisation (leading to new ­a pplications) • Space Exploration (leading to new ­d iscoveries) • Education • Planning & Control

Prof.dr.ir. Jacco Hoekstra, Dean of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering:

“The choices we have made in the past years mean that we can now look ahead with a focused research & education portfolio and plan the next important steps. ­ We present an ambitious plan for 2012-2015.”

2. Trends and Position

Tren

2. 

In one century, aerospace has matured from a pioneering technology to an indispensable part of daily life for more and more people. Our future world We are convinced that further improvements in information and communication technology will not reduce the demand for air transport in the future. With the rapid development of Asia, South America and Africa, this demand will continue to grow for decades to come. Similarly, space engineering plays an increasing role for both sustaining our way of living and for answering some of our greatest and most fundamental questions.

Our scientific and engineering challenges New knowledge, technology and very smart engineers are required to combine these growing demands with the limited resources of our planet. Solar energy and wind energy play an important role in ensuring our future. They are both the result of aerospace technology. The invention of very efficient, safe, sustainable and quiet aircraft that will not need any fossil fuel is a challenge, which inspires both our research and teaching. Also, new applications arise with new technologies: insect-sized unmanned ­a ircraft, ever-smaller satellites, spacecraft, new materials and perhaps even personal air transport. In space, the use of spacecraft might very soon lead to the discovery of extraterrestrial life forms and maybe even of extraterrestrial places where we could live.

National context Despite the lack of national policy developed specifically for the aerospace top sector, the faculty is affiliated with three of the nine top sectors designated by the government. Aircraft construction is allied with the Top Sector High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM). The aerospace maintenance segment likewise is part of this top sector. The faculty is also affiliated with the Top Sector Logistics. In addition, there is a connection with the Top Sector Energy with respect to the wind energy body of knowledge. The faculty supports the visibility of the aviation sector in top sectors.



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ds

and Position

For the Netherlands to continue playing an essential role in space engineering developments, it is important for ESA/Estec to remain located in the Netherlands. Numerous players are active at the national level with whom the faculty maintains close ties including: Fokker aerostructures; Materials cluster (TATA, Ten Cate, Alocoa and many others); parties affiliated with Schiphol (KLM, AAS, LVNL); aerospace cluster (Dutchspace, NSO, SRON); wind energy (ECN, Siemens and the like); institutes: NLR, TNO, ECN; and small and medium enterprises.



Sustainability/Green Aircraft The CleanEra X-3 is a thirdgeneration aircraft of the ZEFT family. The aircraft will first be manufactured as an auto­n omous vehicle, but if the tests on it are successful, the next step will be to create the first silent manned aircraft with zero emissions.

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Research Priorities Theme department participation cross reference table Theme

Topic

AWEP (Aerodynamics, Flight Performance & Propulsion)

C&O (Control & Operations)

ASM (Aero­s pace Structures & Materials)

SpE (Space Engineering)

1. Green aviation Green aircraft

X

Green Operations

X X

2. Miniaturisation UAVs

X

X

Satellites

X X

3. Planetary Exploration

X X

1. Sustainability/Green Aircraft As the time span between inventing a new technology and applying it in an flying aeroplane covers several decades (in the case of GLARE ® this was 30 years), it is important that we think about long-term solutions for aerospace today, for example before oil becomes very scarce and too expensive. This specific situation has large implications for the aviation sector. This has been recognized by the European Commission and they play an important role in defining and supporting the research. AE is involved in the research agenda definition via ACARE and together with our partners pursuing that this long-term perspective gets a high place on the research agenda in Brussels. More than any other sector, the aerospace industry currently depends on fossil fuels with their excellent energy to weight/volume ratio. However, not only are they being depleted rapidly, they are also responsible for CO 2 (and H 2O) emissions in the stratosphere, which in turn have an effect on the composition of our atmosphere and on the global climate. We need new solutions to achieve a sufficient flight performance with alternative fuels and alternative propulsion technologies. Aircraft have to be even more efficient, meaning a lower weight, a lower drag but similar, or better, strength and lifespan. Currently, new materials are being used despite the still lacking knowledge about their exact behaviour during the lifetime and the potential applications they might have. AE seeks to take a leading role in Europe in thinking about the aircraft of the future: the postoil aircraft. This is why the Sustainability/Green Aircraft is our highest research priority theme in our research plan.

2. Miniaturisation Next to this demand for change, innovation often starts on the other end, with inventions, which find more applications as they are being developed. In fact, many inventions (e.g. gas turbines) used in aerospace were very impractical for flying when their development started, but are indispensable today. Next to the ‘pull’, innovation often starts with a ‘push’. A modern example is the ever increasing miniaturisation of electronics and the volume reduction of batteries.



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In aerospace we can benefit from this development. This means that both unmanned aircraft and unmanned spacecraft can be developed, which are much smaller but can serve similar purposes. Examples are small flying insectlike UAVs, swarms of nano-satellites. Many new applications can be realised using this Miniaturisation, our second research priority theme: small unmanned vehicles are carrying out surveillance tasks in the atmosphere as well as exploring the earth, other planets and space in general.

Exploration of our solar system Huygens descending on Titan, source: NASA/GPL/ESA. The artist's impression shows the European Space Agency's Huygens probe descent sequence.

3. Exploration of our solar system Recent space missions have shown that there may be many places in our solar system which are beneficial for the development of organic molecules and maybe even life. We are extremely close to finding this extra-terrestrial life forms, if they exist in our solar system. Therefore the third focal point of our faculty is the Exploration of our solar system, in the search for these environments and potential extra-terrestrial life forms.

Building European partnerships In general, the faculties’ policy is aligned with the European Research agenda. Green aircraft is the primary focus point of the European Aviation Community. As a faculty, we participated and will participate in the framework programmes FP6, FP7 and are involved in setting the aerospace research & education agenda of FP8/Horizon 2020. AE participates in major European programmes such as CleanSky and SESAR. As the largest Aerospace Engineering academy in Europe, we are supporting and contributing to the long-term goals on the agenda to ensure the future of aerospace in Europe. AE will intensify the relationship with the number two in Europe, ISAE Toulouse, in terms of areas of research and educationfor example by discussing with them the setting up of a long-term strategic agreement. Our faculty is a founding member of Pegasus, the association for academic aerospace education in Europe. Strategic alliances with our European partners enable us to achieve a truly European Aerospace Academy framework. Airbus and DLR are main partners in the area of innovative research. The coming years we will



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André Kuipers’ live in-flight call with the Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, 10 January 2012

High quality requires highly qualified staff Miniaturisation Quadshot with wireless camera; a hybrid UAV with quadrotor and a flying wing. Vertical takeoff and the ability to fly horizontally. This has considerable advantages: being able to takeoff and land vertically makes it possible to operate in cities and streets. Flying horizontally is much more efficient (the wings are used like an aeroplane), which means longer autonomy. Source: www.thequadshot.com

amplify and consolidate our strategic cooperation with Airbus. We believe that the European perimeter has taken the place of the national border. We are also building the alliance in Air Transport research formed by ASDA (Association for Scientific Development of ATM), in which most European aerospace universities are represented. In the global context we are cooperating with partners and industry in the USA and Asia and have formed and are still looking for strategic partnerships in those areas.

Our education philosophy A new era of aerospace needs a new type of engineer. Tomorrow’s society needs engineers and scientists, who have a deep knowledge of, and are experts in, their own field but, at the same time, have a broad base of knowledge and skills that enable them to connect with other disciplines. We call this the T-shaped professional, the cornerstone of our aerospace engineering curriculum. It is probably the reason why many of our alumni are working in areas outside aerospace, worldwide. As a society we have to address the challenges of the environment and the limited resources on our planet as a whole with many disciplines, but ultimately many of them are technological challenges for which solutions will be discovered by the engineer of tomorrow, the student of today.

A future proof higher education framework Our Bachelor’s teaching is aimed at the full range of aerospace and skills such as designing and integrating multiple disciplines. For the Master’s programme, we have chosen five areas to cover aerospace engineering, which are referred to as tracks: • Aerodynamics & Wind Energy • Flight Performance & Propulsion • Control & Operations • Space Engineering • Aerospace Structures & Materials As the number of first-year students for our Bachelor’s programme increases, we have to manage our resources more effectively by regulating the inflow of students. Using a combination of weighted grades for students from the Dutch education system and a selection for students with an international education, we will manage both the demand for our programmes and the quality and international nature of our students.

Ability to apply knowledge across situations

BROAD Combining expert thinking in one or more knowledge areas with the ability to apply knowledge across situations

D E E P

Figure T shaped professional

Students currently take a long time to complete our high-level programme, but society is now demanding to shorten this time. However, the quality and level of our programme should remain at least as high as it is now. We have recently implemented a new curriculum for the Bachelor’s and Master’s , with the aim of providing a better structure and greater coherence. Particular efforts are currently being made at further increasing the student success rate on the new programme while maintaining the high level of the content.



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Functional/ disciplinary skills

3. Organisation and key target parameters

3. 

Organis

The scope of AE is focused on the study of two main objects: the aircraft and the spacecraft. The interrelationship between the content of research and teaching determines how responsibilities are divided over the four scientific departments. Education & Student Affairs

Director Education

Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance & Propulsion Control & Operations

Dean

Space Engineering Secretary of the faculty

Aerospace Structures & Materials Finance Human Resources Management & Real Estate Marketing & Communication

Structure of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering



ICT

12 | Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015

and key target parameters

sation Science Department

Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance and Propulsion

Control and Operations

Space Engineering

Aerospace Structures and Materials

Research Group

Aerodynamics

Control and Simulation

Astrodynamics and Space Missions

Structural Integrity and Composites

Wind Energy

Air Transport and Operations

Space System Engineering

Aerospace Structures and Computational Mechanics

Applied Sustainable Science, Engineering and Technology

Novel Aerospace Materials

Flight Performance and Propulsion Institutes

DUwind (Delft University Wind energy research institute)

Facilities

Aerodynamics Laboratory

DCMat (Delft Centre for Materials) AI (Adhesion Insitute) Simona

Delft Aerospace Structures & Materials Laboratory

Aircraft PH-LAB

Class 10.000 Clean Room

Micro Air Vehicle lab (MAV-Lab)

Formation Flying Laboratory (planned) Non-proprietary satellites

Scientific Departments

In addition to the above-mentioned scientific classification, the Aerospace Engineering (AE) faculty is the secretary of the Delft Research Initiative (DRI) Energy, and participates in the DRI Infrastructures & Mobility. The faculty also participates in various TU Institutes, namely Climate, Robotics and Transport.



