Master in Unmanned Aerial Systems

Completion requirements:

Compulsory: 24
Optional: 18
External internships 9
Master’s Final Project: 9
Total: 60

The new master's degree does not include specialisations, but the syllabus has been designed with the aim of building a well-defined and recognisable curriculum in terms of professional profile. The optional subjects offered are designed to intensify students' knowledge in areas related to unmanned aerial systems engineering and applications of unmanned aerial systems.

This master’s degree contemplates the realization of a total of 60 credits ECTS, of which 24 ECTS are mandatory and 18 ECTS are optional. Part of the subjects will be taught in Lugo (USC) and they will be applied-oriented, while another part will be taught in Ourense (UVigo) and they will focus on systems engineering. The theoretical contents can be followed in person or online. In addition, 9 ECTS credits will consist in a mandatory external internship and 9 ECTS credits will correspond to a master thesis.

The structure of the master is designed so that it can be compatible with the professional activity. 

• 24 ECTS credits are mandatory, scheduled for the first four-month period and they consist of the following subjects:
  • Fundamentals of unmanned aerial systems (Lugo/Oviedo)
  • Operations, regulations, and certification (Lugo)
  • Aerodynamics and mechanics of flight and propulsion (Ourense)
  • Observation systems (Ourense)
• 18 credits consist of optional subjects for the second four-month period. The students must choose three of them:
  • Methods of data analysis (Lugo)
  • Applications in the agroforestry and environmental fields (Lugo)
  • Applications in engineering and architecture (Lugo)
  • Control systems (Ourense)
  • Navigation and communication systems (Ourense)

• Admission profile

  University graduates in scientific or technological disciplines who wish to direct their professional career towards companies or public administrations with an interest in unmanned aerial systems. The areas of interest of this group may be directed towards operations and systems engineering.

• Minimum number of ECTS enrollment credits per student and school period

  Completion requirements:

  Compulsory: 24
  Optional: 18
  External internships 9
  Master’s Final Project: 9
  Total: 60

• Tutorial action and reception

  El Plan de Acción tutorial de la Escuela de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio de la Universidad de Vigo recoge un conjunto de actuaciones destinadas a favorecer la integración del alumnado en la vida universitaria y atender a sus necesidades formativas e informativas. Supone superar el modelo tradicional de enseñanza universitaria sólo preocupado por la transmisión de conocimientos, y apostar por un modelo en que confluyen también funciones socio-educativas, basadas en relaciones recíprocas e interacciones tutor/a-alumno/a, etc.; se apuesta, en definitiva, por el trato más personalizado, además del académico.

  Se pretende ir consolidando una línea de acción tutorial coherente con las necesidades del alumnado, que normalice las distintas acciones y alcance un adecuado equilibrio entre las expectativas de las alumnas y alumnos y los objetivos que se exponen en el marco del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior.

  El Plan de Acción Tutorial tiene como objeto la garantía, adecuación de los métodos de enseñanza, aprendizaje y evaluación, adquisición de competencias del alumnado, atención a la diversidad, orientación al aprendizaje, y búsqueda de una igualdad de género, recogidos tanto en las memorias de los títulos como en el sistema de garantía de calidad del centro.

  La USC y la UVigo realizan, al inicio de cada curso académico, jornadas de acogida organizadas por los Vicerrectorados con competencias en asuntos estudiantiles en todos los centros universitarios. Estas jornadas tienen por objeto presentar a los nuevos estudiantes las posibilidades, recursos y servicios que les ofrece la Universidad. Los departamentos implicados en este máster, por su parte, recibirán en una jornada de acogida a los nuevos estudiantes el primer día de clase. En ella se les ofrece una presentación del equipo docente, las aulas, la biblioteca, los servicios administrativos y la organización académica del Centro.

• Access

  Access

  Poderán acceder ás ensinanzas oficiais de máster:

  1. As persoas que estean en posesión dun título universitario oficial español.
  2. Aquelas que teñan un título expedido por unha institucion de educación superior do EEES que faculta no país expedidor do título para o acceso a ensinanzas de máster.
  3. Os titulados conforme a sistemas educativos alleos ao EEES sen necesidade de homologación dos seus títulos, previa comprobación pola Universidade de que os ditos títulos acreditan un nivel de formación equivalente aos correspondentes títulos universitarios españois e que facultan no país expedidor do título para o acceso a ensinanzas de posgrao.

