Aerospace Engineering

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.

Mission Statement

We will provide a rigorous, productive, and relevant academic learning environment for students, faculty, and staff in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department by continually focusing on our core missions of teaching, research, and service.

We will ensure that graduating students are well-educated and sufficiently prepared in the fundamentals of mechanical and aerospace engineering practice and science, such that they have the ability to solve open-ended problems in these disciplines and the capabilities required in order to become competent, productive, and well-rounded professionals.

We will emphasize scholarship, graduate education, and the development of new knowledge and skills in the traditional areas associated with mechanical and aerospace engineering. Additionally, we will develop cross-cutting multi-disciplinary efforts such that we are widely recognized by local, national, and international research and business communities as respected leaders in research, innovation, and discovery.

We will render meritorious service to our profession through active participation and engagement in service activities in our professional communities at all levels (local, national, and international), as well as in fulfilling campus and departmental governance, outreach, and service activities.

Missouri S&T Aerospace Engineering Program Objectives

The overall educational objective of the aerospace engineering program is to prepare graduates for careers in the aerospace engineering profession and related disciplines, and/or receive an advanced graduate degree within three to five years from their graduation. Specifically, the expected professional accomplishments of the program graduates within five years from their graduation are that:

• They are employed by industry, a government agency, or in academia, or are in private practice.
• They have demonstrated competence and are successfully contributing to the aerospace science, technology, or engineering workforce.
• They have found that their education at Missouri S&T was valuable preparation for their careers.

Students graduating from the Missouri S&T aerospace engineering program should have:

1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies