Aerospace Engineering (Aero)

Aerodynamics and Propulsion

Study air flow either around aerodynamic bodies (external flows, aerodynamics or fluid dynamics) or through engines (internal flows or propulsion). Gas dynamics is important for numerous aspects of aerospace engineering, such as airplane aerodynamics, helicopter aerodynamics, hypersonics, jet propulsion, rocket propulsion, advanced propulsion, properties of the space environment and many others.

Courses: Compressible Flow, Hypersonic Aerothermodynamics, Gas-Turbine Propulsion, Combustion Processes, Aeromechanics of Rotary Wing Vehicles

Structures and Materials

Aerospace structures differ from other structures due to their high demands for performance and needing to be lightweight. Modern aerospace structures typically require the use of composite materials, advanced multifunctional materials and thin-walled constructions. To obtain the level of performance required from flight structures, thorough knowledge of material limitations, structural stability and strength considerations are needed.

Courses: Theory of Plates & Shells, Space System Design, Structural Dynamics, Aeroelasticity, Mechanics of Composite & Microstructured Media

Autonomous Systems and Control

The autonomous systems and control specialization has a strong aerospace emphasis as illustrated by current research on aircraft dynamics, flight planning, flight control, and autonomous flight; dynamics and control of attitude systems; astrodynamics; guidance, navigation, and associated flight systems; flexible aerospace vehicles; and acoustics and flow control. There is a strong multidisciplinary systems orientation that emphasizes linear and nonlinear systems, optimization, feedback control, optimal planning and decision-making, stochastic processes and estimation, and computational and software aspects of flight systems.

Courses: Computational Methods for Aerospace Engineering, Flight Software Systems, Flight Testing, Control of Aerospace Vehicles, Aerospace Information Systems

Space Systems

A subset of faculty members in Gas Dynamics and Flight Dynamics and Controls develop spacecraft and advanced spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and control systems. Experimental and computational studies center around spacecraft electric propulsion systems, with projects ranging from the small, like developing electric propulsion systems that are small enough to fit on a chip for cubesat propulsion, to the large, with thrusters big enough to drive piloted missions to asteroids and Mars.

Courses: Rocket Propulsion, Electric Propulsion, Astrodynamics, Orbital Analysis and Determination, Dynamics and Control of Spacecraft

Computation

Computation plays a fundamental role in the design, analysis, and operation of modern Aerospace systems. Applications include flight software, embedded computing for on-board control, optimization of structural, aerodynamic, and propulsion systems, etc. Broadly speaking, our research is organized into two branches: Computer science and Computational science, with a healthy overlap. Computer science relates more to the software and avionics part of the research, while computational science relates to analyzing, modeling, and designing the physical system. Data science, another area of emphasis in the department, pertains to the development of algorithms to extract knowledge and insight from real-world and simulation data, with the goal of application in decision-making scenarios.

Sustainability (New)