Aeronautical Engineering Certificate or Minor
Aeronautical engineers are in growing demand as air travel becomes faster, safer, and more environmentally friendly. Increased competition in the commercial aircraft industry, new initiatives in space exploration, the evolution of smaller aircraft and airports as alternatives to traditional airline travel, including the expanding market for personal jet aircraft known as very light jets or VLJs, are also fueling this trend. With our world becoming smaller by the day, the aeronautics industry relies on highly skilled aeronautical engineers to help meet the demands of business and pleasure travelers alike.
Why Aeronautical Engineering at Lawrence Tech?
Aeronautical engineering is one of the fastest-growing engineering fields in the United States today and demands engineers with specialized skills. Lawrence Technological University's programs offer you a strong foundation with which to enter the industry, featuring a comprehensive curriculum focused on the fundamentals of aeronautical engineering necessary for aircraft design, analysis, and testing. Designed for mechanical engineering students or graduates, the aeronautical engineering program at Lawrence Tech provides you with a deeper understanding of this broad field - beyond what is covered in the mechanical
engineering program. The minor is geared toward students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and the certificate is geared toward graduates of a mechanical engineering (or comparable) program. Both options require 18 credit hours - three core courses and three electives - all built around theory and practice. Throughout your studies, you will explore fluid dynamics, propulsion sources, aerodynamics, structural mechanics, control systems, noise and vibration, and engineering materials.
Proud History, Bright Futures Lawrence Tech has a long history of aeronautics education and research:
- In competitions of the 1930s involving glider teams from across the nation, students from Lawrence Tech won so often that the University was permanently awarded the national championship trophy!
- An experimental racing airplane, the Spirit of Lawrence Tech, was designed and built by Lawrence Tech students in the late 1940s.
- During World War II, a Lawrence Tech alumnus developed the revolutionary high wing/rear door design still used in cargo aircraft worldwide.
- Other alumni played key roles in developing rockets, the Apollo missions that took men to the moon, and the Space Shuttle. Today, aeronautical engineering at Lawrence Tech continues to thrive. Each year, students successfully compete in SAE Aero Design® competitions and are active on campus in the student branch of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In recent years, graduates have been hired by major aeronautical and aerospace companies including NASA, Cessna, Boeing, and Goodrich Aerostructures.
Graduates with a minor or certificate in aeronautical engineering have many career options:
Get your Minor Concentration Declaration form here
Requirements
- Requires the completion of 6 courses (18 credits) from the approved list of related courses.
- Three courses (9 credits) are required (core) courses.
- Undergraduate (BSME) students can use 2 courses, or 6 credits, between BSME program and minor resulting in 4 additional courses (12 credits) beyond BSME for Minor in Aeronautical Engineering.
- Three courses (9 credits) are elective courses.
- The electives that are 6000-level courses can only be taken by students that have been admitted to an engineering graduate program.
Course Options
Core courses (3 required) build the foundation for all electives
- EME 4163 – Aeronautical Engineering Fundamentals
- EME 4323 - Applied Fluid Mechanics
- EME 5223 - Advanced Mechanics of Materials
Electives (3 required)
- EME 4243 – Finite Element Analysis I
- EME 4273 – Micromechanics of Materials
- EME 5103 – Fasteners and Bolted Joints
- EME 5133 - Advanced Fluid Mechanics
- MSE 5133 – Modern Control in Mechatronics
- EME 5153 – Applied Thermodynamics
- EME 5173 – Transport Phenomena
- EME 5203 – Design of Mechanical Joints
- EME 5213 – Mechanical Vibrations
The following 6000-level courses can only be taken as electives if the student has been admitted to an engineering graduate program.
- EME 6103 – Engineering Materials
- EME 6113 – Fatigue Analysis
- EME 6213 – Fundamentals of Acoustics
- EME 6153 – Incompressible Flow
- EME 6133 – Viscous Flow
- EME 6253 – Turbulence
- EME 6393 – Compressible Flow I
- EME 6563 – Aerodynamics
- EME 6423 – Advanced Dynamics
- EME 6553 – Structural Stability
- EME 6543 – Computational Fluid Dynamics
Certificate Program in Aeronautical Engineering
Current working professionals who hold a BS technical degree in Mechanical Engineering are eligible to enroll in the Aeronautical Engineering Certificate program. The Aeronautical Engineering Certificate requires the completion of 18 credits with the same three required core course, and permits the student to take three elective courses from the approved list. Students must apply to LTU for admission to the certificate program and will be admitted only after review and approval from the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair.
Contact the Mechanical Engineering Department at Lawrence Technological University:
Professor Greg Feierfeil
Department Chair
Engineering Building E29
gfeierfeil@ltu.edu
248.204.2550 p
Admission
If you are earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, you are eligible to declare a minor in aeronautical engineering. If you have already completed a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, or a comparable degree, you may pursue a certificate in aeronautical engineering.
Lawrence Tech Office of Admissions or 800.CALL.LTU