How are Bachelor's and Master's theses organized?

Selection Process

• Not based on grades: Students are not selected according to their academic marks, but rather by interest in the topic.

• First come, first served: The first six students who write an email expressing interest are prioritized.
  
  

Timings & Flexibility

• Flexible scheduling: The timing is adaptable, which suggests room for coordinating with students' other responsibilities.

• Students can start early: Some students are allowed to begin work ahead of schedule, especially if they want to dedicate more time to practice or experimentation.

• Some theses may be embedded in ongoing research projects (e.g., TopSat, Flexion) or involve collaboration with companies (e.g. Singular Aircraft, Reinforce 3D)
  
  

 Meetings & Supervision

• Weekly follow-up meetings: There is a weekly meeting lasting approximately 30 minutes per session.

• Individual attention: These short sessions suggest a personalized approach to supervision.

• Co-supervision available: In some cases, students may be co-supervised by a PhD student or another member of the research team, offering more support and specialized guidance.

Technical Foundations

• Theses are typically based on numerical methods and involve a strong programming component.

• Students start with a training phase focused on clean, maintainable code, using The Student's Guide to Clean Code Development, which includes refactoring real code from the Estructures Aeroespacials course.

• They may also contribute to collaborative development through the Swan platform, gaining experience in team-based research software.

Outcomes from past TFGs

• Research papers: Some projects reached publication-level quality (i.e. Jofre Geli)

• Academic awards for the COIAE: Recognizing outstanding theses (i.e. Ferran de la Fuente)

• Research prizes: Likely external or university-level prizes (i.e Adriana Sorribas).

• Departmental scholarships: Funding or fellowships awarded by the department based on thesis quality.

You can explore previous Bachelor's and Master's theses supervised in this group at the following link. The idea is to learn, collaborate, and have fun along the way!

What Bachelor's/Master's thesis are being offered right now?

1. Earth observation satellite planning using deep reinforcement learning and transformers

2. Design of a new motorcycle seat using flexible lattice structures (co-supervisor in Asorcad)

3. On the use of CNN architectures for satellite image analysis in earth observation  

4. Structural design of rotational axis component of the tail stabilizer via topology optimization (co-supervisor in Singular Aircraft)

5. Optimal control strategies for UAV trajectories (co-supervisor Cesc Bertoz)

6. Efficient solution of the Navier–Stokes equations via advanced numerical techniques (HDG)

7. Design of mechanical metamaterials for additive manufacturing (3D printing) (co-supervisor TU Delft)

8. Design of drone structures with generative design and 3D printing (co-supervisor in Reinforce 3D)

Other topics may also be available, and student-initiated proposals are welcome. Feel free to suggest your own ideas or ask about ongoing research projects that could be adapted into a Bachelor's/Master's thesis.

Send me an email to alex.ferrer@upc.edu if you are interested.