Course syllabus
Course-PM
TRA390 Aircraft Systems and Airworthiness, Study periods 1 and 2 in Autumn 2024, 7.5 hp. This course is offered by the Tracks initiative, in association with teachers from the Department of Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, experts in aircraft engineering and management from Scandinavian Airlines, former SAAB experts in CFD and flight control systems and experts in Aircraft Operation Management.
Contact details
Course coordinator: Patxi D. R. Acero, patxi@chalmers.se
Examiner: Tomas Gönstedt, tomas.gronstedt@chalmers.se
Guest Lecturers: Mats Nilsson (tbc)
Lars Wahlberg
Samer Alsaadi
Sergi Sambola
Guest lecturers contact details will be presented during their presentation.
Course purpose
The course provides a platform to work and solve challenging cross-disciplinary authentic problems from aviation industry typically encountered after the design and/or manufacturing process.
Additionally, the aim is that students from different educational programs practice working efficiently in multidisciplinary development teams to gain a comprehensive understanding of aircraft systems, emphasizing in maintenance, inspection, and troubleshooting as well as learning the necessary competences to understand the available means to stay in compliance with the EU airworthiness regulations. It fosters critical thinking and responsibility to apply all safety protocols and industry best practices. Through practical training and simulated scenarios, the program cultivates hands-on expertise, preparing students to effectively address complex technical challenges in diverse aviation scenarios. Ultimately, the course attempts to produce professionals who are not only proficient in theoretical skills but also in the aviation industry standards of safety and airworthiness.
Course schedule
The course will start in week 36 and finish on week 50. Last wrap-up lecture and Q&A session is scheduled for week 49, while the upload of the final report should be done no later than week 51.
Note 1: dates might suffer changes depending on the course progress pace and/or other contingencies.
Note 2: certain guest lectures and visits will have precise fixed dates that might not correspond to the scheduled lessons. Such times will be published as soon as the events are confirmed.
Course Schedule document
TRA390-Topics Covered-A24-v2.0.docx
Course schedule on TimeEdit
Course literature
There is no mandatory reading list. As each topic is taught, diverse reading recommendations will be provided to complement the course material.
Course design
The course will be deliver over 2 weekly sessions of 2-2.5h each (exact days and times will be determined during in the first meeting).
During the lectures we will talk about history of aircrafts and drones, basics of aircraft design philosophies, airplane systems, helicopter systems, aircraft workshop environment, system design, aircraft airworthiness regulations, CAMO, drone regulations, post-production engineering, safety processes, hydraulic systems, flight controls, propulsion control, fuel system, pneumatic system, environmental control, introduction to flight testing and overview of future technologies.
The course coordinator reserves the right to make changes to the course, prior notice to students, if the situation requires it.
Lectures:
Attendance at lectures is not mandatory, but highly recommended. On the other hand, most of the practical workshops are of mandatory attendance (explained below) as well as the final trip for flight testing.
In the schedule, sessions marked with an (L) indicate that is a lecture or of theoretical content. There might be hybrid sessions marked as (L-W) indicating that both practical and theoretical information will be delivered.
External Lectures:
External lectures refers to the lessons delivered by guest lecturers (not from Chalmers). They are mainly experts and experienced professionals from relevant industries. In the schedule this sessions are also marked with (L).
The content of the lectures primarily focuses on theory, however, the exact distribution between theory and practice may vary depending on the guest speaker. In any case, a guest lecture agenda will be uploaded to the Canvas course page prior to the scheduled date.
Workshops:
Workshops are marked with (W) in the schedule, they are sessions that will be delivered in the FUSE open spaces designated for this course. You will have to work with your hands using hand and electric tools, metal sheets and greasy components. This is a dirty environment, so appropriate clothes is always advised for these sessions.
During workshops you will have the opportunity to implement most of the knowledge gained during the theory lectures. Only few of all the workshops are of mandatory attendance, they are design to be milestones in the evaluation. Thus the student will have to show both the practical and theoretical knowledge to perform the assigned tasks. For this reason it is highly recommended to not miss the rest of the workshops, in order to be able to gain the necessary hands-on experience.
Workshop Exercises:
Workshop exercises are design to introduce students to all the different techniques and methods used during production, maintenance and repair of aircraft components. The intention is that the student obtain a deeper comprehension of the time and effort that takes to perform particular tasks. This understanding will make students able to design more accurate and precise job cards, technical documentation or to design components that are faster to maintain or replace.
Workshop Exercises are not mandatory but the experience gained here is very necessary to perform correctly 2 mandatory workshop assignments. Thus, it is again highly recommended to not miss any workshop.
Projects/Assignments:
There will be three mandatory reports consisting of 2 workshop assignments and 1 field trip report. They are design to be one of the main pillars to evaluate student performance during the course. Students will have to performed all the required tasks assigned, create a small report containing all the information requested plus defend their work in a 10 minutes presentation in front of the group and course coordinator. Media slides are mandatory for all the presentations, yet not the only acceptable form. The inclusion of any supplementary media resources will be positively evaluated.
In general, assignments will be performed in small groups that will be determined in the beginning of the course or before each assignment. The course encourage the mix of backgrounds, knowledge and cultures, thus, different groups will be created for each of the mandatory works.
