BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

New: Five-year accelerated program -- B.S. in Aerospace Engineering/Master of Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Engineering Program at Embry-Riddle Is Focused on the Future

In your lifetime you're likely to witness the colonization of space, solar power generation from space-based systems, active search efforts for extraterrestrial life, and widespread ultra-high-speed travel on earth. If you want a chance to be part of making things like these happen, take a wise first step: enroll in Embry-Riddle's world-renowned aerospace engineering program at either of our residential campuses.

There are plenty of programs for aerospace engineering, but only one place where the entire university is dedicated to aviation and aerospace: Embry-Riddle. We've been preparing engineers for more than 50 years, so we know what we're doing. Our aerospace engineering program was already well known throughout the industry before it was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 aerospace engineering program at a non-Ph.D.-granting university. Not only is our aerospace engineering program among the best, it is also the largest in the nation.

At Embry-Riddle, your primary focus will be on the engineering of mission-oriented vehicles for atmospheric and space flight. Nonetheless, our students also have designed automobiles and high-speed rail systems.

In upper-level courses, you'll work on teams to develop a component design that is sufficiently detailed for the manufacturing process, including material specifications and cost parameters. Additional options include experimentation in control system designs and in-flight testing. These design courses prepare you for the engineering environment you'll find in industry.

You won’t have trouble finding a job after graduation. Among our aerospace engineering students who graduated in Fall 2000, 91.4 percent had a job and 5.7 percent were continuing their education.

Graduates are regularly offered jobs at Allied-Signal, Boeing, General Motors, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, NASA, and Toyota.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Our Program Is Tops in the Field Because We Prepare Students for the Industrial Engineering Environment

Small Classes Assure Individual Attention

Dr. Richard Felton of the Prescott campus aerospace engineering department discusses aerodynamics with students.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has been preparing aviation professionals since 1926 and engineers since the 1950s. The aerospace engineering faculty combine excellent academic credentials with years of experience. Since the aerospace industry is characterized by constant change, our instructors stress that in addition to aptitude and enthusiasm the ability to adapt and excel and to continue learning is vital to a graduate's success.

Engineering classes are kept small enough that students are assured of receiving individual attention. At Embry-Riddle there is no such thing as classes with hundreds of students enrolled. There is also no such thing as classes taught exclusively by graduate students. Demonstrated proficiency in high school mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanical drawing, algebra, and trigonometry is recommended for students considering the aerospace or civil engineering degree programs. If an aspiring student's previous academic experience in these areas is not considered sufficient preparation for college-level work, Embry-Riddle will arrange for enrollment in the appropriate entry-level classes.

In addition to math, science and engineering courses, other degree requirements, such as humanities, technical report writing and economics, help prepare students to be well-rounded, well-educated professionals. Following their freshman year, students can take advantage of Embry-Riddle's Cooperative Education program. Numerous companies and government agencies offer opportunities to learn engineering on-the-job while earning class credit. This real-world experience is valued by future employers.

Students have the opportunity to participate in Embry-Riddle chapters of engineering clubs and organizations where they can develop their professional skills outside the classroom. These include the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Florida Engineering Society, Sigma Gamma Tau, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, Prescott's Electric Car Project - Harry Robertson Racing Team, the Rocketry Experimental Project, the NASA Rover Project, the National Society of Black Engineers, Student Space Awareness, and the Robotics Association.

The bachelor's degree programs in aerospace engineering at the Daytona Beach and Prescott campuses, along with civil engineering and engineering physics at Daytona Beach and electrical engineering at Prescott, are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

To offer its students the opportunity to acquire design skills, the aerospace engineering curriculum incorporates a broad exposure to the theory, analysis, measurement, communications, and computational techniques that are essential for success in an engineering career.

Basic course work concentrates on scientific theory applied to engineering. Through class work and laboratory experience, students learn to design, analyze, and test aerospace systems. They perform experiments in wind tunnels to measure flow conditions and investigate aerodynamic phenomena. In the materials lab, they study metals and composites used in modern aircraft construction.

In upper-level courses, students create computer-aided designs of aircraft and spacecraft ranging over the entire spectrum of vehicle types. Perhaps the program's most unique feature is student development of a component design that is sufficiently detailed for use in that part's manufacturing process, including material specifications and cost parameters. Additional options include experimentation in control system designs and in-flight testing. These design courses prepare students for the engineering environment they will face in industry. The upper-level design courses also prepare students to function in a corporate engineering environment. By working together in groups of four to six students, they learn how to succeed in a team situation.

