Best Aerospace Engineering colleges in India

We live in interesting times, where studying engineering is the norm but learning and relishing the subjects is rather rare.

This sometimes becomes more apparent when we are done with our undergrad, say in electronics, but boy have we always been interested in space tech! Worry not, for your guide to pursue your dream is here…if it is Rocket Science that is 🙂

Welcome to this blog where we as an ever-growing community are here to help you make a transition towards pursuing your master’s in Aerospace Engineering, even if you do not belong to it already. Here you will find top colleges in India, with the areas of research currently ongoing in them and the eligibility criteria to make an entrance. This list is rather well ‘researched’ and avoids any sponsored institute names.

Most of those who take up Masters in Aerospace come from Mechanical, Civil and some from EEE, ECE, Instrumentation, etc as very few colleges in India have Aerospace engineering bachelor’s program. This post is to share with you some basic stuff I gathered about doing an M.Tech in Aerospace in India like the best Institutes and ongoing research areas in those institutes. Most of these institutes actually prefer Mechanical and/or Civil engineering grads (Only after the Aerospace ones of course) but there are some institutes that do admit people from other branches as well.

I have tried to list out the eligibility criteria of all the institutes mentioned in the post so you can filter out the colleges that are irrelevant to you. (I tried to keep it as accurate as I can and it was last updated in 2022).

Here is a list of top colleges to do a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering in India. Of course, the word ‘top’ is very subjective. We did our background check before putting out the list and have strived to be as accurate as we can. The schools have been sorted with better colleges on the top but yeah it’s subject to your requirements always. There shouldn’t be much difference between colleges that are 2-3 numbers apart in the list but if one is among the top and the other is near the bottom it is almost certain that there would be a substantial difference in the value they provide to you generally.

IIT Bombay:

Aerodynamics (AE1) :

Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg./ Civil Engg.
GATE scores accepted: ME/CE

Dynamics and Control (AE2):

Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg,/ Electrical / Electronics/ Instrumentation Engg.
GATE scores accepted: ME / EE/ EC / IN

Aerospace Propulsion (AE3):

Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg. with valid GATE score in
GATE scores accepted: ME

Aerospace Structures (AE4)

Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg./ Civil Engg.
GATE scores accepted: ME/CE

IIT Madras

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Civil/Chemical/Computer Science/Electrical/Mechanical/Metallurgical/Naval Architecture OR Master’s degree in Physics/Mathematics/Chemistry

IIT Kanpur

B.E./B.Tech. degree in Aerospace / Aeronautical, Mechanical, Automobile, Production, Civil, Chemical, Naval Architecture, Electrical, Electronics / Electronics, and Communication, Metallurgy / Metallurgy & Material Science, Instrumentation, Mechatronics; four year BS degree in Physics, Mathematics or MSc degree in Physics, Mathematics and Engineering Physics

IIT Kharagpur

Aerospace, Mechanical, Civil Engineering, and Naval Architecture

IISc Bangalore

B.E. / B. Tech. or equivalent degree
GATE scores accepted: AE; CE; CH; EC; EE; ME, XE

IIT Hyderabad

Visit this site for full details

SASTRA Univ

N/A Candidate must have B.E. / B.Tech. in a relevant stream from a recognized college /university.

Manipal Institute of Technology

Eligibility: https://manipal.edu/mu/admission/eligibility_mahe.html

Research Areas

Below I’ve listed out the ongoing research areas in each institute as people going for M.Tech in Aerospace have very specific interests(like Propulsion, Aerodynamics, Flight Control, etc).

IIT Bombay

For curriculum visit this link on their official website
The Aerospace Engineering Department offers specialization in 4 categories:

Aerodynamics (AE1) :

• Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg./ Civil Engg. with valid GATE score in ME/CE
• The research areas include:
  • AerodynamicsHypersonic Aerothermodynamics, Shock Waves, Computational Hypersonic Aerothermodynamics
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics, Computational Electromagnetics
  • Vortex and particle methods, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
  • Aeroacoustics, Aircraft Design, Air Transportation
  • Turbulence modeling, Computational studies of scramjet intakes, Supersonic mixing, Plasma-assisted flow control
  • Thermoacoustics, Morphing Aircraft
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Lighter Than Air Systems, Helicopter aerodynamics.