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Key Targets Education

2011 *)

2012

2013

2014

2015

550

400

400

400

400

52

50

50

50

50

Students total

2600

2700

2600

2500

2400

P-in-1

20%

30%

35%

40%

40%

BSA 45 ECTS

40%

50%

55%

60%

60%

Ba in 4 years

30%

35%

40%

50%

50%

BKO trained teachers

10%

11%

12%

13%

15%

30

30

28

25

25

20%

35%

40%

40%

40%

8

8

8

8

8

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

ISI Journal articles

186

160

180

200

200

Conference papers

212

180

190

200

200

30.75

30

35

37

40

PhD in 5 years

42%

44%

46%

48%

50%

Staff, persons (fte)

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Professors ***)

30 (19.6)

27

29

30

30

Associate professors

18 (16.0)

18

19

20

20

Assistant professors

42 (40.2)

35

42

44

45

Perm. ac. Staff (fte)

75.8

74

84

89

90

200 (160)

170

180

190

200

133 (88.8)

110

110

110

110

34,3

36,5

31,0

28,0

26,7

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.2

4.3

6

6

7

8

9

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

21,800

21,711

21,711

22,015

22,015

9948

7080

7500

8000

8500

Ba freshmen **) Ma freshmen

Education hours/wk 1 st year drop out Excellence %

Research

PhD Theses

*)  All figures for 2011 include the

PhD candidates

Department of Remote Sensing, which was relocated to the building

Post-docs, researcher

of Faculty of CiTG in January 2012;

Student/Staff ratio

the figures for 2012 and beyond

WP / OBP ratio excl. SA & internships

exclude RS. **)  Restrained intake from 2012 onward

Top academic female staff %

440 Ba freshmen; expected students by December 1 st: 400. All figures Finance

of Ba students are based on this number.

Allocated budget K€

***) Full professors, salaried and unsalaried (after retirement and guests)

Extra coverage from 2 + 3 rd stream K€

nd

Figures between brackets ()= full time equivalent (fte)



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Finance Since 2009, the faculty has been concentrating on reducing costs, improving the quality of research and teaching and on generally trying to prepare itself for the future in every way. In recent years, efforts have been aimed at improving the faculty’s financial position, and measures have been taken to increase efficiency: • A full survey of the faculty has been carried out in order to identify savings and more efficient working methods. • The planning and control cycle has been optimised and improved. • The facilities have been assessed and decisions have been taken regarding their use. • Multidisciplinary collaboration within the faculty has been strengthened. • Measures have been taken to increase income to compensate for the fall in direct government funding. • A blueprint for a new organisational structure has been drawn up and is implemented in 2011/2012. The budget for 2013 (fixed) and 2014, 2015 (prognoses) already has been distributed over the departments, using the following items: BTS-LR, with 80% policy and fixed and 20% distribution by kpi’s for education and research facilities support to the laboratories of AE Strategy. The budget reserved as central budget and for paying support staff is fixed.



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4. Research Infrastructure

4.

Research

Infrastr

Our facilities are used for experiments generating unique and essential data for research but they are also used in education. Practical exercises are an essential part of the curriculum. The faculty has a complete range of high-tech facilities at the disposal of students and researchers. The faculty is open for sharing these facilities on an university level and will actively cooperate with other faculties. SIMONA (International Research Institute for Simulation, Motion and Navigation) This high-quality flight simulator was designed and built in collaboration with several other TU Delft faculties. It is used to study man-machine interactions, and it can simulate the motion of airplanes, helicopters, heavy and light vehicles, and space planes. We have been and are continuing to investigate the possibility of having other parties use our facilities. Examples include the use of SIMONA in car driving research and the laboratory aircraft for research into climate change. The systems of the SIMONA research simulator has largely been written down. It will only be necessary to replace the SIMONA simulator’s visual system within the next five years. The AE faculty also aims to reduce maintenance costs by replacing hydraulic components (particularly the control-loading systems) with electrical systems.

Cessna Citation II jet aircraft The Cessna has been equipped as a flying laboratory in which students can conduct experiments in the air space above and around Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam. The funding levels for the SIMONA simulator at present and in the near future are good, but the laboratory aircraft will require additional acquisition activities. This will be one of the primary activities of the flight operations team within the department Control and Operations. Boarding Citation TU Delft – NLR



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ructure SIMONA Flight Simulator

Windtunnel testing

Aerodynamics laboratory (the wind tunnels) Eight high-speed and low-speed wind tunnels are used to verify aerodynamic theories and observe physical phenomena. Experiments can be performed at speeds ranging from subsonic (as low as 35m/sec) to hypersonic (up to Mach 11). The laboratory is crucial to the education of students in the Aerospace Engineering programme (both BSc and MSc), as well as to the faculty’s research. The wind tunnels are also being used increasingly by external partners, the largest of which is currently Siemens Wind Power. The strategy for the future involves increasing such external funds even further, focusing on serving a few large clients, instead of many clients with small projects. The additional funds will be used to keep the laboratory’s hardware and software current. In addition, discussions have been started with other fluid-mechanics laboratories within the TU Delft with regard to formalising cooperation, with the goal of increasing the visibility of TU Delft’s strong position in fluid mechanics, jointly attracting additional major funding for facilities and becoming a stronger partner for external parties.



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Delft Aerospace Structures and Materials Laboratory This laboratory contains a variety of testing equipment, including fatigue-testing machines, low-speed and high-speed impact testers, production equipment (e.g. a filament-winding machine), a chemical/physical section with microscopes, and an autoclave. The laboratory is used for several kinds of materials research, including experiments with lightweight structures together with our partners. Delft Aerospace Structures and Materials Laboratory

Hangar The faculty hangar contains a collection of aircraft and spacecraft parts, including cockpits, wings, advanced sensors and rocket components. It also houses a complete F-16 and helicopter as well as a test model of ENVISAT, the largest European satellite to date. In this facility, students gain a greater understanding of design and performance considerations, with the ultimate goal of generating new ideas and solutions.

Clean Room The Clean Room has a large variation of equipment for integration and testing. With its low level of environmental pollutants, the Clean Room conforms to ISO class 5: 100,000 particles per m³. Particles, temperature and humidity are monitored continuously (measurements are saved). Pressure is monitored during operations of the low-thrust rocket test stand. The first Dutch satellite built by students, Delfi C3 , was created here. Students are currently working on its successor: Delfi N3xt . The Clean Room is a small, inexpensive research facility, occupying less than ¼ of the faculty’s eighth floor. It was equipped with funding from the national MICRONED project. The facility is a ‘class 100,000’ clean room, suitable for the testing and integration of small satellites.

Clean Room



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Formation-Flying Laboratory to be planned In the near future, AE is considering an additional small facility, known as a ‘Formation-Flying Laboratory’. It would require only 1/8 of the floor space of the department Space Engineering, and it would be equipped through funding by external sources. This laboratory is intended as a 2-D testing environment for experiments satellite formation flying.

Micro Air Vehicle laboratory (MAV-Lab) The development of MAVs requires knowledge from many areas, including electronics, mechanics, aerodynamics, navigation and control. At TU Delft, this knowledge has been combined in the Micro Air Vehicle laboratory: the MAV-lab . The MAV-lab develops various Micro Air Vehicle platforms and uses them for research that advances the state-of-the-art. The goal is to stimulate the use of the lightweight MAVs in a wide variety of applications.



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Additional facilities The faculty also has a unique satellite database and a kite-testing laboratory for experiments on innovative ideas in sustainable aerospace engineering and technology. In addition, the faculty cooperates with the faculty of Electrical Engineering in various ways (e.g. through sharing staff and operating a satellite ground station). The AE faculty is a member of DIMES, the Delft Institute of Microsystems and Nano-electronics. The faculty owns a number of 25 high-end GPS receivers, which are used for scientific investigations in South East Asia and Romania. Replacing these receivers, which were acquired in 1999, is necessary to maintain our data acquisition capability. The non-proprietary satellites, which are launched and operated by various organisations, and provide the scientific data, are essential test objects for our research.



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5. Research and education strategy of the departments

strate 5.

Research and

of the departments 5.1 Department Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance & ­Propulsion (AWEP) Mission: In 2012-15, AWEP plans to invest in high-potential scientists, extend its activities in the area of aircraft propulsion, and address common challenges through cooperation between its disciplines. The Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance & Propulsion (AWEP) Department started in January 2011 in its current form. Its composition is a logical one and within it there are already significant interactions. With a nucleus in Aerodynamics, AWEP contributes to the future of aircraft and wind turbines. As a result AWEP is now even better positioned to contribute to the future of aircraft and wind turbines.

Societal demand The future sustainability of air transport depends greatly on innovations. We need to reduce significantly our energy consumption, our emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. A good proportion of the innovations we need, are in the fields of aerodynamics, flight performance and propulsion. The relationship between aircraft and wind turbines is reflected in, for example, the fact that aircraft propulsion systems and wind turbines are both rotating wing systems with inverted operations. The turbine design directs towards huge, robust machines for application offshore and in energy-generating kites.

Wind energy, Maasvlakte



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egy education

Research strategy AWEP has a strong base in fundamental aerodynamics. It strives towards new insights, innovative research and design tools, as well as revolutionary designs/sub-designs for sustainable aircraft and robust wind turbines. AWEP is internationally recognised for its advanced diagnostic aerodynamic techniques (both experimental and computational), design methods and wind turbine design. In 2012-15, groups of AWEP scientists will cooperate on three multidisciplinary research topics that are crucial for future aircraft and wind turbines. AWEP will also extend its activities in aircraft propulsion and applied aerodynamics. Research focus topics 2011-15

Criteria for the AWEP focus topics

- Propulsion integration - Flexible wings and kites - Flow control and rotor aerodynamics

- Related to current research strengths - Involving more than one discipline - Crucial for future aircraft and wind turbines

Cooperation The DUWIND research institute is the oldest group. It is quite successful in acquiring wind energy research university wide, and this results in a substantial number of PhD positions. Contract research and education in cooperation with industry is growing. This has already resulted in postdoc and PhD research, and expansion is expected in the coming years. Companies in the aircraft industry (e.g. DNW) and the wind energy sector are increasingly involved in the research of the AWEP department as well as its facilities. Education valorisation is mostly achieved through dedicated courses organised for, for instance, Chinese aircraft corporations and wind energy companies. The focus here is also on network relationships.

Dr.Roland Schmehl, Aerospace Science for Sustainable Engineering and Technology:

“Our motivation with the Kite Power project is to revolutionise the renewable energy market by providing an innovative wind energy technology with low generation costs. Only then will we have a chance to actually compete with fossil fuels or nuclear power.”



