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Congratulations, Aerospace Engineering Graduates!

Aerospace Engineering at Illinois welcomed 77 new alumni following Commencement ceremonies May 12.

Space Shuttle Veterans Altman, Nagel, Return to Campus for Talks

Aerospace Engineering alumni speak about their experiences on space missions.

Engineering at Illinois Students Enter Drone in National Challenge

AE students design small drone aircraft for national competition.

Farquhar to Receive College's Distinguished Alumnus Award

AE alumnus receives College of Engineering's Alumni Award for Distinguished Service.

New Energy Management Devices Protect Structures from Damaging Forces, Motions

Engineering at Illinois researchers attempt to mitigate damage from earthquakes.

Events

 
Research Areas

Research Area: Aerospace Systems Design and Simulation

Research in aerospace system design ranges from the practical development of cost models to the development of flight simulations. Current projects focus on the development of an empirical cost model to predict aerospace vehicle operating costs as a function of thrust power, a comprehensive systems approach to the design of powered spacecraft for cislunar, planetary, and interstellar scientific space missions, and work on the NASA Smart Icing Systems project, including flight simulations and encounter scenarios. There are currently four active research projects in Aerospace System Design and Simulation. Several of these projects are sponsored by government agencies and leading industry companies such as: NASA (Marshall Space Flight Center and GlennResearch Center) and Science Applications International Corporation. The research is conducted by faculty members, numerous graduate students, undergraduate students, and visiting scholars.

Faculty Researchers: Labs:
  • R. L. Burton - Electric and advanced chemical rocket propulsion, space exploration, hypersonic flows, hypervelocity accelerators
  • V. L. Coverstone - Space mission design, optimal spacecraft trajectories
  • M. S. Selig - Applied computational and experimental aerodynamics; airfoil design and analysis; aircraft design, performance, stability, and control; flight simulation; wind energy