We changed the name of the \u201cAstronautics Option\u201d in Engineering Mechanics to the \u201cAerospace Engineering Option\u201d.\u00a0 Students will continue to get a degree in \u201cEngineering Mechanics\u201d and so only the name of the option would change.\u00a0 This is only an option and it would not be accredited.\u00a0 The program as a whole would continue to be referred to internally as the Engineering Mechanics & Aerospace Engineering program, although technically this is just an option.\u00a0 For simplicity, the abbreviation will remain EMA.<\/p>\n
Historically, \u201castronautics\u201d was an accurate description for the content of the option, as the crowning classes in the program were \u201cSatellite Dynamics,\u201d \u201cAstrodynamics\u201d and \u201cFinite Element Model Validation\u201d (for spacecraft).\u00a0 At the time of its creation, the content in the astronautics program was dominated by courses offered by Profs Schlack and Kammer, whose expertise was in space vehicles and systems or the \u201cspace\u201d part of \u201cAerospace Engineering.\u201d\u00a0 In the recent decade or two, the focus has shifted to balance more evenly between space and aerospace.\u00a0 Both Schlack and Kammer have retired and have not been replaced by faculty with expertise in the areas that they used to teach in.\u00a0 Popular electives now include \u201cFlight Dynamics and Control,\u201d \u201cAerodynamics Lab\u201d and \u201cPropulsion.\u201d\u00a0 Aerodynamics has become a staple of the program.\u00a0 The new name better reflects this shift.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the \u201cAstronautics Option\u201d has never had strong name recognition.\u00a0 Students have felt that they have to explain what this is to employers or to other students.<\/p>\n
The consensus among the faculty is that the name \u201cAerospace Engineering\u201d is better understood and would increase interest in and recruitment to the program and simplify the discussions that students have with employers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We changed the name of the \u201cAstronautics Option\u201d in Engineering Mechanics to the \u201cAerospace Engineering Option\u201d.\u00a0 Students will continue to get a degree in \u201cEngineering Mechanics\u201d and so only the name of the option would …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annualreport.ep.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}