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Kite TU Delft: Nature can provide us with more sustainable energy than we will ever need

Education Master Track /Head of Department

Profile/Section Head Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics & Wind Energy Prof.dr.ir. Hester Bijl

Prof.dr. Fulvio Scarano

Wind Energy Prof.dr. Gerard van Bussel

Flight Performance & Propulsion Prof.dr.ir. Hester Bijl

Flight Performance & Propulsion Prof.dr.ir. Hester Bijl (a.i.)

In 2012-2017, the Flight Performance and Propulsion (FPP) track, which was created in 2011, will be further extended to create two separate profiles, namely the Flight Performance track and the Propulsion track. AWEP’s contributing and coordinating roles in education: • Minors: ‘Wind Energy and Sustainability’ and ‘Aerospace System Design and Technology’ (coordinated by FPP). • 3TU MSc programme ‘Sustainable Energy and Technology’. • A new international Erasmus Mundus MSc programme ‘Windmaster’, starting in September 2012, as coordinator. If the rollout is successful, this will result in a significant increase in the number of MSc students, especially in Wind Energy. AWEP aims to achieve a better balance in the current teaching load by attracting a new full professor in FPP and a new tenure tracker in the areas of Propulsion and Applied Aerodynamics, and by increasing the teaching contribution made by Wind Energy.



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Talent To further improve scientific research and attract even more talented people, the department will create financial opportunities to stimulate certain topics. A potential tool is a 1+3 PhD stimulation programme at department level for specific initiatives, particularly where highly talented researchers and/or the synergy of the research disciplines are involved. The department aims to increase the ratio between PhDs and members of the permanent scientific staff. This might be accomplished by increasing our efforts towards Europe and companies The department invests in the quality of its personnel through careful hiring, as well as in the personal development of its staff. The vacancy for a FPP full professor will be filled first of all. In order to achieve a better balance for this chair in terms of possibilities for research and teaching load (and in line with the key target of sustainability as part of the review), an additional assistant professor position is envisaged for propulsion. In terms of operations, the intention is to coordinate support at the level of the department rather than the sections. This will definitely apply when organising finances and project contacts. The sections of the department are currently spread right across the various floors and AE buildings. In order to promote collaboration and streamline support more effectively, in the near future we want to bring together almost the whole department at one location. Only Aerodynamics and the Wind Tunnel Lab will be at a different location.

European Clean Sky initiative Clean Sky is the most ambitious aeronautical research programme ever launched in Europe. Its mission is to develop breakthrough technologies to significantly increase the environmental performances of airplanes and air transport, resulting in less noisy and more fuel efficient aircraft, hence making a key contribution to achieving the Single European Sky environmental objectives. The Clean Sky JTI (Joint Technology Initiative) was born in 2008 and represents a unique public-private partnership between the European Commission and the industry. It will be under the management of the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (CSJU) until 31 December 2017. Technologies allowing for the step change have to be concurrently developed, integrated and validated to maximise the benefit of technology interaction and cross fertilisation on the whole air transport system (ATS). They are organised into six main themes (six Integrated Technology Demonstrators) that cover the broad range of R&T work. AE is active in four of these themes:



• SMART Fixed Wing Aircraft will deliver active wing technologies and new aircraft configuration for breakthrough, new products. • Green Rotorcraft will deliver innovative rotor blades and engine installation for noise reduction, lower airframe drag, integration of diesel engine technology and advanced electrical systems for the elimination of noxious hydraulic fluids and the reduction of fuel consumption. • Systems for Green Operations will focus on all-electrical aircraft equipment and systems architectures, thermal management, capabilities for ‘green’ trajectories and mission and improved ground operations to give any aircraft the capability to fully exploit the benefits of Single European Sky. • Eco-Design will focus on green design and production, withdrawal and recycling of aircraft, by optimal use of raw materials and energies thus improving the environmental impact of the whole product lifecycle and accelerating compliance with the REACH directive. A simulation network called the Technology Evaluator will assess the performance of the technologies thus developed.

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Axel Krein, senior vice-president Research and Technology at Airbus:

‘For Airbus, Clean Sky is creating a lot of added value for research and technology. It is a very important programme to strengthen the European aeronautical industry and to boost the cooperation between all players and contributors preparing the technology for the next generation of commercial aircraft.’

FLOW: Far and Large Offshore Wind energy The FLOW programme enables businesses in the Netherlands to take a leading position in the international market for offshore wind farms. The FLOW research programme has a budget of 47 million euros, half of which is in the form of grants. The programme was set up by RWE, Eneco, TenneT, Ballast Nedam, Van Oord, IHC Merwede, 2-B Energy, XEMC Darwind, ECN and TU Delft. The main objective of FLOW is acceleration. FLOW will speed up the deployment of far-offshore wind energy to realise the target for 2020, namely 6,000 MW. As a first step, it will build a 100-300 MW demo wind farm far-offshore; it will be operational by Q3 2013. To achieve this, a significant cost & risk reduction – the second main objective – is necessary. Cost and risk reduction requires the development of specific far-offshore competences. FLOW will reduce the



Prof. Gerard van Bussel standing in the Open Jet Facility

costs and risks associated with offshore wind energy by more than 20% and thus improve the commercial viability of offshore wind energy. TU Delft is making a significant contribution to the R&D programme through the PhD programme of DUWIND, its wind energy R&D institute. This PhD programme encompasses 2 postdoc positions, 14 PhD candidates and a budget of EUR 8.4 million. Cooperation between the PhD candidates and with the other partners is essential. All PhD positions have at least one cooperating industry. A representative of this industry is part of the team of supervisors. Furthermore, each PhD candidate will do an internship at the associated industry. Plans, progress and results will be presented within the FLOW consortium, at international conferences and in scientific journals.

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Aero-acoustics, B737, source: ‘Making sound visible’, Jorg Hendriks, winner DS exercise 2011

FLOVIST: Reducing noise pollution for air traffic For many people who live close to an airport, noise is the most evident environmental impact of aviation. Although individual aircraft have become quieter over the past 30 years, flight frequencies have increased. As a result, aircraft noise is giving rise to increasing community concern. Prof. Fulvio Scarano of the FLOVIST project – an ERCbacked initiative that is researching flow diagnostics and experimental aero-acoustics – deals with such issues. The main goals of the research are to study the noise produced



by airflow in configurations related to aerospace technology and to develop and apply innovative technologies based on time-resolved particle tomographic image velocimetry for acoustic source characterisation. These innovative technologies enable the researchers to measure, quantify and study the air flow around parts of an aircraft. But they also have applications for cars and trains and in the field of wind energy. FLOVIST brings together academic and industrial partners from across Europe, with the aim of fully describing and quantifying the flow pattern and related acoustic production at its origin.

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5.2 Department Control & Operations (C&O) The mission of the Control and Operations Department (C&O) is to improve the safety and efficiency of operations in aerospace. Consequently, the action plan for C&O for the next three years is to: 1) increase its productivity related to the primary mission; 2) focus on making quality contributions to the body of knowledge; 3) invest in 2 key critical needs, namely managing the enormous growth of unmanned aerial vehicle operations and in operational emissions impact modelling.

Introduction C&O is comprised of two sections that contribute to this mission in a synergistic and complementary way. With Control and Simulation the faculty strives to improve the safety of operations through the development of advanced automatic control systems (including the role of the human operator) while Air Transport and Operations aims to improve the operational performance efficiency by optimising capacity, costs, environmental impact, and safety. Flight Simulator Simona



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The C&O department was established in its current form in January 2011. With the reorganisation of the faculty, in particular the re-focus of the section on systems engineering and aircraft design, the department has changed considerably. In particular, the department has been strengthened with the expertise on helicopter flight dynamics and handling qualities, aero-acoustics, and the optimisation and safety of air transport. The C&O department now houses all the aerospace operations expertise of the faculty, strengthening its focus and making it more visible to the outside world, thereby achieving more synergy and further improving the quality of the research and education. The concentration of all operational knowledge, modeling and tools lies at the basis of the department’s strategy for the future, which is to further improve the faculty’s research and educational programme and how it ties in with national and international developments. The main focal point at a national level will be the challenging task of striking a balance between the demand for growth and air transport capacity on the one hand and environmental and safety constraints, for example at Schiphol airport, on the other. Internationally, C&O has aligned the efforts in this area with the SESAR and NextGen programmes that aim to develop novel Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems that integrate airlines, airport and air traffic control providers. However, other strategic developments of the future such as understanding and controlling emissions, or managing the enormous growth of unmanned aerial vehicle operations (a prime example of the ever-increasing miniaturisation within aerospace), will be important topics for the department as well. Schiphol airport by Marcel Raaphorst

Research Strategy C&O is focused on five clear areas of research, each led by a full professor. From a control perspective the focus is on autonomous control of air vehicle systems and human machine interface within ATM, while at operational level the focus is on multidisciplinary performance optimisation with two additional relevant specialisations being aviations acoustics and noise, and ATM safety. Research focus topics 2011-2015 1 Autonomous control (Prof. Mulder) 2. Human-machine systems (Prof. Mulder) 3. Operations performance optimization (Prof. Curran) 4. Aviation acoustics and noise (Prof. Simons) 5. Air traffic management systems (vacancy)/ safety (Prof. Blom)

1. The development of automation within aerospace has led to an enormous gain in safety and efficiency of operations. Within space, the level of autonomy is now so high that systems can operate for decades without human intervention. Within aerospace, unmanned operations are growing tremendously, and it is just a matter of time until military operations and later civil aviation are fully automated. The focus lies primarily on the development of new generations of flight control systems with superior performance and the ability to compensate automatically for technical faults. The department is home to the MicroAir Vehicle laboratory, MAV-lab, where many of the novel intelligent control systems are being implemented and tested in real flight.



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Cessna Citation

2. Eventually the role of the human operator will be transformed from active controller to supervisory controller. Following the successful introduction of highly-automated systems on board modern airliners, ground operations (air traffic management and control, and airport operations) will soon also move towards increasing automation. Crucial in the reallocation of tasks between humans and automation will be the ability for both to act as a team and to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Automation needs no training, but humans do, and therefore novel training devices and methods need to be developed that better prepare the human operators for their new roles as supervisors and, ultimately, understanding the “last resort” in terms of safety. So the development of high-quality and high-fidelity training devices continues to be a crucial element in sustaining safety. 3. First ACARE and then SESAR highlighted the need for academic focus on the fundamental issue of delivering effective and sustainable air transport performance; relative to key performance requirements such as capacity, safety, environmental impact and cost. This multi-objective performance goal or objective function is addressed within the operations performance optimisation theme. There is a strong focus on knowledge capture, data mining, and methodological and modeling development which is validated so that analysis and optimisation studies can be carried out. The integration of cost modeling to facilitate a truly multidisciplinary optimisation approach based on a more complete objective value function is an internationally recognized strength of the department and is integral to helping deliver SESAR/ NextGen performance targets. The Emissions Trading Scheme and Airline Emissions Ratings are good examples of the need for developing our expertise in operational emissions impact modeling, so that emissions are properly factored into the aircraft operations and propulsion design models and solution architectures.



