Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Located in the beautiful city of Boulder, the University of Colorado's Aerospace Engineering Sciences department is home to 33 tenure track, research, and instructional faculty, over 150 graduate students and 400 undergraduates. Our vibrant community of engineers and scientists tackle challenges in aerospace technology and science, focusing on Astrodynamics & Satellite Navigation Systems, Vehicle Systems, Bioastronautics, Structures & Material Systems, and Remote Sensing, Earth & Space Sciences.
CU-Boulder's Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is nationally known for teaching and research that address both challenges and opportunities facing the aerospace profession. Students work extensively on challenging, hands-on experiments in the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory and design projects alongside expert faculty in the department's world-class research centers. CU aerospace alumni are working at top companies and research labs, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, The Boeing Company, and Lockheed Martin.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to prepare students for leadership positions in the design, implementation and operation of aerospace systems. We achieve this through the excellence of the education we provide, and the excellence we demonstrate in basic and applied research.
Distinguishing Characteristics of our Department
Our Department is uniquely characterized by a blend of aeronautics, astronautics and science applications.
In our graduate education and research programs, we emphasize forefront aerospace technology development and the integration of engineering and science activities to solve critical problems in the earth and space sciences.
We provide an undergraduate experience characterized by rigorous preparation in mathematics and the engineering sciences, a hands-on experiential approach to learning, and an extensive emphasis on design in a systems context.
Our graduates are broadly educated, interdisciplinary, agile, team-oriented engineers and scientists with end-to-end mission and systems perspectives.
In the News
Spring 2009: Major Tornado Study with Unmanned Vehicles
After years of work designing and building them, AES Professor Brian Argrow and UCB students plan to send their 12-pound, 10.5 foot wingspan aerial vehicles for one-hour flights into developing storms during tornado season. Measurements made by the instruments aboard the vehicles may help scientists to improve their ability to predict short-term severe weather forecats. See Daily Camera story for details.
CU Doctoral Students Win $10,000 Top Prize
UCB graduate students Evan Thomas (Aerospace) and Max Gold (Civil Engineering) have volunteered their time for six years with Engineers Without Borders-USA, helping to bring water purification systems, biogas generators and high efficiency cooking stoves to remote villages in Rwanda. Turning that charity into an economically sustainable enterprise is an idea that won first place at Purdue University's national Idea-to-Product Competition for Social Entrepreneurship on April 4. See details.
Redbull Airplane Competition Winner
Michael Opland, AES undergraduate, won the CU-Boulder Redbull Airplane competition and is one of only 14 American contestants invited to participate in the finals of the Global Paper Airplane Competition. Michael will have an all-expenses trip to Austria for the finals, which will judge farthest flight (the category he won in), the longest airtime and flight aerobatics. See additional info at these links: http://www.redbullpaperwings.com and
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Red-Bull-973842.html
Youtube video of the 2006 finals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8nKPdjsnk