The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is the merger of two interrelated disciplines, aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Aeronautical engineering works specifically with aircraft or aeronautics. Astronautical engineering works specifically with spacecraft or astronautics. At the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, both of the fields are directly addressed along with expansion into fields such as wind energy.
Keep reading to see detailed information on aerospace engineering university ranking, delft university of technology aerospace engineering entry requirements, best aeronautical engineering universities in the world, and tu delft aerospace engineering acceptance rate.
Delft University Of Technology Aerospace Engineering Ranking
As of 2022, TU Delft ranks 8th worldwide, and 1st within Europe, in the subject of Aerospace Engineering in Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects.
about Delft University Of Technology Aerospace Engineering
The Faculty is one of the largest of the eight faculties at TU Delft and one of the largest faculties devoted entirely to aerospace engineering in northern Europe. It is the only institute carrying out research and education directly related to aerospace engineering in the Netherlands. Through the years, the Faculty has responded to the increasing demands of the aerospace industry by further expanding its facilities and laboratories. Today the Faculty has a student body of approximately 2300 undergraduates and graduates, 237 members of academic staff and 181 PhD students.[3] Around 34% of the student population is from outside the Netherlands.
The TU Delft scored 15th in the world in the 2013 “Engineering and Technology” QS World University Rankings. In 2012 the TU Delft reached the 33rd place in the “Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering” category of the QS World University Rankings. In 2013 this category got extended to “Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering” and the TU Delft jumped to the 18th position worldwide (6th place in Europe).[4] In 2017, TU Delft ranked 4th worldwide, and 1st within Europe, in the subject of Aerospace Engineering in the Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
Research
Current areas of research include novel aerospace materials, Particle Image Velocimetry, CubeSat,Airborne Wind Energy and several others. Currently ten research chairs are grouped under four major departments:
- Aerodynamics, Wind Energy, Flight Performance and Propulsion (AWEP)
- Control and Operations (C&O)
- Aerospace Structures and Materials (ASM)
- Space Engineering (SpE)
Facilities
Live video connection between astronaut André Kuipers and the students, in the presence of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne.
Extensive laboratory and testing facilities are used in research and teaching. The facilities include supersonic, hypersonic and subsonic wind-tunnels, a high-sensitivity navigation simulator, a structures and materials testing laboratory, and an ISO 8, class 100,000 clean room for the development of micro satellites. These facilities make it possible to conduct experiments in man-machine factors, flight control, structures and materials, aerodynamics, simulation, motion, navigation and spaceflight. The faculty owns and makes use of a Cessna Citation jet aeroplane which is a unique flying laboratory. The Citation is used in research as well as in education. Its modular interior enables the possibility to change quickly between research missions and educational flights with students.
Delft Aerospace Structures and Materials laboratory
The Delft Aerospace Structures and Materials laboratory is one of the largest facilities of the faculty of aerospace engineering with a footprint of over 3600 square meters. The laboratory is split up in multiple smaller laboratories which allow for a wide variety of research and educational activities. Amongst others the facility consists of labs for the production, handling and testing of composites, facilities suitable for performing mechanical tests, a chemical lab, a micro UAV testing and development facility and work spaces for students to manufacture and test parts that they designed during their studies.
The Delft Aerospace Structures and Materials laboratory is also the home of a large collection of aircraft and spacecraft (parts), including a retired F16 of the Dutch air force, which are used for educational purposes. Furthermore the laboratory also houses the Aircraft Manufacturing Laboratory, which is a laboratory where graduate students of the faculty are building a fully functional RV12 aircraft.
Simonan
The flight simulator Simona is one of the most impressive facilities at the faculty. It can be programmed to simulate any known aircraft, but also to mimic characteristics of a new design. The unique light design allows extremely realistic motion. The simulator is used for research, but is also the subject of some M.Sc. thesis projects.
Clean room
The eight floor of the faculty houses an ISO 8, class 100,000 cleanroom for the development of micro satellites. The facility is used both by staff and by graduate students from the space department of the faculty. The cleanroom is used for space related research and for the production of TU Delft’s micro satellites, of which two are currently in orbit around the Earth: Delfi-C3, and Delfi-n3Xt. Contact with these satellites is maintained through a ground station housed on campus at the faculty of electrical engineering, computer science and mathematics.
Aerospace Engineering Universities
Ready to design the spaceship that will finally get us to Mars? Or perhaps you want to create a passenger air plane that will make the Concorde look slow? Then I see a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in your future.
It’s the first step towards a career that helps people to explore the outer space, to defend their countries, and travel thousands of kilometres across the world in no time. To be successful, you cannot go wrong by studying at some of the best aerospace engineering schools in the world:
1. Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering – QS Rankings by Subject 2021
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
- Stanford University, US
- University of Cambridge, UK
- Harvard University, US
- Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
- University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
- Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Netherlands
- Imperial College London, UK
- National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
- University of Oxford, UK
Check out the full aerospace engineering ranking on TopUniversities.com.
2. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering – World University Rankings 2021
- Harvard University, US
- University of Oxford, UK
- Stanford University, US
- MIT, US
- University of California, Berkeley (UCB), US
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech), US
- Princeton University, US
- ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Peking University, China
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), US
See other top-ranked aerospace engineering schools on TimesHigherEducation.com.
3. Aerospace Engineering – Shanghai Rankings by Subject 2020
- Beihang University, China
- Northwestern Polytechnical University, China
- National University of Defense Technology, China
- Harbin Institute of Technology, China
- University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, US
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
- Caltech, US
- Georgia Tech, US
- TU Delft, Netherlands
- Purdue University – West Lafayette, US
Visit ShanghaiRanking.com to view the entire list of ranked schools.
Here are other aerospace engineering schools we recommend:
- Kansas State University, US
- University of Bristol, UK
- Université de Lyon, France
- Warsaw University of Technology, Poland
Harvard University
“I really liked how small the classes were. I got close with a lot of my professors, which was nice because it allowed me to understand the material better and just build that connection with them. I think how close it was to everything, easy access to shopping malls and food. The one thing that can improve is the tuition. It is a very expensive school and tuition is always going up so fixed tuition would be great.”
University of Cambridge
“The University of Cambridge is incredible in offering students an almost unique student experience, in terms of extra-curricular opportunities, a college community, the formals, the gowns and of course the intense and very personalised teaching. With one-to-one supervision and small teaching groups, the quality of education is very good.”
TU Delft
“The university is full of opportunities such as some of the best student teams in the world. As long as you actively seek for the chance, you can realize anything there. Also, there are a lot of international students coming all over the world, so you won’t feel isolated even if you are not a Dutch person.”
Politecnico di Milano
“It is one of the best universities for international students; it has more than 40,000 students. Its ranking really reflects the quality of education at this university. Another important advantage of this university is, there are a lot of international students almost from all over the world, even the US. I recommend this university of a student who wants to specialize in Engineering, design, and architecture.”