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4. The faculty and department are particularly interested in addressing the environmental challenges faced by delivering air transport and creating knowledge and tools that can help manage the anticipated increases in traffic for 2030 and beyond. One of the important fields that is well addressed in the faculty is aviation acoustics and noise. Consequently research will be carried out on issues including aircraft and airport noise, while understanding noise sources and their impact on communities and the associated impact, regulations and quotas for associated airports. 5. As the redesign of the current air traffic management system is one of the main developments in aerospace identified for subsequent decades, the development of new avionics systems on-board aircraft, as well as operator support systems on the ground are crucial. The faculty will strengthen its efforts in the designing, testing and usage of enabling technologies needed to facilitate novel and safe ATM concepts. Examples of solutions to these challenges are data-link capabilities, system-wide information management systems (SWIM), and prediction of weather, winds, and aircraft trajectory. The projected growth in air transport and the increased use of automation for cost reduction and standardisation caused us to already increase our focus on air traffic management safety (sponsored by industry). This is in line with the SESAR performance targets of a six-fold improvement (which with traffic increases means a tenfold increase in real terms) in safety. Research into resilience engineering and forensic engineering are also seen as key methodological approaches to meeting the SESAR challenges in a robust manner that might achieve these challenging targets; especially trying to model the trade-off between overall traffic flow safety and capacity optimisation relative to cost.



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Educational Strategy The department contributes to the Bachelor’s curriculum and plays a very significant role within the Master’s programme, offering 3 profiles (see below) within the department track and accounting for nearly 30% of the students.

Master Track /Head of Department

Profile/Section Head Control & Simulation Prof.dr.ir. Max Mulder

Control & Operations Prof.dr.ir. Max Mulder

Air Traffic Management, Airports & Safety Prof.dr. Ricky Curran Air Transport Performance & the Environment Prof.dr. Ricky Curran

In order to ensure that staff members maintain a healthy educational load, the faculty has limited the number of graduates per staff member of the department by capping the intake to 25 students per profile per year, i.e. for 75 for the track in total. The Air Transport & Aerospace Operations Section has played a leading role in developing the new minor called “Airport of the Future”, which started in 20112012 and which has already proved to attract high student numbers: around 75 in the first year.

Valorisation Strategy Valorisation opportunities for the department in the next decade are very good and so the faculty aims to further improve and extend the activities within Europe, most importantly towards the Framework programme SESAR and direct industrial funding. The department contract research amounts to approximately 1.5 million euros per year, and the goal is to sustain this level of commercial funding in the near future. Furthermore, the faculty will encourage more applications for indirect funding, and the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme ( Vernieuwingsimpuls ) comprising Veni, Vidi and Vici grants is an obvious opportunity that has been identified for several high-quality candidates in the department. The goal is to double the income for the department so that the overall income model will be 45/10/45, from direct, indirect and commercial funding respectively. The department had many spin-off companies starting up in the past five years, such as: Heering UAS; Ursa minor; AeroVinci; Delft Dynamics; AELS Aircraft End of Life Services; Quintech Engineering Innovations and AEOLUS. C&S will continue to support the student entrepreneurs in the future with its knowledge and network, and also through the Entrepreneuring Annotation coordinated by ATO within the faculty.



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Although ties with industry are already strong, the intention is to strengthen these links even more, in particular with regard to the existing networks that can facilitate the acquisition of European funding. The faculty is proud of the fact that the societal impact and relevance has led to a 0.2FTE funding of the ATO ‘Operations Performance Optimisation’ Chair of Prof. Curran by KLM Engineering and Maintenance, and the additional 0.2FTE funding by the Netherlands Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) for the ‘ATM and Safety’ Chair of Prof. Blom within ATO.

Output KPI targets The group has agreed that the number of PhDs per year will increase in line with the university’s policy. Putting more emphasis on quality over quantity will bring more focus in the graduation research projects and align these better to the ongoing PhD projects. Ultimately, the aim is to achieve more contributions to ISI journal papers and a better throughput of our PhD students, while also playing a significant and identifiable role within the international community. Examples of this include the establishment of a new journal in Aerospace Operations and the annual Air Transport and Operations conference that enters its 4 th year in 2012. This is all with a view to further internationalisation and raising the profile of TU Delft as a true world leader in both the networking and dissemination associated with the body of knowledge in air transport and operations research. Materials

5.3 Department Aerospace Structures & Materials (ASM) The mission of the Aerospace Structures and Materials department is making load carrying structures of aircraft and spacecraft lighter, safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The ASM department researches novel materials, new (hybrid) material combinations, new structural concepts plus combinations there of. To support these objectives the required (numerical) tools and methods: are developed. Traditionally the 3 sections within the ASM department focus on complementary aspects of the mission and via synergy achieve an optimal, efficient and societal relevant implementation of our mission.

Societal demand Research projects of the department Aerospace Structures and Materials (ASM) combine engineering expertise in the field of the subject matter with the use of advanced computational tools in order to develop design solutions relevant to industrial needs. On the issue of efficiency improvement the final product of research can be a scaled prototype of an innovative technology or computer software for use in the industry. Low weight structures have gained great importance since the need for energy efficiency is constantly growing in many engineering applications. While improving traditional metal technology becomes increasingly difficult, fibre reinforced plastics, i.e. polymeric composites, allow a renaissance of lightweight construction that helps to achieve the performance targets set by an ever more demanding industry. The basis of composite product development is aimed traditionally at aerospace use; however, other application fields such as wind energy, transport and storage as well as automotive, are increasingly being developed. Now more than ever, there is a huge push for aircraft to be ‘greener’, and one way of achieving this is to reduce weight. Aims to reduce weight have resulted in the introduction and wide application of composite materials into the aircraft structure. With this department the faculty has specific expertise on thermodynamic design of novel alloys, development of novel high performance polymers for structural applications and self healing materials. The department explores in the research unconventional approaches, focus on fundamental concepts but also develop successful concepts to a level suitable for absorption by the industry. Finally the department specialises in research aimed at improving the design, safety, manufacturing, and maintenance of aerospace products.



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Research strategy Issues of research are: Safety, innovation, damage tolerance, verification & validation, forming, optimisation, durability, prototyping, fibre architecture, advance composites, manufacturing, self healing, multi-disciplinary analysis. Research focus topics 2011-2015

Projects

Efficiency improvement - Smart structures - Smart materials

Clean Sky Clean Era Airplane 2050 Investment new robot station fiber placement

Low weight structures Low weight materials (Satisfying all other requirements)

Self Healing Materials

Spin off to: - Anything that moves (with ‘high’ speed) - Anything that needs energy efficiency (aerodynamic) - Structures with multi-domain requirements

Wind Energy

Although the phenomenon of Self Healing has been recognized in materials throughout history, especially with regards to biological systems, it was only recently that the property of Self Healing was seriously considered as a desirable function for man-made materials. Research groups throughout the world have started to explore concepts and materials systems that impart self healing properties for a variety of applications. Now the field is gaining momentum, and the first glimpses of a newly emerging scientific community become visible. The Delft Centre for Materials at Delft University of Technology has allocated a major part of its budget for developing this new common, and essentially multidisciplinary, research line on Self Healing Materials at the TU Delft, and The Netherlands at large. To this aim, the Delft Centre for Materials has taken the initiative for a National Research Programme (IOP) in the field of Self Healing Materials. Future aircraft interior

CleanEra

Project leader Ronald van Gent:

“I believe that making aircraft at least emission neutral and free of noise is of the utmost importance to the future of aviation.”

CleanEra is a group of innovators in the field of aerospace engineering from Delft University of Technology. CleanEra pursues its dream of creating a green future for aviation. This dream is made reality by using contemporary designs to build a family of sustainable aircraft, the Zeft family. The first family-member to demonstrate CleanEra’s inventive technology is the UAV demonstrator called Zesar.

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Valorisation strategy ASM cooperates, among other companies, with the following companies: Airbus, Fokker, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Lockheed Martin, EADS, Boeing, Embraer, Alenia Aermacchi, Bombardier, Dassault Aviation, Piaggio Aero, Gulfstream, Sonaca, Eurocopter, NLR, DLR, Federal Aviation Administration, Csiro, Aleris International, TATA, Ten Cater, PPG, Alcoa, Teijin, Cytec, Alcan, Hexcel Composites, Qantas, Koninklijke Luchtmacht, Korean Aior, Lufthansa, KLM Academia Forca Aerea. ASM supports and seeded the following Technostarters: GTM Advanced Structures

CLC/LS

Actiflow

Taniq

DetaBas

Infinious

ALE

Airborne

KvW

Euro Enaer

WMC

Digitalization

Conform/Hylid

DTC/Mupio

Feltrin Composites

Senz/Protension

Education The Aerospace Structures & Materials track aims at providing the knowledge, insight and skills required to become an independent engineer in aerospace applications of material and structural engineering. This includes issues such as detailed composite design, novel material design, safety, structural integrity and damage tolerance, and contemporary and future aerospace structures, but also practical applications such as production processes and design of smart and adaptive composites.

Master Track /Head of Department

Profile/Section Head Design & Production of Composite Structures Prof.dr.ir. Rinze Benedictus Novel Aerospace Materials

Aerospace Structures & Materials Prof.dr.ir. Rinze Benedictus

Prof.dr.ir. Sybrand van der Zwaag Structural Integrity Prof.dr.ir. Rinze Benedictus Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics Prof.dr. Zafer Gurdal



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Prof.dr.ir. Rinze Benedictus:

“In the course of your lifetime, we are influenced by all kinds of people. But if I were to name two sources of inspiration, then they would be Jaap Schijve and Boud Vogelesang. Jaap is a man with a purely scientific focus, who has built up a considerable reputation in the science world. Boud has more group feeling; he makes Jaap’s scientific knowledge visible. Take our aviation material Glare, for example, which helped solve the immense problem of metal fatigue in the aviation sector. Aircraft constructor Airbus currently uses the product for large parts of their A380 Super Jumbo. Jaap made this technically possible; Boud approached the right people. I would like to be a combination of these two.”



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Dr. Wei Xu, Research Engineer/Project Manager:

Metallurgy Department - ArcelorMittal Global R&D Gent, department Mining & Metals. Assistant Professor Delft University of Technology received the 'Martinus van Marum Prijs' for his PhD Dissertation 'Genetic Design of Ultra High Strength Stainless Steels: Modelling and Experiments'.

Glare

TAPAS project

One of the most important innovations conceived and developed at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering is Glare, a material used in the fuselage of the Airbus 380. Glare is made up of thin layers of aluminum, interspersed with glass fibres. Aluminum, like many other materials, suffers from fatigue. Fibres are largely unaffected by this, however, so gluing glass fibres between thin layers of aluminium produces a material that can be used in the same way as traditional aluminium, while also being resistant to fatigue. The structural components that experience the greatest fatigue are all found in this part of the aircraft.

The Thermoplastic Affordable Primary Aircraft Structures (TAPAS) consortium consists of companies and institutes active in the Dutch aviation industry that are working closely with Airbus in the field of materials, processing and joining technology. These technologies will be further developed specifically for future Airbus applications, including primary structure parts such as fuselage and wings.

As an aircraft ascends, air is pumped into the fuselage. This ensures that the pressure is kept constant for the passengers while the plane flies through the rarefied air at altitude. All that pumping means that an aircraft fuselage is like a large boiler, in that it is exposed to large pressure differences. The ‘skin’ of the fuselage has to be able to resist that pressure, and that is where Glare really shines.



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5.4 Department Space Engineering (SpE) The mission of the Space Engineering department is to educate students and to carry out research in a broad range of spaceflight disciplines, with an emphasis on space mission design, systems engineering, trajectory and data analysis, space applications, solar system exploration, miniaturisation of spacecraft, distributed systems, small launchers, re-entry systems and space propulsion. The vision of the Department Space Engineering (SpE) is to be the leading space engineering education and research centre in Europe. The department is already internationally recognised for its unique knowledge and expertise in space mission analysis, design and engineering, trajectory and data analysis, as well as geophysical research using space measurement techniques. The department was established in its present form in 2010. It comprises the Astro­d ynamics and Space Missions (AS) and Space Systems Engineering (SSE) research groups. It is responsible for 90% of all teaching and research in the field of spaceflight at the Faculty of AE. There are no comparable academic groups in Europe.

Research strategy Research focus themes, 2011-2015 1. Satellite orbits, mission analysis and applications 2. Miniaturisation of space systems 3. Distributed space systems 4. Space propulsion, ascent and re-entry systems 5. Solar system exploration

These themes form an integrated research programme with clear cross-links.



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1. W  ithin the themes of satellite orbits, mission analysis and applications, the department focuses on extremely precise satellite orbit solutions. They are a prerequisite for many space missions. This involves data processing and analysis of large amounts of tracking data and detailed modelling of minute forces and observation parameters. Applications include monitoring surface changes (crust, ice and sea level), gravity field and (upper) atmosphere of the Earth and other planets and moons in the solar system. Due to the department’s expertise in this field it is a preferred partner in many institutional (e.g. ESA, EU, NOAA) and industrial projects and operational satellite missions, including feasibility studies and mission analysis. Over the years, large databases of GPS, altimetry, accelerometers and other tracking data have been established, which form the foundation of the department’s scientific research and that of many international partners. Recent highlights are the first ESA Earth Explorers GOCE and CryoSat-2, launched in March 2009 and April 2010 respectively. The department has long-term contracts to support the data analysis of these missions as well as for the upcoming Swarm mission. Other groundbreaking research is focused on using space techniques to investigate natural hazards caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, sea-level changes and melting of the ice caps. This has already resulted in publications in high-impact journals such as Nature and Science . It is planned to consolidate and further expand these activities.

GOCE: AE’s involvement in the GOCE mission dates back to the early 1980s and draws on the university’s wealth of expertise in the precise calculation of satellite orbits and in determining the Earth’s gravitational field. ­P ieter ­Visser, Associate Professor of Astrodynamics, is being interviewed on the photo during the launch of the GOCE satellite in 2009.

Delfi-n3Xt: the Delfi-Next mission is second in a development line of nano-satellites called the ‘Delfi Program’ and is the successor to the successful Delfi-C3 mission (2008). Delfi-Next will be a reliable triple-unit CubeSat of TU Delft which will implement substantial advances in one subsystem with respect to Delfi-C 3 and allow technology demonstration of two payloads from external partners from 2012 onwards. The launch is planned for 2012. Dr. Chris Verhoeven shows off a 1:2 model.



2. T he miniaturised space systems research theme got underway in 2007. It focuses on the design, development, launch and operations of small, lowcost satellites, which take advantage of the latest developments in microelectronics and mechanical systems. The vision is that such small satellites can perform the tasks of current large and expensive flagship satellites at much lower cost and serve as test beds for new technologies. The theme comprises three roadmaps: one for nano-satellites, one for micro-satellites, and one for miniaturised spacecraft payloads and subsystems. The roadmaps cross-fertilize themselves and represent a substantial cooperation potential with the other research themes, the faculty of aerospace engineering at large, other faculties at the TU Delft, as well as national and international research organisations and industrial partners. As a demonstration, in 2008, the first Dutch university satellite, Delfi-C3, was successfully launched with payloads from TNO and Dutch Space. It was developed and built by more than 60 students under staff supervision, resulting in high-end education of the students and demonstrating a number of novel technologies in space. Now, after more than 1000 days, the satellite is still in orbit and functional. The ambition is to continue on this track with the launch of the more capable Delfi-next in 2012, participation in international programmes (QB50) and the setting up of a nationwide ’nano-space initiative’ STW project. Through participation in DIMES, it will be possible to perform cutting-edge research on highly miniaturised spacecraft design by combining state-of-the-art integrated circuit (IC) design and micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) design knowledge from within the institute and related industry with the long-term experience of the department in spacecraft system design.

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Stratos B-Installation

3. T he distributed space systems theme is also motivated by new technological developments and user demands, which puts it into the scope reach of the research capabilities of our small department. In contrast to classical monolithic spacecraft, distributed space systems such as formations and swarms offer many cost advantages, including those relating to cost, and new functional and performance opportunities, as well as various scientific and engineering challenges. At present, the work focuses on the analysis of data from existing distributed space systems, such as GRACE, as well as on the development of innovative applications, architectures and technologies of future distributed space systems. It is closely related to the research in theme 1. In that framework, new levels of highly accurate relative navigation solutions are being developed. Also, innovative applications of distributed space systems are being investigated, such as stereoscopic aerosol characterisation, radio astronomy using low frequencies to map the sky of the early universe, and enhanced characterisation of the lower Earth thermosphere. This may lead to new architectures and engineering approaches of distributed space systems, consisting of fractionated spacecraft and swarms, with new capabilities (e.g. ship position monitoring) and reduced costs. The innovation potential of technologies for distributed space systems will be examined to enhance communication capabilities, improve the observability of the relative motion of spacecraft and characterise application scenarios of highly miniaturised and massively distributed space systems. 4. T  he theme of space propulsion, ascent and re-entry systems is a relatively new research field of the department. It focuses on the characteristics and optimisation of ascent and descent trajectories as well as the design of launchers and shape of entry and re-entry vehicles. The research activities complement and support the solar system exploration theme, such as the atmospheric entry and landing of missions to the planets. It thrives on the department’s experience of mathematical optimisation techniques and trajectory analysis. The research effort has already resulted in the first awarded contract for a PhD project. The activities in rocket design are closely related to an ambitious project initiated by an enthusiastic group of TU Delft students (DARE) for developing a simple and inexpensive ’amateur’ sounding rocket (STRATOS-2) to set an altitude record of 50 km. Eventually, this research might lead to the design and development of a small launcher for nano-satellites, which links up to research theme 2 on miniaturisation.

Dr. Bert. L.A. Vermeersen, Astrodynamics & Space Missions:

“I build up a group on planetary exploration, in particular on research and instruments related to space missions to icy moons around the giant planets and on tracking of interplanetary missions by means of laser and VLBI techniques.”

Herschel Launch, artist’s impression

5. A  nother new branch of research is the theme of solar system exploration. It concerns the application of the expertise of the department to define instruments, trajectories and missions for exploring the characteristics of other planets and moons in our solar system. Major sub-themes are autonomous navigation and extremely precise deep-space tracking with innovative laser ranging and VLBI techniques. It also encompasses planetary physics. This development was enhanced by the appointment of Prof. I. de Pater from Berkeley, the internationally acknowledged expert in planetary sciences, as part-time professor to the department in 2010.The department therefore started to build a new capacity group in this field and has already received grants from NWO and the European Union (EU). The ambition is to become the principal investigator for a dedicated instrument on one of the future international planetary missions. There is a particular interest in sub-surface oceans on planetary moons, but planetary ring systems also belong in this field because of our expertise in orbital mechanics.

Valorisation In the past five years, the department has been quite successful in attracting indirect and contract funding for projects. The balance is about 50-50 and equivalent to about one-third of the overall budget, including government funding. The prospects for the near future are mixed. On the one hand the department is optimistic about the possibility of securing funding from external sources to support operational and future satellite missions (e.g. GOCE, Cryosat-2 and Swarm). Also, the European Framework programmes could be of use, but they are difficult to access because of the complicated requirements and fierce competition. On the other hand, funding opportunities at national level for space projects are diminishing. Nevertheless, the department continues to submit proposals and there is reasonable hope that some will be granted. Many alumni work for prestigious institutes such as the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC). A significant part of the Flight Dynamics section of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is populated by AE alumni as well, and others occupy positions in ESTEC, ESRIN, Logica, Vega, OHB, EADS, SES, NSO, Dutch Space, TNO, NLR, etc. In addition, successful space companies such as ISIS have been founded by graduates from the faculty.



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Education The department of SpE is responsible for 90 % of the spaceflight-related teaching at the faculty. This includes courses and projects for large numbers of students (> 500) in the Bachelor’s programme as well as many (~ twelve) specialised courses in the Master’s programme and the supervision of the theses of 25+ students per year. In addition, at present, we give guidance to about fifteen internal and external PhD students. The department is fully motivated and committed to providing premier education in the broad field of spaceflight. It is the department’s ambition to continue offering a broad Bachelor’s spaceflight curriculum and to provide high-level Master’s education centred on its specific expertise. At the same time, it is our goal to seek more collaboration and integration with the teaching by other departments in our faculty in order to further broaden the scope (e.g. design methodologies, light-weight structures, high-speed aerodynamics). The department is also striving to strengthen its contacts with other faculties and universities to provide education on microelectronics, instrument design, astronomy and planetary physics. All this demonstrates the department’s intention to provide an interesting, challenging and innovative spaceflight education programme. Finally, Master’s students are and will continue to be involved in the ongoing research projects of the department as much as possible.