The specifics details for each mandatory assignment will be published under the module "Projects/Assignments". This is where all necessary information and material for complete the project will be uploaded. Additionally, students will get an oral explanation from the course coordinator of each assignments during one of the lectures prior to the start of the work.
One of the two workshop assignments involves the manufacturing of a metallic component. Such part is design to make students use most of the techniques practiced during the previous workshops. Student must achieve enough competence during workshop exercises to be allowed to work independently. Such permission will be granted by the course coordinator prior to the assignment introduction. In case that one or more students don't obtain this permit, course coordinator will individually propose alternatives options to achieve the necessary status to perform the mandatory assignment.
Last mandatory assignment does not contain workshop work but requires the attendance to one of the study visits or trips. The student will be required to present a written report with all the required tasks, methodology and conclusions found. This assignment does not require presentation.
As previously stated, these assignments are closely linked to the workshop exercises, as the methods and techniques needed to successfully complete the assignments will be practiced during these exercises.
Reports:
It is important that students remember to read the publication agreement here and fill the necessary form which will be relevant for publishing the final reports. Students will be reminded to fill the form here and add it to each of their reports as an appendix.
Reports and assignments sent/uploaded after the deadline will not be accepted and will count as not presented and thus evaluated as failed. Before the end of the course the examiner and coordinator will meet with the affected students to propose alternatives ways to compensate for the missing report. Such opportunity will not be offered to students that fail to present more than one report/assignment.
Optional Project:
This is an optional work that students can choose to make in order to lift their final grade. It is graded pass (5), no pass (2). In addition to the mandatory assignments, workshop exercises and attendance, students have the opportunity to undertake an optional project. This project can contribute up to 10% of their final grade. If any student/s choose to complete this optional work, it will positively impacts their grade by replacing the lowest score among the non mandatory components. If not, the grade will be calculated based on the mandatory components only. In case of
Participation in this optional project is entirely at the student discretion and should be considered an opportunity to enhance their understanding and potentially improve their overall grade.
Attendance/Participation:
Active participation in the course is a evaluating factor. This factor refers to the engagement and consistent involvement of the student in the learning process, going beyond mere attendance. Some of the points that define a good active participation are:
Attendance: Regularly attending classes, which forms the basic level of participation. This factor will be evaluated separately from active participation.
Engagement: Actively listening, taking notes, and following along with the course.
Contribution: Participating in class discussions, asking relevant questions, and providing insightful comments that stimulate further discussion and understanding among peers.
Preparation: Coming to class prepared with any required readings or assignments completed, demonstrating readiness to engage with the day's topic.
Collaboration: Working effectively with peers during group activities, projects, or discussions, showing respect and consideration for different opinions and approaches.
Feedback: Providing constructive feedback to peers when required and being receptive to feedback from both classmates and the instructor.
Initiative: Demonstrating interest and curiosity by exploring topics beyond the basic curriculum, possibly sharing additional resources or insights during discussions.
Changes made since the last occasion
There has been no previous course since this is the first iteration.
Examination
For this course there will not be a final examination, instead the student will be evaluated with a combination of the following points.
- Continuous Assessments: Implementing small assessments throughout the course allowing for an ongoing evaluation of comprehension and progress.
- Presentations and Reports: Students will demonstrate their understanding through presentations and written reports, proving their knowledge of the subject and their ability to communicate complex concepts effectively and answer questions related to the topic presented.
- Practical Exercises and Laboratories: Lab sessions or practical exercises to assess the student’s ability to apply the knowledge delivered during lessons.
The scale of grades is Pass or Three, Four or Five, where Five is the highest grade. A grade below Three constitutes a Fail.
Workshop exercises will be evaluated as passed/no passed whereas mandatory assignments/projects will be graded as above indicated.
The assessment criteria for the assignments/projects will be:
- Individual contribution to group progress.
- Clarity of thought, logic, and intent.
- Understanding of project technical details.
- Creativity and/or efficiency in overcoming project challenges.
- Presentation skills.
- Accuracy and quality of the manufactured part (if applicable)
If a student needs extra help because of a disability, the course examiner can choose to test them in a way that's different from what's mentioned above.
Contribution to final grade: 60 % of the final grade is the rounded mean of the grades obtained in the mandatory assignments, 20% is obtained by the mean grading all non mandatory workshop exercises (they are graded passed (5), no passed (0) ) and the remaining 20% comes from the student's attendance and active participation in the course. Please be aware that the mandatory assignments are conditional to pass the course. If you only accomplish with these assignments and fail the rest your grade will be PASSED (3) independently of your individual grades on the assignments, This means that you will get only 3 even if you score 5 on each individual mandatory assignment.
The final grade is calculated in accordance to the following equation:
where:
G = Final Grade
M = Mandatory Assignment/Project
E = Workshop Exercises
n = Number of Workshop exercises
A = Course Attendance
P = Active participation in the course
As have been already mentioned, lectures are not mandatory, thus students who pay extra effort in attending and making all exercises will receive the positive grading. In general, there is a permisible amount of lectures that can be missed without affecting the grade is 20% of the total lectures.
Reassessment: Students failing assessments may, at the examiner’s discretion, be asked to resubmit them with corrections.