Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering in USA

The four-year undergraduate program leading to the BS degree in aerospace engineering prepares students for careers in aerospace and related technologies. This includes the traditional aeronautics and astronautics applications (e.g., subsonic and supersonic aircraft, satellites, spacecraft, space stations), as well as aerospace-related component development (design of structures, devices and instruments), and vehicle and propulsion system design.

The Aerospace Engineering BS program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

The curriculum is designed to meet several educational objectives. These program education objectives (PEOs) are broad statements that describe the expected accomplishments of graduates within a few years after graduation. Specific PEOs are:

• Career development: Graduates will hold a position in aerospace engineering or another field leveraging their training, or be engaged in advanced study.
• Professional service with integrity: Graduates will actively participate in professional and community groups while upholding the highest ethical standards.
• Addressing important problems: Graduates will use their aerospace engineering training to recognize and make a significant, positive impact on current and future societal challenges.

The field of aeronautical and astronautical engineering includes the challenging problems encountered in the design and operation of many types of aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles and puts a constant demand on research and development groups for an even better understanding of basic physical phenomena.

Aeronautical education has existed on at least a small scale at Purdue University since about 1920. Aeronautical Engineering degrees were first offered at Purdue by the School of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering during WWII, and the first B.S. Degrees were awarded in 1943. The School of Aeronautics was established as a separate entity on July 1, 1945. (For a complete history visit the School’s history page.)

During the first sixty years of its existence, the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has awarded 5,824 BS degrees, 1,439 MS degrees and 474 PhD degrees. These graduates have made significant contributions to the aerospace field, and have held positions of high responsibility in government and private industry. Twenty-three graduates of Purdue have become astronauts, and of these, fourteen have been graduates of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

At Saint Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, we have developed an innovative, future-focused aerospace engineering program that incorporates the latest trends in the industry to address the current and future needs of the profession and our society.

As a student in the aerospace engineering program at Parks College, you will gain a solid foundation through a combination of coursework and hands-on learning, allowing you to become a problem solver while also being aware of the impact design decisions have in the context of ethics, the environment and society.

With easy access to a sophisticated computer-aided design laboratory, wind tunnels, a structures laboratory and a reconfigurable engineering flight simulator, our graduates gain invaluable experience that helps launch their career and set them on a trajectory to shape our world and beyond. Our students have several extra-curricular opportunities to participate in national and international competitions and activities organized by AIAA, SAE, NASA and AFOSR. They are also involved in the activities of student chapters of AIAA, SAE, SWE and SLU Robotics. 

Aerospace engineering explores both the design and manufacturing of aircraft, as well as the design and flight of vehicles beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Knowledge of aerodynamics, structures and materials, propulsion systems, and flight mechanics and controls are important to this field.

Aerospace engineers are primarily employed in civil aeronautics, the defense industry, and the space program. However, applications of aerospace technology are also found in related areas such as ground and undersea transportation systems, pollution control, wind power and the effects of wind on structures, and the development and use of advanced materials.

Aerospace engineers conceive, design, develop, test, and supervise the construction of aerospace vehicle systems such as commercial and military aircraft, helicopters, and other types of rotorcraft, as well as space vehicles and satellites, including launch systems. Aerospace engineers are employed by aerospace companies, airframe and engine manufacturers, government agencies such as NASA, the military services, and research and development organizations.

The aerospace industry is a high-technology activity, and aerospace engineers are generally well versed in applied mathematics and the fundamental engineering sciences, particularly fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, dynamics and control, and structural and solid mechanics. Aerospace vehicles are complex systems, and their proper design and construction involves the coordinated application of several disciplines, including aerodynamics, structural analysis and design, stability and control, aeroelasticity, performance analysis, and propulsion systems technology.

Aerospace engineers make extensive use of computer systems and programs and should have at least an elementary understanding of modern electronics. Aerospace engineers work in a challenging and highly technical professional atmosphere and are likely to operate at the forefront of scientific discoveries, often stimulating these discoveries and providing the inspiration for the creation of new scientific concepts.

The aerospace engineer is primarily concerned with the design, analysis, testing, and overall operation of vehicles which operate in air and space. The curriculum is designed to provide the student with an education in the fundamental principles of aerodynamics, flight dynamics, propulsion, structural mechanics, flight controls, design, testing, and space technologies. A wide variety of opportunities awaits the aerospace engineering graduate in research, development, design, production, sales, and management in the aerospace industry, and in many related industries in which fluid flow, control, structural, and transportation challenges play major roles. 

The aerospace engineering program is offered in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering. In aerospace engineering, you will apply the laws of physics and mathematics to problems of aircraft flight and space vehicles in planetary atmospheres and adjoining regions of space. Maybe you will design space shuttles, rockets, or missiles. Possibly you might design military, transport, and general aviation aircraft, a V/TOL (vertical/ take-off and landing) aircraft, or a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). You could design a spacecraft to travel to Mars or to a more distant planet.

You’ll be able to tackle problems in the environmental pollution of air and water, or work on wind effects on buildings and structures, or wind energy harnessing. Designing all types of transportation systems, including high speed vehicles, urban rapid transit systems, and undersea craft might be some of the challenges you will undertake.

Your professional training in aerospace engineering will be directed generally toward the analysis and design of aerospace vehicles, including aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft with special emphasis on the fundamental treatment of aerospace science.