Master Track /Head of Department

Profile/Section Head Space Engineering

Spaceflight Prof.ir. Boudewijn Ambrosius

Prof.dr. Eberhard Gill Space Exploration Prof.ir. Boudewijn Ambrosius

Results for KPI targets The future strategy is to focus more on high-quality publications in high-impact journals at the expense of fewer conference proceedings. The main caveat is that there is not really a good high-impact outlet for the department’s engineering work, which encompasses about 50 per cent of its research activities. Finally, the department has the ambition to continue to develop, launch and operate ’real’ space hardware, such as Delfi-Next and other small satellites, which represent clearly identifiable ’output’ of its intensive research activities in this field.



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6. Education

Educa

6.

6.1 The market position The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering has a reputation for excellence in education. We aim to attract, excite and educate students to become highly qualified engineers, and equip them with the knowledge, creative and communication skills that are needed in our globalising and changing society. Aerospace Engineering is associated with challenges, difficulty and complexity. As the Bachelor’s curriculum relates to the aerospace domain from the first study year onwards, it appeals (’it is rocket science’) to young people, attracts first-year students with high grades from their secondary education and is a favourite study for talented students who are highly ambitious and strongly motivated. The faculty is the place of choice for a valuable study that offers excellent prospects for a future job. Twenty five to thirty per cent of our Bachelor’s and Master’s students come from abroad - from all over Europe, India and China.

Steadily increasing influx of first-year students at AE With the steadily increasing influx of first-year students, the faculty has reached its teaching capacity limits and will apply impose a cap of 440 students from 2012 onwards. The selection of Dutch students by the university itself will be combined with a selection procedure operated by the faculties for students with an international background[. Their selection will be based on their motivation and study progress. For the faculty-based selection procedure, we have set a quota of 20%, so the balance of international students to Dutch students will remain 25 to 75.

Tom Burbage, Executive Vice President & General Manager, F-35 Program Integration, Fort Worth, Texas USA says:

“ We have had a superb experience with the students who have come through the program. The students come to us very knowledgeable of the F-35 product areas they will be working on as well and are well educated about the military aerospace industry in general. More importantly, the students are tremendous ambassadors for the Netherlands and for Delft University. They are highly motivated, do an excellent job and are very well regarded by all of their work teams. One of my favorite comments I have heard is one of the 2010 supervisors described his intern as ‘scary smart’ which means he is very impressed with the level of knowledge they possess.”



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ation 6.2 The profile of our graduates The complex multi­d isciplinary problems and challenges in our society and in the field of aerospace engineering in particular, require thorough problem-solvers in science, management and engineering who are also capable of interacting with and understanding specialists from a wide range of disciplines and functional areas. Industry refers to these people as T-shaped professionals.



MSc Graduate signing the alumni panel

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Ir. Joris Melkert, AeroSpace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology

“I do all sorts of things here at the University. I spend a considerable part of my time teaching. For example, I bear final responsibility for the Design/Synthesis Assignment, the graduation project that students have to complete at the end of the Bachelor’s programme. Besides that I also lead research projects. One of my projects concerns alternative fuels for aircraft, an area that has plenty of growth in it. I also regularly respond to aviation-related questions that come in from outside. These come from all corners of society: the press, the business world, the government and also from individuals who are interested in aviation. All in all it’s a busy but very enjoyable job.”

The Bachelor’s programmes are intended as preparation for a Master’s programme, not for the job market. It is the successful completion of the Master’s that combines the aspects of an all-round aerospace engineer, as a Master of Science, with the professionalism to apply his deep knowledge and skills to solve complex problems. Recruiters in business, looking for strong young potential, consider the successful completion of a Master’s to a high standard as proof of excellence. The Aerospace Engineering Master’s falls emphatically into that category and that means our Master’s graduates are highly sought after.

Area A

Area B

Area C

Area D

Area E

Area C-I

Area D-I

Area E-I

Area F

Area G

Area D-II

Time

Width Design BSc - phase 3 years

Area D-III

Area D-IV

Internship

Depth Research MSc - phase 2 years

Graduation work The T-shaped professional



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6.3 The curricular framework The T-shaped professional model is the reference for our Bachelor’s and Master’s. The Bachelor’s provides a broad academic background with consolidated knowledge of aerospace engineering, and the development of intellectual academic skills and attitudes to analysing, applying, synthesizing, and designing, a critical attitude, communication, and an awareness of the scientific and societal context. The Aerospace Engineering Master’s provides an expert view of aerospace engineering and focuses on detailed knowledge of one discipline, together with intellectual academic skills and attitudes to modelling, analysing, solving, experimenting and research. While ’engineering and design’ is the central theme of the Bachelor’s, ’research’ is the theme of the Master’s. Within this framework, our Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes each have their own profile and identity and are fully in line with the Bologna Treaty’s educational requirements and curriculum standards of the two-cycle Bachelor’s-Master’s structure.

Walter Lewin PhD, is a Dutch American astrophysicist and professor emeritus of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He visited the faculty in 2011 and gave one of his famous lectures about rainbows. Walter Lewin received the “2003 Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching”. Many of his lectures are also available online in video format.

Much of the thinking that drives today’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes are likely to remain valid for the next decade. Aerospace engineering will continue to reach across disciplinary boundaries in the near future.



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6.4 The Bachelor’s Between 2007 and 2010, we significantly overhauled the Bachelor programme, an important aspect of this was ‘making connections’. The thematic structure ensures that the student experience is a coherent entity. The life-cycle of the engineering process and contextual storylines form the cement and thread for the themes of the curriculum. The programme, which was launched in September 2010, meets most of its targets and is in line with many of the recommendations that were published in January 2011 in the TU Delft Executive Board policy paper on ’A Bachelor’s in 4 years’. This involves the realignment of content, greater structure, compelling by thematic projects with authentic design problems, design teaching, more focus on the fundamentals of engineering, removal of overlap, no more than four courses and one project in parallel, no more than three written exams per period, courses and projects creating virtual blocks, integrated skills development, better planning in the Master’s, etc. The next couple of years will be used to iron out teething problems from the new curriculum and to consolidate the programme in order to make the study process more feasible.

6.5 The Bridging Class For graduates from professional higher education at a vocational university (in Dutch: HBO), we provide an Aerospace Engineering bridging class (or ’schakelprogramma’). The major objectives of this are the development of skills in mathematics, mechanics and aerospace engineering to Bachelor’s level and of the skills associated with working with models. The programme is and will be evaluated every year with representatives of the InHolland Aeronautics and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam Aviation programmes.

Els de Ridder, BMW Group says:

“The last couple of years I have had interns from the Delft University of Technology. Our projects are complex on a technical point of view, but also the variety of different departments to work with, is an extra complexity that comes with it. The projects were always finished with a high quality and at all times with a direct implementation in the BMW processes. The students were on top very reliable, independent and trustworthy employees. Interns of the TUD are at all times welcome in my department and high qualified persons to work with.”



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6.6 The Master’s In 2009, the Master’s was restructured to five Master’s tracks with 12 profiles and transparent accountability. The tracks and profiles have an equal outline of obligatory courses, projects, and electives. In the Master’s, the students specialise in a field of expertise in aerospace engineering in order to reach a high academic level. The Master’s is open to Bachelor’s graduates of aerospace engineering and of a preselected category of other engineering programmes. We will investigate whether students from non-technical but some specific beta Bachelor of Science degrees like informatics or physics could also be admitted to our Master’s without the need for a convergence programme (we not do provide this). Subject to approval by the EU, we started a joint European Wind Energy Master’s in 2012 as part of Erasmus Mundus with partner universities in Denmark, Germany and Norway.

Aerodynamics specialist Nando Timmer gives a lecture

6.7 Post-initial education We will investigate the market interest and feasibility for establishing a postgraduate programme aimed at developing qualified engineers with leadership abilities and a high degree of socio-ecological awareness. Such a programme will use projects like the Zero Emission Flying Testbed as a central vehicle of study. We will investigate the feasibility of the development of such a programme in cooperation with national and international partners. The post-Master’s in SpaceTech educates international mid-career professionals seeking top-level expertise in space systems and business engineering. The faculty will continue this programme as a certificate programme under the accreditation of TU Delft and not upgrade it to a one-year Master’s.

6.8 Minors Today’s job market is looking for engineers with deep and wide-ranging knowledge who are willing to look beyond the boundaries of their own degree discipline. The major/minor enables students to add an extra dimension to their study in the form of a minor. To help students develop into T-shaped professionals, we recommend our students look beyond the boundaries of aerospace engineering. We aim to produce three to four interdisciplinary minors with an aerospace engineering flavour, in collaboration with other faculties or universities (Leiden). These minors are available for students with aerospace as well as non-aerospace prior knowledge and do not overlap the major. To meet the increasing demand by students to take part of their Bachelor’s programme abroad, we will enlarge the number of predefined minors that are provided by international partner universities (NTU Singapore, ISAE Toulouse, NWPU Xi’An, Iowa, Kansas, Texas in the US) in a specialisation that is related to aerospace engineering but is not a subject in our Bachelor’s

6.9 Excellence programmes Excellence programmes will be made available for the top five per cent of both Bachelor’s and Master’s students. In these honours classes, students define for themselves their personal learning objectives and levels to be attained. The key concept is that of open-ended learning and autonomy. The so-called AExcellence programme in the Bachelor’s is developed in 2011-2012 in the context of the TU Delft Challent programme. In the Master’s, our faculty has for many years successfully run the Honour Track programme, attracting about ten per cent of the annual Master’s intake. The Delft Honours Class, to be developed in the scope of the SIRIUS-II programme, will be a duplicate of the existing programme at our faculty. The processes and procedures will get a formal status. The AExcellence Bachelor’s programme is expected to grow into a useful nursery of talent for prospective Master’s and PhD students.



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6.10 Study success Although our Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes are among the very best, the current high quality is being achieved at the expense of a significant drop-out rate and long study duration. In the spring of 2011, the faculty analysed the situation in its ‘Operation Stofkam’, which resulted in an extensive list of proposals for improving study progress in the Bachelor’s and Master’s. The changes are aimed at reducing the overloaded Bachelor’s curriculum, strengthening the cohesion between courses and projects, thereby forming clusters of courses to be followed in parallel (block scheduling), reducing the amount of in-class hours and assuring that self-study is stimulated in the active teaching formats, taking the growth of student autonomy into account, and enhancing assessments and student feedback. In the Master’s, the measures are focused on improving the planning skills and progress monitoring of students, and capping the intake of students for each track when necessary. All measures will be worked out, implemented and iterated in the next two years, with as little impact as possible on the curricular framework and learning outcomes, and with a minimum of disruption to staff.

