Outline of the profession

The number of airline passengers is expected to double by 2035. To meet the future challenges facing the aviation industry, government and industry must be able to rely on aviation experts who have a solid understanding of the highly complex aviation environment and are familiar with advanced methods in systems engineering and simulation technology. Digitalisation and automation are bringing new actors and innovative solutions to the field of aviation (e.g. drones), and this in turn drives continuous development of the entire aviation system. New engineering processes and methods are needed to find comprehensive solutions.

Profile content

The MSE, Aviation profile, focusses on operations, technology and systems safety with the following key subject areas:

• Operation: Aviation Infrastructure Operation and Future Mobility
• Technology: Advanced Aircraft Systems and Towards Unmanned Aviation
• System Safety: Aircraft Systems Engineering and Safety of Life-Critical Systems, Managing Complexity and Innovation, Safety Management

SUPSI profile: main focus

• Flight Operations
• Ground Operations
• Standard Operations Procedures
• Emergency Operations Procedures
• Safety and Security

Professional skills

Graduates of the MSE in Aviation will have the ability to develop, plan and implement innovative, large-scale and complex aviation projects. In the modules with a focus on Advanced Systems Engineering, you will model the entire life-cycle process from design to end-of-life and put the theory into practice in various aviation projects. You will acquire the knowledge and skills to carry out complex engineering tasks in the fields of design, operations, aviation infrastructure, maintenance and repair, and in relation to modern technologies such as increased automation and the use of large data sets.
You will gain an understanding of future developments in aviation mobility and be able to successfully apply your knowledge and skills in your professional career. You will master important aviation areas such as Systems Engineering and Operations Management, and will model and simulate complex procedures and processes.

Entry skills and enrolment process

Specific qualifications are required to enrol in this profile. Students holding one of the following bachelor’s degrees with above-average marks generally fulfil these entry requirements.

• BSc in Aviation
• BSc in Transport Systems

Assessment of entry qualifications is part of the enrolment process of each school. Students who do not hold one of the above-mentioned bachelor’s degrees will be individually assessed for their suitability by the relevant University of Applied Sciences.

Recommended theory modules

The theory modules comprise 30 out of 90 ECTS. The modules are taught by professors from all over Switzerland at various locations. You will take these modules together with other MSE students.

Fundamental theoretical principle modules (FTP)

• FTP_AppStat: Applied Statistics and Data Analysis (Lugano and Zürich)
• FTP_Optimiz: Optimization (Zürich)
• FTP_StochMod: Stochastic Modelling (Zürich)
• FTP_PreMod: Predictive Modelling (Zürich)

Technical scientific specialization modules (TSM)

• TSM_AdvAirDes: Advanced aircraft system design (Winterthur)
• TSM_CompAvi: Managing complexity and innovation in aviation (Winterthur)
• TSM_ModAvi: Modelling for aviation infrastructure and future mobility (Winterthur)
• TSM_SafeSys: Systems engineering of safety critical systems (Winterthur)

Context modules (CM)

• CM_ComplPro: Management of Complex Processes (Zürich)
• CM_Entrepr: Corporate Management and Entrepreneurship (Zürich)
• CM_InnChang: Innovations and Changemanagement (Zürich)

Additional skills relative to Bachelor of Science

Compared to a bachelor’s degree course, an MSE in Aviation enables you to manage highly complex projects with high-level technical requirements, to work with a wide variety of stakeholders and to carry out design, development and planning tasks from a holistic perspective.