AE UNDERGRADUATE: About Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to the design, development, and implementation of systems or vehicles that travel above the surface of the earth. The vehicles may include a variety of aircraft and spacecraft such as low-speed propeller-powered aircraft, high-speed jet-powered aircraft, remotely piloted vehicles, micro air vehicles, hovercraft, and helicopters, along with space related vehicles and systems that include rockets, spacecraft, space stations, planetary rovers, and various specialty equipment such as heat shields, and other protective and deployment devices. The design of these vehicles and systems is both difficult and challenging because they must operate reliably and efficiently in harsh environments. Aerospace Engineering is intimately involved in the design, manufacture, control, and operation of these systems coupled with a consideration of environmental, economical, ethical, and social issues.

Program
NC State's Aerospace Engineering program is supported with laboratories where students obtain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art instrumentation and computers. Low-speed and high-speed wind tunnels and structural and material facilities are used for testing prototype models. A prominent feature of the program is the student's involvement in design, construction, and flight-testing of novel aircraft designs, a pedagogical device pioneered by the Aerospace Engineering Program at NC State University. The spacecraft design involves construction and flight readiness testing of satellites and spacecraft. In addition, the program is supported by strong research activities and dedicated faculty who provide personalized attention to students.

Opportunities
The Aerospace Engineering undergraduate curriculum consists of courses that provide the student with knowledge of aerodynamics, aerospace materials, structures, propulsion, flight mechanics, and vehicle stability and control plus knowledge of selected topics in orbital mechanics, space environment, attitude determination and control, telecommunications, space structures, and rocket propulsion. The program educate students to define, formulate, and solve complete aerospace engineering problems in aeronautics and astronautics, to function on multi-disciplinary teams, to communicate effectively and to integrate pertinent technical areas to meet a stated objective through the use of trade-off studies and compromises to satisfy the quality and integration objectives. In addition to related industries and industries with similar interests such as automobile design. Aerospace Engineering graduates are typical employed by government laboratories such as NASA, NAVAIR, and the Air Force, a wide variety of aerospace industries, or they go to graduate school to pursue advanced degrees.