The ability to do technical design of rocket and space engineering products using solid-state modelling based on modern computer technologies is one of the goals that students of the Department of Aircrafts achieve.
The Department of Aircrafts of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering implements Bachelor’s degree programmes (major in 24.03.01 Rocket Complexes and Astronautical Science, profile in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), Master’s degree programmes (major in 24.04.01 Rocket Complexes and Astronautical Science, Master's program in Rocket Engineering), and Specialist degree programmes (specialty in 24.05.01 Design, Manufacture and Operation of Rockets and Rocket-Space Systems, specialization in Missile Transport Systems).
In 2021, 27 state-financed places for Bachelor's degree programmes, 11 places for Master's degree programmes, and 24 places for Specialist degree programmes have been allocated in these fields. For admission to the Bachelor’s and Specialist degree programmes, you must pass profile Mathematics (USE), Russian Language (USE), Computer Science (USE), or Physics (USE). For admission to the Master's degree programme, it is necessary to pass the Master's exam.
Graduates of the department take internship with subsequent employment at such enterprises as JSC Academician V.P. Makeyev State Rocket Centre (Miass), S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (Korolev), Construction Office of Chemical Mechanical Engineering named after A.M. Isaev, a branch of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Centre (Korolev), “Raduga” State Engineering Design Bureau JSC named after A.Y. Bereznyak (Dubna), NPO Energomash named after academician V. Glushko (Khimki), NIIMash (N. Salda), Ural Works of Civil Aviation (Yekaterinburg), JSC “Ural Airlines”, Experimental Design Bureau “NOVATOR” (Yekaterinburg), Special Design Bureau “Turbina”, and JSC “NPO “Elektromashina”.
Students have the opportunity to undergo project-based learning in the Asteroid youth design bureau for the design, manufacture and testing of aircrafts of various classes.
Anton Cheshko, an alumnus of the Department of Aircrafts, and now the Head of the Department of Aerofluid Dynamics at JSC Academician V.P. Makeyev State Rocket Centre, shared his impressions of training in the specialty 24.05.01 Design, Manufacture and Operation of Rockets and Rocket-Space Systems:
- Why did you choose this specialty and South Ural State University?
The main motivation for choosing this specialty was my interest in the STEM subjects, technology in general, and rocket engineering in particular. On the other hand, “Rocket Engineering” sounds like the romance of the conquest of outer space, and developing the knowledge of the unknown. This is also related to the State Missile Centre in Miass, where I come from. Having had read the General Designer book written by its employee V.A. Pyatkin, I wanted to be among those who had been creating rocket engineering earlier. The SUSU Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, as the base for the SRC, was the clearest way to achieve that goal.
- Please, describe your achievements during your studies at SUSU and afterwards.
I mastered the basics of using ANSYS CFX aerodynamics systems, and I was fascinated by a kind of “magic” of obtaining a calculated result. In my fourth year of studies, as a member of the faculty delegation, I participated in the Youth Aviation and Space Convention at Samara State Aerospace University. By the fifth year of studies, my fate had been predetermined, and after defending my graduation project on the method of numerical modelling of non-stationary aerofluid dynamic processes during a rocket launch from an airplane, I was hired by the Department of Aerofluid Dynamics and Heat Exchange of the State Rocket Centre.
- Which moments in training did you remember the most?
I was always interested in practical lessons: laboratory work, and internship. The greatest impressions were, perhaps, of the classes at the Training Centre for Rocket and Space Technology, in which we studied in great detail the nuances of the design of rocket technology in section.
- How do you like your job? Do you regret choosing this particular profession?
I like my work for immersing myself in complex research and technical problems of designing modern rocket and space technology. It is also very valuable to communicate with highly qualified specialists from our and related teams, which allows you to gain new knowledge. It is still very exciting to feel involved in the creation of the most state-of-the-art weapons and, consequently, preserve the strategic stability in the world.
High-class specialists are always in demand in all spheres, and if you improve your professional qualifications through continuous work on yourself, you will certainly achieve success.