You will accomplish your goals through your basic training in aerodynamics, dynamics, stability and control, structures, and propulsion including cross-linkage among these areas. You will use this knowledge to design, build, and flight test aerospace systems.

Your studies at Missouri S&T will include both basic science and engineering science, mathematics, and liberal arts courses as well as advanced aerospace engineering courses. Within aerospace engineering, you can choose nine hours of technical electives in a special interest area such as aerodynamics, structures, composites, flight dynamics, controls, propulsion, and aeroelasticity.

Your design courses will be integrated with Missouri S&T’s computer graphics system to unify the graphical capabilities of the computer into your design experience. Undergraduate research opportunities are also available through the NASA Space Grant Consortium and the OURE program.

Classes and laboratories are held in Toomey Hall. Laboratory facilities include a Mach 1.5 to 4 supersonic blow down wind tunnel with a five-inch diameter jet with instrumentation for Schlieren photography, pressure, temperature, and turbulence measurements. A large subsonic wind tunnel, capable of speeds up to 300 miles per hour, has a test section 48 inches wide, 32 inches high, and 11 feet long. Other facilities include a flight simulation laboratory, space systems engineering laboratory, aerospace structural test equipment, propulsion component analysis systems, and shock tubes.

Aerospace engineering concerns processes involved in design, manufacture and operation of aerospace vehicles within and beyond planetary atmospheres. Vehicles range from helicopters and other vertical takeoff aircraft at the low-speed end of the flight spectrum, to spacecraft traveling thousands of miles per hour during launch, orbit, trans-planetary flight or re-entry at the high-speed end. Between are general aviation and commercial transport aircraft flying at speeds well below and close to the speed of sound, and supersonic transports, fighters and missiles. Although each speed regime and each vehicle poses its special problems, all aerospace vehicles can be addressed by a common set of technical specialties or disciplines.

Sub-disciplines of Aerospace Engineering are: aerodynamics, flight dynamics, propulsion, structures, and design. Aerodynamics addresses the flow of air and associated forces, moments, pressures, and temperature changes. Flight-dynamics addresses the motion of vehicles including trajectories, rotational dynamics, sensors, and control laws required for successful accomplishment of missions. Propulsion addresses the engines that have been devised to convert chemical (and occasionally other forms) energy into useful work to produce the thrust needed to propel aerospace vehicles. Structures addresses material properties, stresses, strains, deflection, and vibration along with manufacturing processes required to produce very light weight and rugged elements needed in aerospace vehicles. Aerospace design addresses the process of synthesizing vehicles and systems to meet defined missions and more general needs. This process draws on information from other sub-disciplines while embodying its own unique elements. The Aerospace Engineering program is designed to provide a firm foundation in various sub-disciplines.

Aerospace engineering is primarily concerned with the design and analysis of aircraft and spacecraft. Subfields include aerodynamics, structures, controls, and propulsion systems. Students who choose to earn an aerospace engineering degree at Florida Tech are part of a prestigious program that consistently receives accolades, at a university that is ranked in the nation’s top tier.

Whether you want to design aircraft, develop new methods of propulsion, or be part of the team for space exploration, an aerospace engineering degree from Florida Tech is the one you want. Here you'll develop a strong background in engineering and get hands-on experience in fields like aerodynamics and fluid mechanics.

The Aerospace Engineering curriculum provides a strong fundamental background in engineering, mathematics, and science, along with the ability to apply this fundamental knowledge to the analysis and design of future aircraft and spacecraft. It also prepares students for lifelong learning and the attainment of their career goals in the field of aerospace engineering and in a wide range of other areas. The concepts of system design are introduced early in the curriculum and culminate in the yearlong senior capstone design experience, in which students work in teams to respond to a design challenge from industry, government, or a professional engineering society. Technical and free electives allows the student to pursue an individualized program of study.

Engineering is the art of applying the knowledge of science for the benefit of humanity. Mechanical Engineering is the most broadly based area of engineering. It is concerned with the analysis, design, development and application of equipment for such diverse fields as energy conversion, transportation, production machinery, consumer goods, and environmental control. Today’s advanced technology is largely a result of the skill of mechanical engineers who are heavily represented in most fields of modern industry.

Aerospace Engineering is concerned with the analysis, design and development of a wide variety of aircraft and space vehicles and systems.  The undergraduate aerospace engineering program is designed to provide a broad based foundation in aeronautics and astronautics, including topics such as aerodynamics, propulsion, aerospace structures and materials, flight dynamics, control and performance.

The BS degree requires completion of at least 120 credit hours of course work. The curriculum consists of a group of required courses chosen to provide students with the basic tools for the professional practice of mechanical engineering and to assist students in developing a sense of responsibility as professionals. The objectives of the lower division curriculum are to build a foundation in the basic sciences and mathematics, provide an introduction to engineering design and professional ethics, develop communications and computer programming skills, and acquire an appreciation for the humanities and social sciences. The objectives of the upper division program are to provide a sound foundation in the engineering sciences; build on that foundation for applications in the areas of energy conversion, mechanical systems and control, experimentation, and manufacturing; and encourage creativity culminating in a capstone design experience. To provide sufficient flexibility, technical elective courses enable students to acquire additional competence in areas compatible with their career objectives.

The University of Kentucky is proud to offer the only undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering in the state of Kentucky. New graduates are needed to meet industry demand in Kentucky, the Southeast region and the country. The Aerospace Engineering program is led by numerous faculty members with highly reputable research and expertise in a broad range of aerospace applications including controls, propulsion and hypersonics.