 | Aerospace engineering: Encyclopedia - Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. It is often called aeronautical engineering, particularly when referring solely to aircraft, and astronautical engineering, when referring to spacecraft.
Some of the elements of aerospace engineering are:
- Aerodynamics - the study of fluid flow around objects such as wings or through objects such as wind tunnels (see also lift and aeronautics)
- Propulsion - the energy to move a vehicle through the air (or in outer space) is provided by internal combustion engines, jet engines, or rockets (see also propeller and Spacecraft Propulsion)
- Control engineering - the study of mathematical modelling of systems and designing them in order that they behave in the desired way
- Structures - design of the physical configuration of the craft to withstand the forces encountered during flight. Aerospace engineering aims very much at keeping structures lightweight.
- Materials science - related to structures, aerospace engineering also studies the materials of which the aerospace structures are to be built. New materials with very specific properties are invented, or existing ones are modified to improve their performance.
- Aeroelasticity - the interaction of aerodynamic forces and structural flexibility, potentially causing flutter, divergence, etc
- Computer science - specifically concerning the design and programming of any computer systems on board an aircraft or spacecraft and the simulation of systems.
The basis of most of these elements lies in theoretical mathematics, such as fluid dynamics for aerodynamics or the equations of motion for flight dynamics. However, there is also a large empirical component. Historically, this empirical component was derived from testing of scale models and prototypes, either in wind tunnels or in the free atmosphere. More recently, advances in computing have enabled the use of computational fluid dynamics to simulate the behavior of fluid, reducing time and expense spent on wind-tunnel testing.
Additionally, aerospace engineering addresses the integration of all components that constitute an aerospace vehicle (subsystems including power, communications, thermal control, life support, etc.) and its life cycle (design, temperature, pressure, radiation, velocity, life time), leading to extraordinary challenges and solutions specific to the domain of aerospace systems engineering.
Aerospace engineering - Aerospace engineering degrees
Aerospace (or aeronautical) engineering can be studied at the bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. levels at many universities, although it is often regarded as a subset of mechanical engineering.
At least the following institutions offer aerospace engineering education (school names followed by accredation where applicable):
- Australia
- University of New South Wales
- University of Sydney
- Brazil
- Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica
- Canada
- Ryerson University
- Carleton University
- France
- École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
- Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology
- United Kingdom
- University of Bristol
- University of Southampton
- Cranfield University
- United States
- Air Force Institute of Technology (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET))
- University of Alabama in Huntsville (ABET)
- University of Alabama (ABET)
- Arizona State University (ABET)
- University of Arizona (ABET)
- Auburn University (ABET)
- Boston University (ABET)
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (ABET)
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (ABET)
- California State University, Long Beach (ABET)
- University of California, Davis (ABET)
- University of California, Irvine (ABET)
- University of California, Los Angeles (ABET)
- University of California, San Diego (ABET)
- Case Western Reserve University (ABET)
- University of Central Florida (ABET)
- University of Cincinnati (ABET)
- Clarkson University (ABET)
- University of Colorado at Boulder (ABET)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Daytona Beach campus (ABET)
- Prescott campus (ABET)
- Florida Institute of Technology (ABET)
- University of Florida (ABET)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (ABET)
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (ABET)
- Illinois Institute of Technology (ABET)
- Iowa State University (ABET)
- University of Kansas (ABET)
- University of Maryland College Park (ABET)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ABET)
- University of Michigan (ABET)
- University of Minnesota (ABET)
- Mississippi State University (ABET)
- University of Missouri-Rolla (ABET)
- Naval Postgraduate School (ABET)
- State University of New York at Buffalo (ABET)
- North Carolina State University at Raleigh (ABET)
- University of Notre Dame (ABET)
- Ohio State University (ABET)
- Oklahoma State University (ABET)
- University of Oklahoma (ABET)
- Pennsylvania State University (ABET)
- Princeton University (ABET)
- Purdue University (ABET)
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ABET)
- Saint Louis University (ABET)
- San Diego State University (ABET)
- San Jose State University (ABET)
- University of Southern California (ABET)
- Syracuse University (ABET)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (ABET)
- Texas A & M University (ABET)
- University of Texas at Arlington (ABET)
- University of Texas at Austin (ABET)
- Tuskegee University (ABET)
- United States Air Force Academy (ABET)
- United States Naval Academy (ABET)
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (ABET)
- University of Virginia (ABET)
- University of Washington (ABET)
- West Virginia University (ABET)
- Western Michigan University (ABET)
- Wichita State University (ABET)
Aerospace, List of aerospace engineering topics, List of aerospace engineers, Schlieren photography, Helicopter noise reduction
See also
- Aerospace
- List of aerospace engineering topics
- List of aerospace engineers
- Schlieren photography
- Helicopter noise reduction
Aerospace engineering - Challenging aerospace engineering competitions
- Centennial Challenges - NASA prize contests
Aerospace engineering - National aerospace agencies
- Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
- European Space Agency (ESA)
- Russian Space Agency (RKA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Aerospace engineering - Aerospace engineering societies
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Aerospace engineering - Major aerospace corporations
- Airbus
- Boeing
- Bombardier
- Lockheed Martin
- Northrop Grumman
- Raytheon
- Alcatel
Categories: Aerospace engineering | Technology
Other related archivesAccreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Aerodynamics, Aeroelasticity, Aerospace, Aerospace engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Airbus, Alcatel, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Arizona State University, Auburn University, Australia, Boeing, Bombardier, Boston University, Brazil, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California State University, Long Beach, Canada, Canadian Space Agency, Carleton University, Case Western Reserve University, Centennial Challenges, Clarkson University, Computer science, Control engineering, Cranfield University, Delft University of Technology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, European Space Agency, Florida Institute of Technology, France, Georgia Institute of Technology, Helicopter noise reduction, Illinois Institute of Technology, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Iowa State University, List of aerospace engineering topics, List of aerospace engineers, Lockheed Martin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Materials science, Mississippi State University, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Naval Postgraduate School, Netherlands, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Northrop Grumman, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D., Princeton University, Purdue University, Raytheon, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Russian Space Agency, Ryerson University, Saint Louis University, San Diego State University, San Jose State University, Schlieren photography, Spacecraft Propulsion, State University of New York at Buffalo, Syracuse University, Technology, Texas A & M University, Tuskegee University, United Kingdom, United States, United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, University of Alabama, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Arizona, University of Bristol, University of California, Davis, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Kansas, University of Maryland College Park, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri-Rolla, University of New South Wales, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, University of Southampton, University of Southern California, University of Sydney, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, University of Washington, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, West Virginia University, Western Michigan University, Wichita State University, aeronautics, aircraft, bachelors, computational fluid dynamics, computing, empirical, engineering, equations of motion, flight dynamics, fluid, fluid dynamics, internal combustion engines, jet engines, lift, masters, mathematics, propeller, rockets, spacecraft, wind tunnels, wings, École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Aerospace engineering", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