  Admission

  Modality: specific criteria

  Access qualifications in order of preference:

  Most valued Degrees:

  - Degree in Aerospace Engineering.
  - Degree in Agricultural Engineering.
  - Degree in Agricultural and Agri-Food Engineering.
  - Degree in Civil Engineering.
  - Degree in Energy Engineering.
  - Degree in Mining and Energy Resources Engineering.
  - Degree in Electrical Engineering.
  - Degree in Industrial Electronics and Automation Engineering.
  - Degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering.
  - Degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering.
  - Degree in Forestry Engineering.
  - Degree in Forestry and Environmental Engineering.
  - Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
  - Degree in Geomatics and Topography Engineering.
  - Degree in Physics.
  - Degree in Robotics
  - Degree in Airline Transport Pilot

  Further degrees:

  Other degrees in the branches of Science and Engineering and Architecture.

  Students coming from countries with a language other than Galician, Portuguese or Spanish must accredit their level of the Galician language: Celga II, or Spanish: B1, according to the Agreement of the Governing Council of the USC ( 28th February 2019.)

  If they do not have any of these qualifications, the USC will give them a level test and, if they do not pass it, they will have to attend an intensive course of Galician or Spanish in the first semester until they obtain the required level.

  SELECTION CRITERIA:

  - Academic record: max. 80%.
  - Accredited experience in the sector: 20%.
  - The score obtained in the above scale will be weighted with the following factors:
  -Factor "1": Students coming from degrees included in the recommended entry profile.
  -Factor "0.5": Students who do not come from degrees included in the recommended entry profile

Modality: specific criteria

Access qualifications in order of preference:

Most valued Degrees:

- Degree in Aerospace Engineering.
- Degree in Agricultural Engineering.
- Degree in Agricultural and Agri-Food Engineering.
- Degree in Civil Engineering.
- Degree in Energy Engineering.
- Degree in Mining and Energy Resources Engineering.
- Degree in Electrical Engineering.
- Degree in Industrial Electronics and Automation Engineering.
- Degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering.
- Degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering.
- Degree in Forestry Engineering.
- Degree in Forestry and Environmental Engineering.
- Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
- Degree in Geomatics and Topography Engineering.
- Degree in Physics.
- Degree in Robotics
- Degree in Airline Transport Pilot

Further degrees:

Other degrees in the branches of Science and Engineering and Architecture.

Students coming from countries with a language other than Galician, Portuguese or Spanish must accredit their level of the Galician language: Celga II, or Spanish: B1, according to the Agreement of the Governing Council of the USC ( 28th February 2019.)

If they do not have any of these qualifications, the USC will give them a level test and, if they do not pass it, they will have to attend an intensive course of Galician or Spanish in the first semester until they obtain the required level.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

- Academic record: max. 80%.
- Accredited experience in the sector: 20%.
- The score obtained in the above scale will be weighted with the following factors:
-Factor "1": Students coming from degrees included in the recommended entry profile.
-Factor "0.5": Students who do not come from degrees included in the recommended entry profile

• Basic skills

  - Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity for being original in the development and/or application of ideas —usually in a research context.

  - Students must know how to apply their acquired knowledge and their capacity of problem solving in new or uncommon surroundings. All of this, inside broader —or multidisciplinary— contexts associated with their study area.

  - Students must be able to integrate knowledge and confront the complexity of making judgements from information which could be incomplete and limited. This information must include reflections about social and ethical responsibilities associated with the application of their study areas’ knowledge and judgements.

  - Students must know how to clearly and unambiguously communicate their conclusions —and the knowledge and ultimate reasons that sustain them— to specialized and non-specialized public.

  - Students must possess learning abilities that will allow them to continue studying, in a way which would be largely self-directed and autonomous.

