Aerospace Engineering Education at the Naval Postgraduate School

2015

Abstract—This paper discusses the need for academia to be more responsive to the needs of students and society. The slow speed of change in academia is causing our educational programs to lose value. Technology has been advancing at an exponential rate for decades, yet academia changes at almost glacial speed. While the example used herein (engineering, and in particular aerospace engineering) is one familiar to the author, the ideas in this paper may well apply to all academic disciplines, including Science and Liberal Arts. The problems are due to rapid changes in technology, inflated bureaucracies at universities, the emphasis on revenue and research, and limits to human learning. There is no question that this is the Information Age, yet academia has not adjusted to this dramatic new world. Students need to understand this and be pro-active to prepare themselves for the future and choose the

DergiPark (Istanbul University), 2019

A recent report on the global road map for 2015-2025 commissioned by COSPAR and ILWS emphasized the growing appreciation that the environmental conditions that we call space weather impact the technological infrastructure that powers the coupled economies around the world (Carolus, 2015). Since space borne theoretical and practical problems are complicated enough, an up to date science and engineering curricula may need to be considered to cope with such cases. The program/curricula is meant to combine basic sciences, space sciences and technology under a system engineering umbrella. In short, the objective of this program is to produce graduates who will be capable of tackling space programs with deep confidence in an integrated and interdisciplinary manner. In other words, the graduates will be able to take care of these problems from a broad-wide spectrum including for example, space sciences, such as space weather on one side, and very specific technological problems, such as space debris on the other side. So, in this paper we propose an engineering education program.

Aviation, 2007

The aeronautical sciences and aerospace industry are by nature international. Coming from this thesis, we decided in 1994 to organise an international meeting, further called the Seminar, devoted to “RECENT RESEARCH AND DESIGN PROGRESS IN AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING AND ITS INFLUENCE ON EDUCATION”. The objective of that first Seminar and following ones was to organise a multinational forum for discussion and interchange of aeronautical issues and subjects, focusing on their influence on university education. Other goals included promoting international co-operation in the study of the problems in aeronautical science and technology in which there was a common interest and facilitating personal contacts between scientists, university lecturers, and industrial engineers. Our area of interest was aeronautical technology, as it is widely understood. The special focus of our Seminars was concentrated on Aircraft Design, Aircraft Oriented Aerodynamics, Flight Dynamics, Helicopter Dynamics, C...

49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, 2011

Aviation education and training began early in the 20th century just after the first successful powered flight of the Wright brothers. In the present paper, the types of aviation education and training around the world are reviewed. Its developments were distinct in many different countries, and in some cases evolved from the military needs while in others from the dedication of a few enthusiasts. In the 21st century aeronautical and aerospace engineering is taught at the most advanced engineering schools in the world providing skills and competences that integrate advanced disciplines.

Aerospace Engineering Education During The First Century Of Flight

This paper gives a brief description of the first cooperative engineering college established in 1906 by Herman Schneider at the University of Cincinnati. It goes on to describe the establishment of the second aeronautical engineering department, and the first cooperative aerospace program in the United States, in 1929, by Bradley Jones. The paper also describes the establishment of a cutting-edge research program in the department in 1958 and the subsequent initiation of the graduate program.

1996

This paper describes a new graduate degree program in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. Responding to strong industry comments, five engineering departments (AOE, ME, ISE, MSE, and ESM) at Virginia Tech have established a new practice-oriented master's degree (MEng). The new degree fit within ex- isting guidelines so that no new administrative approval was required. On an individual department basis the addition of several new courses each would have been impossible. By working together it became possible to add two new college-wide courses. We believe that the new program is unique in that it is truly multidiscipli- nary. Students from the five different college of engineering departments will be taking classes together and working on the design project teams together. The program will be offered for the first time in the fall of 1996.

