The students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Aero-Astro) share a passion for air and space vehicles, the technologies that enable them, and the missions they fulfill.
Aerospace is an intellectually challenging, economically important, and exciting field, offering unique opportunities for students and researchers to contribute to the future of exploration, transportation, communication, and security. The department's mission is to prepare engineers for success and leadership in the conception, design, implementation, and operation of aerospace and related engineering systems. It achieves this through its commitment to educational excellence, and to the creation, development, and application of the technologies critical to aerospace vehicle and information engineering, and the architecture and engineering of complex high-performance systems.
The department has a tradition of both strong scholarship and of contributing to the solution of "industrial-strength" problems. Its reach within aerospace extends to high levels of policy and practice. The Aero-Astro community includes a former space shuttle astronaut, a former secretary of the Air Force, two former NASA associate administrators, three former Air Force chief scientists, 12 members of the National Academy of Engineering, and 16 fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Several members of the department have served as executives in the aerospace industry and have even founded companies.
Several years ago, working closely with its student, alumni, industry, government, and academic stakeholders around the world, Aero-Astro developed and implemented a landmark educational initiative for its degree programs, known as CDIO. The CDIO initiative reflects the department's belief that its graduates must be knowledgeable in all phases of the aerospace system life cycle: conceiving, designing, implementing, and operating. The department adopted a new form of undergraduate engineering education, motivating its students to master a deep working knowledge of the technical fundamentals while giving them the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to lead in the creation and operation of products, processes, and systems. In addition, it reformed its teaching methods, redesigned its curriculum, and performed a $20 million state-of-the-art reconstruction of its teaching laboratories. Aero-Astro's academic program and facilities now serve as models for 30 engineering schools on four continents.
The reconstruction of the teaching laboratories was manifested in the creation of the Learning Laboratory for Complex Systems. The Learning Laboratory provides enhanced opportunities for hands-on learning experiences closely integrated with the department's curriculum. The Learning Lab's Arthur Gelb Laboratory features a modern machine shop, composites fabrication facility, electronics design lab, and large team projects area with equipment for student projects. The Robert C. Seamans Jr. Laboratory is a community study area with meeting and discussion rooms, an extensively IT-equipped design/conference room, and a comprehensive aerospace library. The Design Studio, which replicates facilities at major aerospace companies, provides IT and software resources to support concurrent team engineering sessions and distance learning. The Gerhard Neumann Hangar includes low-speed and supersonic wind tunnels, computers equipped with flight simulation applications, engineering hardware displays, and workspace for large-scale student projects.
Aero-Astro students, faculty, and staff work with each other, with colleagues across MIT, and with institutions around the world. These linkages enable them to tackle challenging multidisciplinary problems and to amplify their contributions. As a result, the department is connected, busy, global, hectic, open, collegial, and fun. Faculty and students are engaged in hundreds of research projects under the auspices of the department's laboratories and centers. Many research activities in other MIT laboratories and centers are open to Aero-Astro students as well. See the Research Laboratories and Activities section below for more information.
Graduates with an aerospace engineering degree find careers in commercial and military aircraft and spacecraft engineering, space exploration, air- and space-based telecommunication industries, teaching, research, military service, and related technology-intensive fields such as transportation, information, and the environment. The comprehensive technical education, with its strong emphasis on understanding complex systems, is also excellent preparation for careers in business, law, medicine, and public service.
In looking toward future challenges and opportunities in the aerospace field, the department has identified eight areas in which it is committed to building and strengthening its ability to make important contributions: space exploration; autonomous systems; environment; communications and networks; computation, design, and simulation; air transportation; large-scale complex systems; and advancing engineering education. By striving for excellence in the underlying core disciplines and emphasizing the collaborative problem solving required for tackling the complex, multidisciplinary problems that characterize this industry, Aero-Astro is positioning itself to respond to these and future opportunities and challenges.
The department's faculty are organized into three sectors of instruction. Typically, a faculty member teaches both undergraduate and graduate subjects in one or more of the sectors.