• Generic skills

  - Students acquire general knowledge in engineering and operations of unmanned aerial systems.
  - Students acquire the ability to analyse the needs of a company in the field of unmanned aerial systems and determine the best technological solution for it.
  - Students acquire the knowledge to develop unmanned aerial systems and plan specific operations, depending on existing needs and apply existing technological tools.
  -students are able to apply, in the field of unmanned aerial systems, the principles and methodologies of research such as bibliographic searches, data collection and data analysis and interpretation, as well as the presentation of conclusions, in a clear, concise and rigorous manner.

• Specific skills

  Knowledge of the main systems, on-board instruments and the control station of an unmanned aircraft, as well as their influence on safety.

  - Knowledge of the principles of geomatics, photogrammetry and cartography, navigation, aerotriangulation, interpretation and digital image processing necessary for the operation of unmanned aerial systems and the application of the regulations in force.

  - Ability to interact with other technical teams in the field of engineering for the planning of operations with unmanned aerial systems.

  - Ability to develop a technical project in the field of engineering of unmanned aerial systems.

  - Ability to apply data from unmanned aerial systems to obtain key information for the management of natural and agroforestry resources.

  - Knowledge of existing good practices in the operation of unmanned aerial systems for use in the field of engineering, architecture and territory

• Transversal skills

  - Capacidad para comprender el significado y aplicación de la perspectiva de género en los distintos ámbitos de conocimiento y en la práctica profesional con el objetivo de alcanzar una sociedad más justa e igualitaria.
  - Capacidad para comunicarse por oral y por escrito en lengua gallega.
  - Sostenibilidad y compromiso ambiental. Uso equitativo, responsable y eficiente de los recursos
  - Desarrollo del espíritu innovador y emprendedor.
  - Habilidades de relaciones interpersonales
  - Capacidad de trabajo en equipo.
  - Capacidad de organización y planificación
  - Capacidad de análisis y síntesis.
  - Capacidad de razonamiento crítico y creatividad.
  - Orientación a la calidad y a la mejora continua.

Mobility

Student mobility is regulated through the “Regulation of inter-university exchange.” Exchange programs are managed through the International Relations Office, such as national exchange programs (SICUE) as well as Europeans (ERASMUS) and from outside the European Union (exchanges with Latin American countries or English-speaking countries):

Portal Internacional

Internships

The master's degree includes 9 credits of compulsory external internships.

The Higher Polytechnic School of the University of Santiago de Compostela and the School of Aeronautical and Space Engineering of the University of Vigo have an extensive programme of agreements for work placements in companies that will allow students of this Master's degree to be supervised. The agreements are approved by the Governing Council of the respective universities and are monitored by the degree's Academic Committee.

In order to meet the demand from students of the new degree, a sufficient number of work placements must be ensured for enrolled students, to be carried out in either of the two semesters of the academic year, taking into account that students can study the degree on a part-time basis. Students in the first year of full-time enrolment must carry out the work placement in the second term. However, they will be offered in both semesters for students who opt for part-time dedication. In subsequent years, students will be able to do them in any of the four-month periods.

In addition, procedures will be defined for the selection, monitoring, drafting of the internship report and presentation of the student's use of the internship, adapting the current regulations to the specificities of the Master's degre.

The master's degree includes the completion of a Master's Thesis of 9 ECTS credits, which consists of a project related to the engineering of unmanned aerial systems or applications involving their operation.

The Master's Final Project is an original exercise that must be carried out individually and consists of a comprehensive project of a professional nature that synthesises the competences acquired in the Master's Degree. In order to pass it, it will be defended before an examining board made up of lecturers from the degree. Each student will have at least one tutor who will guide the student throughout the process and ensure the quality of the work.

The offer of Final Master's Degree Projects will be carried out in each term of the academic year, thus responding to students enrolled on a part-time basis. Each offer may also include work offered by collaborating companies and research centres and work offered by Master's lecturers.

The offer of Master's Degree Final Projects must be sufficient for all students enrolled in the degree. Students will be able to defend their Master's thesis when they have passed all the other credits of the syllabus.

The teaching staff of the master’s degree is formed by lecturers of the Higher Polytechnic School of Engineering of Lugo (USC), of the School of Aeronautical and Space Engineering of Orense (UVigo), with the participation of professionals of companies, institutions and public organisms, including the group of RPAS-OR of the University of Oviedo and GAIN.