Degree Program
The degree program gives the student a broad education in engineering by requiring basic courses in aerodynamics and propulsion, structural mechanics, flight dynamics and control systems, and aerospace software. These courses cover fundamentals and their application to the analysis, design and construction of aircraft, spacecraft and other vehicular systems and subsystems. Courses in aerodynamics and propulsion treat fluid and gas flow around bodies and through turbojet engines and rocket nozzles. In courses on structural mechanics, lightweight structures are studied from their strength, elastic, stiffness, stability and dynamic behavior. Flight dynamics and control systems courses deal with the dynamic behavior of vehicles and systems as a whole, their stability and controllability both by human pilots and as autonomous systems. Aerospace software deals with fundamentals of computer science, development and use of software for simulating aerospace analysis, and embedded sensors and software systems. Integration of all these subjects takes place in the capstone aircraft design course or space system design course that is chosen by students. The aerospace engineering program offers considerable flexibility through technical and general electives, in which students have an opportunity to study in greater depth any of the areas mentioned above. In addition, other technical elective areas are available to aerospace engineering students, including aerophysical sciences, environmental studies, computers, person-machine systems and transportation. Elective courses in each technical elective area include courses taught both inside and outside the aerospace engineering department.
Sample Schedule
B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering
Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission(s) of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Aerospace Engineering Program Criteria. Please see the PDF version of the sample schedule. Additional information can be found on the department advising website.
Focus of Study
The Aerospace Engineering department offers a variety of areas of focus for students to consider. Specific information about the requirements can be found on the department advising website.
- Propulsion, Aerodynamics and Combustion
- Air-Breathing Propulsion and Combustion Science
- Space Propulsion
- Aerodynamics and Turbulence
- Computational Fluid Dynamics of Transonic and Hypersonic Vehicles
- Structural Mechanics
- Advanced Materials for Airframe Applications
- Adaptive Materials and Constitutive Modeling for Aerospace Structures
- Modeling for Airframe Applications
- Aeroelasticity, Structural Dynamics, Optimal Design of Structures
- Flight Dynamics and Control
- Dynamics and Control of Aircraft
- Dynamics and Control of Spacecraft
- Astrodynamics
- Aerospace Software
- Computer Science Fundamentals
- Computational Science for Aerospace Analysis and Design
- Embedded Systems
- Aerospace Vehicles