Graduate Degrees in Aerospace Engineering

Two master's level degrees in aerospace engineering are available at the Daytona Beach campus for students who choose to obtain a deeper understanding of complex engineering concepts, thereby paving the way to aerospace research and development, or a career in engineering education. The master of science in aerospace engineering requires a thesis; the master of aerospace engineering degree does not.

Embry-Riddle's aerospace engineering program is well known throughout the aerospace industry and the department maintains a formalized interaction with many aerospace firms. The faculty are dedicated to serving the students, and they have excellent backgrounds in a variety of specializations.

DEGREE CURRICULUM

Group Design Projects Are a Critical Component
of Engineering Education

Choose the Aeronautics or Astronautics Track

The aerospace engineering program fulfills the university’s purpose “to provide a comprehensive education to prepare graduates for productive careers and responsible citizenship with special emphasis on the needs of aviation, aerospace engineering, and related fields. The program’s focus is on the engineering of mission-oriented vehicles for atmospheric and space flight. By the end of the sophomore year, students will choose either the aeronautics track (specializing in aircraft) or the astronautics track (specializing in spacecraft). A number of classes deal with the propulsion systems for air- and spacecraft.

The goal of the aerospace engineering program is to produce graduates who are ready for constructive roles in society, who qualify for entry-level engineering jobs in the aerospace industry or aviation-related fields, who qualify for admission to graduate programs in aerospace engineering (or related engineering fields), and who are prepared to continue learning throughout their lives. In order to achieve these objectives, the following are the expected outcomes:
1. Engineering responsibilities and methodology -- From their first semester onward, students will be made aware of what engineering is and what will be expected of them as engineers, including a commitment to continuing education and to engineering ethics. This will be accomplished through interdisciplinary team activities and design projects, workshops and seminars, and the consistent assignment of open-ended problems throughout the curriculum.
2. Professional activity and development -- Students will be encouraged throughout their Embry-Riddle careers to actively participate in professional organizations, stay abreast of industry activity, and to continue their professional development.
3. Technical communication -- Throughout the curriculum, wherever appropriate, student teams will make professional-quality oral and written presentations.
4. General education -- Students will satisfy the university’s general education requirements to broaden the student’s education, develop effective communication skills, and obtain awareness of social and ethical issues.
5. Basic science and mathematics -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of chemistry fundamentals (including oxidation/reduction, the essentials of physical chemistry and the basics of organic compounds as related to composite materials), basic physics (mechanics, heat, sound, electricity, and optics) and mathematics (differential and integral calculus, differential equations, matrix algebra and vector calculus) to use as tools in support of their studies of engineering topics and beyond.
6. Engineering mechanics -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of the fundamentals of classical engineering mechanics (as applied to rigid, elastic and fluid media) to provide a foundation for the professional component of the curriculum, as well as to become familiar with basic engineering problem-solving techniques, including team approaches.
7. Aerodynamics and aeronautics -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of topics in aerodynamics, to include a majority of the following: the aerospace environment; applications of mass, momentum, energy and entropy principles to one and two dimensional flows; potential flow; viscous flow and boundary layers; aerodynamics of airfoils in incompressible and compressible flows; steady-state aircraft performance; static stability; propeller and rotary wing fundamentals; applications of the concept of panel methods; supersonic flow and aerodynamic heating.
8. Thermal sciences -- Students will demonstrate knowledge of a sequence of topics in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and propulsion so as to be able to assess the operational capabilities and analyze the performance of air-breathing and rocket engines.
9. Structures -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of topics in aerospace structures and materials, to include as a minimum: the equilibrium of forces and moments in three dimensions; shear and bending moment diagrams; stresses and deflections due to elastic tension, compression, shear and torsion on stable cross sections; compression and shear buckling; composite materials; basics of the finite element method; and vibration, fatigue and fracture mechanics concepts.
10. Electronics -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of topics in electric circuits, analog and digital electronic fundamentals, electromechanical devices, and instrumentation fundamentals.
11. Astronautics -- Students will demonstrate a knowledge of topics in orbital mechanics, gyroscopic motion and control systems with aerospace applications.
12. Laboratories and data interpretation -- Students will demonstrate an ability to perform laboratory work, including statistical processing of data and error analysis, in materials, structures, aerodynamics, power and energy systems, electronics, and instrumentation.
13. Design -- Students will carry out and defend the conceptual design of an aircraft or a spacecraft in an industry-like environment, in teams, using realistic constraints and considerations of cost, safety, manufacturability and maintainability, and the needs of the public. Students will likewise also carry out the detail design of an aircraft or a spacecraft system.
14. Support hardware and software -- The program will be supported throughout by the use of modern equipment and the most relevant modern tools and techniques of engineering analysis, design and production, including student experience with industry-level solid modeling (CAD/CAM), finite element and computational fluid mechanics software. To enter this program, students should have demonstrated competence in mathematics, physics, chemistry in high school.

The Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering program requires successful completion of a minimum of 129 credit hours. The program may be completed in eight semesters assuming appropriate background and fulltime enrollment.

First-Year Requirement:

A student must attain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.25 during the first year to be permitted to continue pursuing a BSAE degree.

Remaining on Track for AE: To remain on track, students must complete MA 241, MA 242, PS 150, PS 160, and EGR 115 with a C or better within three attempts (including audits and wtihdrawals). Students should be aware that many courses have prerequisites and/or corequisites. Check the course descriptions at the back of this catalog before registering for classes to ensure required sequencing.

Suggested Program of Study

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CAREER OUTLOOK

The Superior Education of Our Engineering Students Greatly Enhances Their Market Value Upon Graduation

The opportunities available to graduates of Embry-Riddle's engineering programs are plentiful. Our aerospace engineering program was recently rated the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report. Engineering students at Embry-Riddle enjoy benefits not available at other universities: smaller classroom sizes, state-of-the-art facilities, and an actual hands-on curriculum, as opposed to the more theoretical programs offered at other schools. The superior education our engineering students receive greatly enhances their market value upon graduation.

You won’t have trouble finding a job after graduation. Among our aerospace engineering students who graduated in Fall 2000, 91.4 percent had a job and 5.7 percent were continuing their education.

Graduates are regularly offered jobs at Allied-Signal, Boeing, General Motors, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, NASA, and Toyota.

Co-op opportunities and internships for aerospace engineering students have come from these companies: BE Aerospace Inc., Motorola, NASA, Avionica, Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and many other prominent companies.

The Embry-Riddle Advantage: The Career Services Office

One of the most valuable benefits of being a student or alumnus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is access to the resources of the Career Services Office.

The Career Services Office provides career development assistance to all students and alumni of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, regardless of campus affiliation. The Daytona Beach office serves Daytona Beach, Worldwide Campus, and Worldwide Online students. Prescott campus students are served by the Prescott office.

The Career Services Web site offers students and alumni:

• A virtual library of job search aids including interview tips
• An alumni network which enables students to contact alumni throughout the United States and abroad to learn more about their careers and employers.
• Sample résumés and cover letters
• Company profiles and employment hotlines
• Cooperative education opportunities
• Current job listings; and
• A Web-based résumé referral service

A career fair is hosted at the Daytona Beach and Prescott campuses each fall. Throughout each year, dozens of companies visit the campuses to recruit students and to provide information about their industry. On-campus interviews are also scheduled year-round.

The Career Services Office employs a staff of program managers to provide one-on-one career advisement, mock interviews, and résumé critique services. The Career Services Office encourages students to make contact early in their Embry-Riddle educations to explore career options and develop a successful job search strategy.

More From the Career Services Office

Career Advisement
Several degree-specific program managers are available for assistance with career choice/change, exploration of career opportunities, and development of job search techniques.

Career Resource Center
The Career Resource Center is a library of information that includes addresses and information on potential employers, as well as information on hiring trends, salaries, and other career references. The Career Resource Center is continuously updated and expanded to meet student needs. The Career Services Web site also serves as a virtual resource center with links to job listings, salary information, sample résumés, interview preparation, and company Web sites.

EagleHire Network
The EagleHire Network allows students and alumni to submit résumés directly to employers seeking full-time and co-op/internship candidates. EagleHire is a free service and is available to all students and alumni of the University.

Cooperative Education/Internship Program
Cooperative education positions provide an opportunity for students to gain valuable work experience while earning college credit, learn about their chosen field, and establish contacts in the industry. Co-ops and internships are opportunities to earn college credit while gaining career-related work experience for undergraduate and graduate students.

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Daytona Beach, FL Residential Campus

600 S. Clyde Morris Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900