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

This paper provides an interim progress report for the North American Aerospace Project, an effort of the North American CDIO consortium. The project seeks to promote and facilitate the adoption of the CDIO (Conceive Design Implement Operate) model for engineering education in U.S. Aerospace programs. This paper reports the consortium's activities at the conclusion of the project's first year, highlighting the development of six project based learning modules, for which summaries are included. These modules are designed for ready adoption at other schools seeking to implement project based instruction. Introduction: a project relevant to industry needs Aerospace generally, and aeronautics particularly, is a key sector of the US economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product, positive balance of trade, and national security. Yet the sector is facing a systemic challenge-maintaining a world-class workforce. Over the next decade, the demographics of the sector suggest that there will be a significant shortfall in technically competent engineers and other technical specialists necessary to keep this sector healthy, and preserve the nation's aeronautics core competencies. From a national policy perspective, this need has been clearly recognized. The National Aeronautics R&D Policy instructs that "executive departments and agencies with responsibility for aeronautics-related activities should continue to invest in educational development of the future aeronautics workforce…" The NASA Strategy Plan of 2006 references the need for NASA's own Strategic Management of Human Capital, and in the section on Strategic Communications: Education Initiatives reinforces NASA's responsibility to "strengthen NASA and the nation's future workforce" and to "Attract and retain students in STEM Disciplines". The NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) goals include taking "responsibility for the intellectual stewardship of the core competencies of aeronautics" which certainly includes their retention by the workforce. The importance of STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) workforce is paramount to other organizations as well, including the NAE, the AIAA and the AIA. 1 2. Learning Objectives 2.1. Technical objectives (e.g., basic math, science and engineering knowledge, skills, processes and procedures). This lab requires the student to apply basic principles of aircraft performance taught in class to a small radio-controlled airplane. The 2.2. CDIO outcomes (e.g., personal and professional skills and attributes teamwork, communication, conceiving, designing, implementing and operating skills).

2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2015

This paper discusses the need for academia to be more responsive to the needs of students and society. The slow speed of change in academia is causing our educational programs to lose value. Technology has been advancing at an exponential rate for decades, yet academia changes at almost glacial speed. While the example used herein (engineering, and in particular aerospace engineering) is one familiar to the author, the ideas in this paper may well apply to all academic disciplines, including Science and Liberal Arts. The problems are due to rapid changes in technology, inflated bureaucracies at universities, the emphasis on revenue and research, and limits to human learning. There is no question that this is the Information Age, yet academia has not adjusted to this dramatic new world. Students need to understand this and be pro-active to prepare themselves for the future and choose the right courses, majors, and universities.

42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 2004

This paper describes some recent capstone design experiences at Virginia Tech. Two new features of our design program are described. They both involve providing a hand-on experience, where the students build, test and fly concepts developed in the design class. In the first, seniors built a wind tunnel model and convinced juniors taking their lab class to test the model as part of that class in place of doing a traditional wind tunnel test. In the second, we formed a joint mechanical/aerospace engineering design team with the goal of designing, building and flying a morphing wing airplane. The seniors were notably more enthusiastic about these projects as compared to the traditional design projects. Surprising to us, the juniors were somewhat reluctant at first. They were concerned that performing a new concept test would result in a poor grade for them in their class. The combination of MEs and AEs was interesting. They each brought a different attitude to design. The MEs were more hand-on, "let's try it", whereas the AEs were more concerned with analysis. This combination was definitely better than the traditional single-major design teams normally used at Virginia Tech.

Ten years ago in the summer of 2004, the University of Southern California established a new unique academic unit focused on space engineering. Initially known as the Astronautics and Space Technology Division, the unit operated from day one as an independent academic department, successfully introduced the full set of degrees in Astronautical Engineering, and was formally renamed the Department of Astronautical Engineering in 2010. The largest component of Department's educational programs has been and continues to be its flagship Master of Science program, specifically focused on meeting engineering workforce development needs of the space industry and government space research and development centers. The program successfully grew from a specialization in astronautics developed in mid-1990s and expanded into a large nationallyvisible program. In addition to on-campus full-time students, it reaches many working students on-line through distance education. This article reviews the origins of the Master's degree program and its current status and accomplishments; outlines the program structure, academic focus, student composition, and enrollment dynamics; and discusses lessons learned and future challenges.