6.11 Internationalisation The faculty is an international cutting-edge faculty in aerospace engineering with high international ambitions. The implicit internationalisation strategy stimulates the quality of teaching and strengthens its competitive position in the globalised world. In 2011-2012, an Internationalisation Strategy Plan is developed to focus our goals for guiding us in settling agreements and strengthening cooperation in university networks. The range of ambitions will get more focus on ISAE/Toulouse as a preferred partner university, NWPU/Xi’An and a number of outstanding universities in the United States. In 2012, we will investigate the added value of the internationalisation certificate that is issued by the Dutch Accreditation agency, NVAO, to institutions that meet the accreditation criteria for internation­a lisation (framework for the assessment of internationalisation as a distinctive quality feature).

Drs. Cora van Haaren, Coordinator Internationalisation Aerospace Engineering:

“ We find it important that our students gain a lot of international experience during their study: exchange programmes, research abroad and international internships give them the best preparation for the international labormarket"



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6.12 Teaching and learning methods The choice of teaching, learning and assessment methods is aligned with the learning objectives, pedagogical approach and available resources. To assess the large number of Bachelor’s students, we are eager to put digital assessment into operation using the students’ laptops. Depending on TU Delft developments we will investigate the feasibility of taking electronic exams using iPads instead. Courses in mechanics, physics and engineering make use of state-of-the-art commercially available study books, sometimes tailor-made, with accompanying software applications, thereby minimising development and maintenance costs. In 2012-2013, we will investigate whether study books and readers could be published as e-books e.g. for a tablet. This may result in the substitution of the voluminous packages of study books by a tablet with e-books. Aerospace engineering courses will be published in TU Delft OpenCourseWare to enable prospective students to learn more about their study, OpenCourseWare as one of the keys for establishing joint international programmes or achieving greater exposure abroad, for instance through the AIAA Professional Development Program. The pilot with online education and OpenCourseWare in the virtual Master Aerospace Structures & Materials with all kinds of interesting aspects for the Delft university will be executed one of the coming years. Due to the major efforts needed from the ASM staff, there will have to be some extra money reserved for this project.

6.13 Organisation The teaching staff are strongly motivated and very ambitious, but there is still more scope for exchanging experiences. We have to assure the quality of teaching by imprinting the quality aspect into the minds of all teaching staff. It is important that they have a shared vision and ambition for Bachelor’s-level teaching. In 20122013, we will therefore seek to develop a supportive and familiar environment, a Community of Aerospace Teachers with a greater sense of urgency and joint responsibility for the results of the students in their lecturing period. The idea is for the community to mature into a platform to encourage team teaching, co-teaching and peer reviewing in-class lecturing activities, exams and study materials.

6.14 Quality Assurance The education quality assurance and control processes are described in the Quality Handbook of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. This handbook is reworked in 2011-2012 with up-to-date documents and instruments available for the assessment cycle for the Bachelor’s and Master’s in 2013. In 2012, we refined and automated the survey approach we applied to the Master’s in 2009 and 2011 in order to enhance the quality of the Master’s courses and provide input to the Aerospace Engineering Master’s Annual Quality Report. The education quality assurance activities will focus on the Internal Programme Audit (in Dutch: Interne Opleidingsaudit) in spring 2012, assuming TU Delft is



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awarded the ’Trusted Institution’ label from NVAO in the Institutional Audit. The Internal Programme Audit focuses on two main subjects: the process of quality assurance and the Faculty Assessment and Examination Policy Plan. To ensure that the accreditation of the aerospace programmes is prolonged in 2014, it is essential that the faculty is able to show explicitly its Assessment and Examination Policy and demonstrate its implementation. In the context of the increased burden of responsibility of the Board of Examiners with regard to assessment and examinations, in future first-year examinations in all subjects will be assessed by partner universities belonging to the CDIO or PEGASUS networks. In 2013, the NVAO will subject the programmes to the Limited Programme Assessment (in Dutch: Beperkte Opleidingsbeoordeling), focusing on the quality of the programmes.

6.15 The Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering Objective The main objective of the Graduate School in the Aerospace Faculty (GSAE) is that of improving the development PhD students into qualified researchers and further strengthen the quality of the research that is produced. Moreover, the GSAE will contribute to promotion of the Aerospace faculty as a worldwide centre of excellence where PhD students receive graduate teaching and perform highquality research. Finally, the GSAE will promote social interaction among the PhD students to build a strong sense of community.

Organisation The GSAE is part of the TU Delft Graduate School and will operate along the guidelines of the TU Delft Graduate School. The GSAE is headed by a director who is responsible for the coaching/supervision process of PhD students and for the doctoral teaching programme. The director of the GSAE confers with the dean and the department heads. Furthermore, mentors are appointed in order to support PhD students and provide them with an independent person to discuss issues regarding supervision or other non-scientific matters. Mentors are senior staff members. Each department has its own mentor. The GSAE is supported by the Graduate Office at the faculty.

Ambition With the introduction of the Graduate School of Aerospace Engineering, our PhD students will be trained to be the best researchers in aviation and space. We hope that they will make history when it comes to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles.



Dr. Gandert Van Raemdonck, Co-founder and director at Ephicas, ­g uest-researcher at Aerospace Engineering:

“The goal of my PhDresearch at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering (TU Delft) was to design low drag bluff road vehicles. I developed successfully several aerodynamic drag reduction devices for the trailer with the aid of numerical simulations, wind tunnel experiments and full-scale road testing. One of these devices, the Ephicas SideWing, is on the market.”

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7. Staff and facilities

facil

7.

Staff and

7.1 Education and Student Affairs Education and Student Affairs provides high-level support for staff and students. This means advising the management of the Faculty on educational policy, implementing the educational strategy of the faculty and providing services on operational level. For students we offer coaching and support on an individual level (on issues ranging from study planning to arranging a Minor Abroad). In the planning period our focus will be on the following issues.

Study Success As was already noted in the chapter on Education, our Bachelor and Master programmes are rated among the very best, but this is achieved at the expense of a significant drop-out rate and long study duration. 1 Therefore, in the coming years the improving of the study progress and study success will be the main educational challenge for the Faculty. Education and Student Affairs will advise and support the Faculty Management in improving the educational programmes in this respect and will monitor the study progress and the effect of actions taken. A number of actions to improve study success is already listed in 6.10. In addition to this we will focus on the study load for students ( for instance by asking students to record their hours spent on their studies) and identify the bottlenecks (specific courses, but also planning issues) in the programme.

Intake For 2012-2013 Aerospace Engineering allowed only a limited number of first year BSc students (numerus clausus combined with decentral selection) and for some of the MSc tracks a maximum capacity was also set. It is likely that the government will lift the numerus clausus regulation and replace it by 100% selection. Therefore, the faculty has to develop a selection policy. To start we will monitor the study progress of first year students 2012-2013 who were selected by the Faculty, to see how their performance compares to that of their fellow students. Selection also relates to study success, since selecting first year students may yield a lower drop-out rate.

1



Cf Paragraph 6.10

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lities Education building next to AE

Coaching and support Several new regulations (e.g. Bindend Studieadvies, Harde Knip, Numerus Fixus , a higher tuition fee for Langstudeerders and a cap on the intake for Master’s tracks) in combination with the complex study programme, are leading to an increasing demand from students for information, counselling, study planning support and extra provisions. Because of the high number of students, coaching and support will have to be highly efficient and effective. Actions to be taken are the improvement of information for students on the website, further development of coaching and support for first year students (related to the 45 EC BSA) and organizing information sessions (instead of answering individual questions) regarding e.g. programme changes, arranging an internship, or arranging a minor abroad.



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7.2 Finance During the planning period the Finance department helps to create and strengthen a healthy financial position for the faculty and will support the faculty in close collaboration in the fulfilment of its mission and strategy. Keywords in the support by Finance of the faculty are trustworthy, professional and ambitious.

Operations The individual departments each form a budgetary unit within the faculty. For operational reasons it is important that a proper dialogue is conducted with the departments about current developments and future prospects. The introduction of Basware PM (2013) is an essential step towards getting a better view on the purchasing process. A good overview of the outstanding commitments will also improve the quality of the monthly reports

Standardisation of project and time recording In 2010, the faculty took an important step by switching to a system of project cost allocation based on hourly tariffs, thereby making an early start on the process of standardising projects funded by government or funding agencies – a process that is to be introduced across TU Delft. This new approach will also increase awareness of developments in the operational account during the year, as well as the progress and financial state of on-going projects. In connection with this method of charging costs, it is essential for the registration of hours to take place in a standardised manner, and the objective must be to ensure 85% of the relevant hours are recorded by the end of a period. Keeping track of the registration of hours is still an important issue for the financial department to improve the quality of the monthly financial reports of the departments and the projects. Finance will support this process through instructions and monthly reports.

Project administration/Information provision Finance will concentrate on further improvements to project administration, focusing on a proactive and client-oriented approach. Since October 2011 each department has an account holder at the project administration in order to improve the communication between Finance and the departments/project leaders. Finance will introduce improvements to the provision of information wherever possible, in line with the project Standardisation of Reporting, which is to be implemented throughout TU Delft. Expectations are that this will produce efficiencies, and it will be possible to translate these benefits into improvements to the quality of service provision, particularly in terms of consultation and coordination with the project managers. Finance will make efforts to use customer-oriented means of communication in their dealings with customers.



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7.3 Human Resources The policy framework of the HR domain of TU Delft forms the basis for the annual plan for HR within AE. Cornerstones of the HR strategy are: • Attracting promising talent • Career progression and development, for both academic staff and administrative and support staff. • Leadership and culture, with the constant theme being that of fostering the employability of staff members. Drawing on the HR policy themes and previous input from the faculty we will be concentrating on the following topics during the coming planning period: • Intake and appointment policy for academic staff and for administrative and support staff • Academic talent • Tenure Track policy • HR processes • Fostering the employability of staff members

Prof. Gijs van Kuik (Scientific Director DUWind) receives award from European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE)



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Intake and appointment policy for academic staff and for administrative and support staff The intake and appointment policy is an important starting point and a precondition for attracting, developing and improving quality and potential among both academic staff and administrative and support staff. The policy must tie in with AE’s planning with regard to the choices made by the faculty in the areas of teaching and research and associated fields. HR will facilitate this process, playing a role in both recruitment and selection and career management. Concrete actions: • Ongoing refinement of the recruitment & hiring procedure • Specific recruitment activities, for example during symposia and congresses • Focus on recruiting female PhDs both within and outside the faculty for the sake of increasing the number of female scientists in the field in the future.