Dynamics and Control (AE2):

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg,/ Electrical / Electronics/ Instrumentation Engg.with valid GATE score in ME / EE/ EC / IN
  
• The research areas include:
  • Flight mechanics, guidance, trajectory optimization, navigation, tracking and control of launch vehicle
  • Missiles, aircraft, manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, mini aerial vehicles(MAVs)
  • Satellites, nonlinear adaptive and robust flight control, integrated navigation systems
  • Gas turbine engine control
  • swarm, path planning, and formation flying of aerial vehicles,

Aerospace Propulsion (AE3):

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg. with a valid GATE score in ME
• The research areas include:
  • Aircraft and spacecraft Propulsion
  • Studies on detonations, Combustion instabilities
  • Development of new techniques for emission reduction from combustion systems, Heat Transfer, and Infrared Signatures of Aerospace Vehicles
  • Micro-Channel cooling of Gas Turbine Blades.
  • CFD of propulsive systems, Aerodynamic design and performance analysis of axial flow turbomachines, internal duct flows
  • Turbulence modeling and applications, Computational studies of scramjet engines,
  • Fuel atomization and sprays, Optical diagnostics of combustion systems

Aerospace Structures (AE4)

• .Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engg./ Civil Engg. with valid GATE score in ME/CE
• The research areas include:
  • Structural Health Monitoring,
  • ML Assisted Uncertainty Quantification,
  • Defects and Damages in Composites, Additive Manufacturing,
  • Wave Propagation in Structures
  • Aeroelasticity, Aerothermoelasticity, Aeroservoelasticity,
  • Multidisciplinary Optimization, Mechanics of Materials, Computational Materials Science, Experimental Mechanics, Continuum and Computational Mechanics,
  • Electromagnetic Interactions with Solids, Biomechanics, Multiscale modeling of materials, Fracture and Fatigue in Materials.

IIT Kanpur

(Official link)

Aerodynamics

• Experimental Aerodynamics
• CFD and High-performance computing
• Transition and Turbulence
• Hypersonic Aerodynamics
• Microfluidics
• Acoustics
• Wind energy and design
• Fluid-Structure interactions

Flight Mechanics and Control

• Design & Control
• Missile Guidance & Control
• Flight Testing
• Instrumentation & Parameter Estimation
• Unmanned & Autonomous Air Vehicles
• Space Dynamics

Propulsion

• Experimental and computational Combustion
• Emissions
• Intake Aerodynamics
• Int
• Diagnostics
• Turbomachinery
• Thrust vectoring
• Electric propulsion
• Liquid atomization and spray combustion
• ernal Flow Control (Active & Passive)
• Flow

Structures, Structural Dynamics & Aeroelasticity
Computational Mechanics
Aerothermodynamics and Thermal sciences

IIT Kharagpur

• • Structure
  • Propulsion
  • Aerodynamics
  • Flight Control

Ongoing Projects

IIT Madras

Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics

• Subsonic, Transonic, Supersonic,
• Hypersonic, Rarefied Gas Flows
• Boundary Layers and Stability of Flows,
• Turbulent Flows
• Shock Tubes and Related Problems
• Development of Algorithms and Code for
• Numerical Methods in Gas Dynamics and
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Vortex Dynamics, Supersonic Mixing
• Optical Flow Diagnostics
• Rotating & Stratified Flows
• Vortex Stability
• Lagrangian Coherent Structures
• Hydrodynamics of Quantum Fluids
• Shock Wave Dynamics, Transitional
• Ballistics
• Helicopters, MAVs
• Flight Dynamics
• Stability and Control of Aerospace
• Vehicles
• Flight Simulation and Controller
• Development
• Navigation and Guidance of UAVs

Propulsion

• Rocket Propulsion and Solid Propellant
• Combustion
• Airbreathing Propulsion and Combustion
• Cascade Flows
• Multiphase Flow Simulation
• Combustion Instability
• Optical Flow/Combustion Diagnostics

Structure

• Finite Element and other Numerical Methods
• Composite Structures
• Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics
• Contact Mechanics
• Vibrations and Impact Mechanics
• Multifunctional Materials
• Multi-scale Modelling
• Stochastic Mechanics
• Plasticity

IIT Hyderabad

Eligibility– Visit this site for full details
Research: These sites are not updated

SASTRA – Deemed university

It does not have a specific department for Aerospace Engineering rather it has a Mechanical Engineering Department which does research in the field of Aerospace.

Research areas: Facilities like Variable Compression Ratio Engine, Computer-controlled Engine test-rig, Exhaust gas analyzer, Engine analyzer, Disc Wear testing machine, Material Characterization test facilities, TIG welding, Stir-Casting Furnace, etc. are available for conducting research and consultancy

• Aerospace Propulsion
• Aerospace Structures
• Aerodynamics
• Alternative Fuels
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

• Flight Dynamics and Control
• Heat Transfer
• Machinery
• MEMS
• Power Metallurgy
• Robotics & Automation
• Welding

Manipal Institute of Technology

M.Tech program in Aerospace Engineering focuses on dynamics and control of aerospace systems