Academic talent The faculty attaches great importance to the joint activity of identifying and monitoring promising academic talent within AE. In order to achieve this it will be important to collate relevant information from the annual R&D cycle and the review of academic staff, and to make this a permanent point of consideration for managers within the departments, making this more of a joint responsibility for both the faculty’s management team and the departments. HR’s role is to initiate and facilitate this process. The departments will be responsible for recruiting the cream of academic talent, right now and looking to the future. A good deal of attention will also be paid to the development of potentials within the departments, in the form of concrete career steps and promotions. The means to do so include: • The AE career committee • The R&D cycle: not only at the department level but also by function group, such as technicians, secretaries, tenure tracks and professors. • HR’s contribution to the Graduate School • AE’s department plans • AE’s training policy • Various career-enhancing supportive measures, such as sabbatical leave

Tenure Tracks An AE Tenure Track policy has been established. This policy is a faculty-specific refinement and addition to the Tenure Track policy that applies TU-wide. According to the policy, young scientists are temporarily appointed as assistant professors, with clear agreements made at the start with respect to what they must do in order to attain a tenure (permanent) position. Additional implementation within the faculty will follow.

Internal HR processes In consultation with and in coordination with the secretaries and chairs of the departments, continuous improvement and adaptation of HR processes within the faculty must lead to improved coordination and a clear allocation of tasks and roles in this area. HR has an active advisory role in the implementation of processes. In addition, HR will submit proposals to the MT for policy improvements of these processes where necessary and HR will take initiatives in this regard. An example of this is the directrix determing salary of the academic staff.



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Fostering employability among staff members Training policy within AE finds concrete expression in clear and unambiguous agreements about who is to be facilitated in taking training courses and the like, when and why. HR acts as a consultant in the negotiations with the departments. HR assumes the same role with respect to individual employees. HR is knowledgeable about training programmes and other opportunities for increasing employability. The AE MT is informed on an annual basis about the current state of play, trends and developments within AE and the changes that might ensue. Concrete actions include: • Annual review of the departments and the entire faculty as a means for the AE MT to develop strategic personnel policy. • Annual summary provided to the AE MT of the current state of play, trends and developments within AE and the changes that might ensue.

7.4 Marketing & Communications During the forthcoming planning period, the Marketing & Communications domain of AE will focus on: • Services for the departments • Informing potential students; recruiting high-quality new students • Positioning and branding • Online strategy • Social media • Internal communications Student being interviewed

Services for the departments The demand for communications resources and advice varies greatly from one department to another. Some may ask for the development of a complete presentation portfolio, while other departments demand little more than quick media advice. In the coming years, efforts will be made to match the departments’ requirements to the capacity and expertise available at faculty level.

Informing potential students; recruiting high-quality new students The student intake numbers have exceeded all expectations. Research has shown that students with relatively low average school grades are particularly at risk of not graduating, and in many cases of not completing the first year. The faculty will put the emphasis on recruiting high-quality (high-achieving) new students. Through the implementation of the numerus fixus, the calendar for information and recruitment activities will change in the coming years. The faculty will continue to create an appropriately attractive image while offering a realistic impression of what the prospective student can expect.

Positioning and branding The market position of AE consists of the place we occupy in the mind of our prospective students, our alumni, the industry, government, institutes of science and journalists. The faculty will set up a project to explore the position and brand of the faculty, for example by interviewing our stakeholders, identifying newspaper articles and looking into the faculty’s past. The aim of this project is to improve the relationship with the faculty’s stakeholders (alumni, research partners, prospective students, etc.).

Online Strategy The internet is our main tool for communicating with our stakeholders. The faculty will invest in developing an online strategy in the coming years. The online strategy will not be limited to improving the AE website, but should be understood in a broader sense, as relating to our presence on the internet. The focus will be on enhancing and supporting the overall communication objectives, generating targeted online traffic and positioning our content and overall brand awareness.

Social media Social media is used to promote communication between the various target groups, attract more visitors to the AE website, gauge what is going on with our target group, and be able to respond swiftly to the latest situations. The following means of communication will be expanded in the months ahead: • Twitter for news and fun facts: maintain contact with those interested in aerospace • Facebook: campaign tool for the pre-university student target audience • Hyves: campaign tool for the pre-university student target audience (1 st - 5 th year) • LinkedIn: maintain ties with alumni and business associates, for example for announcing vacancies and events.

Internal communications The faculty’s internal communications processes will be further professionalized and will address: • Information: news for staff and students, relying on the best possible ‘mix’ of communications tools; • Involvement: advice about initiatives aimed at increasing involvement with, pride in and loyalty to the organization among staff and students.



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7.5 ICT The following focal points have been identified for the coming years, in collaboration with the MT: • Open Source Software • Personal ICT budget • Any Time, Any Place, Any Device

Open Source Software Where there is comparable functionality between software applications, AE’s stated intention is to give preference to Open Source variants. A mixed Linux/ Windows/Apple environment already prevails within the faculty. The existing software environment will be reviewed and new requests will be assessed on this basis. The organisational, managerial and financial consequences will be taken into account. A pilot study will be carried out among first year BSc students to compare Matlab and Python for scientific computing & programming applications.

Personal ICT budget These days staff members have the choice of using desktop PCs, tablets, laptops and Smartphones to carry out their work. Given the diversity of those activities it is not possible to set down a central policy detailing who needs what, with an associated budget. A personal (“choose your own”) ICT budget for individual staff members might offer a way forward, creating a manageable and flexible situation.

Any Time, Any Place, Any Device Work is no longer carried out exclusively at TU Delft’s own sites but also takes place at home, on our collaborators’ premises and even en route. Homeworking facilities have been provided by TU Delft for a considerable time now. However, there is now a requirement for the continuous availability of data and applications on all devices. Staff want to read and respond to mail, to monitor test configurations and to conduct video conferences while travelling. And of course they want to use Smartphones, tablets or home computers. This demands a flexible ICT infrastructure. Application and desktop virtualisation are technical solutions which will become available in the near future, and AE want to play a progressive role in this regard.



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7.6 Housing and Real Estate In the coming years the Facility Management and Real Estate department within AE (FMRE) will focus on the following objectives: • Sustainability • Project-based approach (GROTIK). • Improvements to service provision processes

Sustainability AE focuses attention on sustainability and other forms of generating power. In recent years, FMRE has actively assumed this role, the result of which has been a considerable reduction in energy consumption. Examples include investments in renewable energy such as the wind turbines on the high-rise buildings and the solar panels on the roof of the Aeroplane Hall. In the event of rebuilding and renovation work there will be a critical exploration of the possible use of sustainable materials and methods in accordance with SUCO (Sustainable Construction) and BREEEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method).

Projects (GROTIK) Large and small projects carried out within AE by both Building Management and Services will be tackled using a project-based approach, in accordance with the GROTIK method (the Dutch acronym stands for “Money, Risk, Organisation, Time, Information and Quality). This will entail informing clients and/or users within AE in advance about all factors with a bearing on successful project completion. FMRE will also be doing more in the way of systematic maintenance and inventory replacement, such as: • Painting the (shared) spaces periodically • Replacing floor covering • Replacing office, meeting room and classroom furniture • Replacing audio-visual equipment In addition to structural maintenance and acquisition, the faculty will work on the following in consultation with the FMRE during the coming years: • Security measures (replace entry checkpoint system and alarm) • Centralise study area (graduates) • Design a second large lecture hall in AE building • Add additional self-study workstations, Learning Centre “hot spot” on South Campus • Overhaul AE hall to give it a clear AE look • Low Speed Laboratory Redevelopment Study • Expand AE cafeteria to include a patio/meeting place outside/seating areas, a kiosk and a cash machine • Redevelop Kluyverweg / Kluyverpark, with specific attention to: - Access to AE building from A13/Schoemakerstraat - Interfaculty role DASML: focus on materials research facility - Historical collection/expo in Kluyverpark - Synergy with AS, for example chemical labs



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Hangar Aerospace Engineering

Processes In addition to working thematically, FMRE will also pay considerable attention to reviewing all (FMRE) processes for the sake of applying these efficiently and effectively. The method with which to do so is Lean’s Six Sigma. Moreover, FMRE will develop itself more as a direction organisation; in other words, FMRE will act more as an intermediary between user and supplier as opposed to playing such a hands-on role. In the years ahead, FMRE will likewise position the role of customer or user better, and put this in writing accordingly via service level agreements.



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8. Implementation

8.

Impleme

The ambitions and strategic goals described in this long-range plan for the coming years will regularly recur on the faculty’s administrative agenda in order to monitor developments, make any necessary adjustments and implement or embed them in the existing organisation and organisation structures as much as possible. Obviously, decisions will be taken at the administrative level with respect to allocating the means that are in short supply, and these decisions will be taken according to the goals set by the faculty and university in the long-range plan.

entation AE’s successful performances in education as well as research at home and abroad are relevant to discussions with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in terms of TU Delft’s profile. They will also make a positive contribution to the performance agreements to be made with the minister. The faculty is therefore convinced that the level of performances will be maintained if not surpassed in the years ahead, thanks in part to the deliberate choice of research spearheads, the utilization of top talents, the upkeep of the research infrastructure, and the study success measures. The ratio of academic staff to student remains a critical concern. In the current situation (1/36.5 per 2012), the quality of both education and research are in jeopardy. The additional means allocated will be used to considerably increase the number of academic staff. At the moment, finding sufficiently qualified scientists in the field continues to be a problem. The faculty is considering launching marketing campaigns to reach top talents. As from 2013, the faculty will start using the AE budget allocation system to divide the government funding lump sum between departments and education. In drawing up the 2013 budget, a zero-based budget for the departments will be used; the budgets for the various support services will be carefully assessed in terms of feasibility and need for the proposed activities and actions. Clarity regarding government funding allocation to the faculty for the coming years facilitates an informed comparative assessment of strategic goals and spending. The dean meets with the department chairs and the Director of Education every two weeks in the MT. The decisions are recorded in a report and a list of agreements and subsequently published in the faculty’s digital newsletter. This ensures that faculty employees stay informed about faculty decisions. Furthermore, monthly meetings are held with the Faculty Personnel Committee and the Faculty Student Council. During these meetings, the dean explains the motives behind the various decisions. The Faculty Personnel Committee is kept as up to date as possible about decision-making related to organisational, strategic, financial and personnel matters; for the Faculty Student Council, the most relevant topics are education-related. The advice issued by this committee informs the direction taken by the faculty.



67 | Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015



68 | Aerospace Engineering long-term strategic plan 2012-2015

Colophon Text: Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, September 2012 Photography: Guus Schoonewille, ESA, Schiphol Airport, ­ www.­t hequadshot.com, Prof. G. van Bussel, Jorg Hendriks, Marcel Raaphorst, Zeger van der Voet, A ­ nnelies te Selle Graphic Design: Haagsblauw Print: Edauw en Johanissen © 2012, TU Delft

Faculty of Aerospace Engineering Kluyverweg 1 P.O. Box 5058 2600 GB Delft The Netherlands [email protected] www.ae.tudelft.nl  T  UDelftAerospaceEngineering  @AETUDelft

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