Information Sector
Most of the aerospace systems of the future
will either revolve around or critically depend upon information
technology, and all will exploit IT to
an increasing extent. The missions of many aerospace systems
are fundamentally centered on gathering, processing, and transmitting
information. Examples where information technology is central
include communication satellites, surveillance and reconnaisance
aircraft and satellites, planetary rovers, global positioning
satellites, the air transportation system, and integrated defense
systems. Other aerospace systems also must rely on information
technology–intensive subsystems to provide important
onboard functions, including fly-by-wire flight control, autonomous
or semi-autonomous guidance and control, cooperative action
(including flight in formations or swarms), and health monitoring
systems. Furthermore, almost every aircraft or satellite is
one system within a larger system. Information plays
a central role in the interoperability of systems.
Faculty members in the Information Sector teach and perform research on a broad range of areas, including guidance, navigation, control, autonomy, communication, networks, and real-time mission-critical software and hardware. In many instances, the functions provided by aerospace information systems are critical to life or mission success. The complex nature of an aerospace system can either be simplified by the use of information technologies or can become significantly more complicated through the misuse of information technologies. Hence, safety, fault-tolerance, verification, and validation are significant areas of inquiry. Ongoing research in this sector includes command and control of multiple unmanned/autonomous vehicles, space and airborne communication systems and networks, and software development methods for flight and mission-critical systems, investigation of air traffic management, and application of control to smart systems.
The Information Sector has strong linkages to the department's Aerospace Systems Sector, particularly on issues related to how humans interact with aerospace vehicles. Other common interests include the safety aspects of large, mission-critical software systems, the design and operation of air transportation systems, and the design and operation of satellite systems. The sector also has linkages with the Vehicles Technology Sector. Current interests include research on unmanned aerial vehicles and smart structures. Moreover, the sector maintains linkages to the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department and the Engineering Systems Division through joint teaching and collaborative research in communication, networks, control, robotic systems, optimization, numerical techniques, and algorithms.
Aerospace Systems Sector
This sector is responsible for instruction and research in
systems engineering, a discipline that denotes the methodologies
used in the architecting, design, manufacture, and operation
of the highly complex and demanding systems in the
field of aeronautics and astronautics. The sector consists
of faculty members with research specialties in this area,
as well as faculty affiliates who contribute to the full disciplinary strength of the department.
The systems approach considers all factors important to the performance, economic viability, manufacture, acceptability, and operation of engineering systems—technical, social, environmental, production, financial, and safety aspects—and attempts to find optimal or best-value trade-offs among them while considering risk and uncertainty. The systems engineer must deal simultaneously with these factors, whether the objective is the transport of passengers in commercial aircraft, orbital communications, or the exploration of space, among others.
This sector addresses issues related to how humans interact with aerospace vehicles, including information-related and life-support aspects. Safety, fault-tolerance, verification, and validation are significant areas of inquiry. Ongoing research in the sector includes investigation of air traffic management, distributed satellite systems, enterprise architecture, integrated design of space-based optical systems, micro-gravity research into human physiology and technology maturation, and software development methods for flight and mission-critical systems.
Students interested in systems engineering should develop a strong background in some of the disciplines that support systems analysis, such as probability, statistics, optimization, operations research, manufacturing, and economics. Research labs associated with the activities of this sector include the Man Vehicle Laboratory, Space Systems Laboratory, Lean Advancement Initiative, International Center in Air Transportation, Operations Research Center, and Complex Systems Research Laboratory. Many of the department faculty in this sector are also associated with the Engineering Systems Division.
Vehicle Technologies Sector
The faculty in this sector are responsible
for teaching and research in the fields of computation, fluid
mechanics, propulsion, materials, and structures—technologies
needed for the design of aerospace vehicles. Although these
can be considered disciplinary fields, the faculty emphasize
interdisciplinary approaches in their teaching and research.
The intellectual breadth of the sector spans activities ranging from fundamental engineering science to design techniques, measurement technology, and detailed engineering of complex vehicle components and systems. Topics of interest include the computational design of fluid, material, and structural systems; heat transfer, aerodynamics, and fluid dynamics; reduced order modeling of unsteady fluid flows and structures; structural dynamic analysis and control; turbomachinery; robust design of propulsion and energy system components; electric and chemical space propulsion; gas turbine engine design; advanced composites, including nanoscale synthesis, characterization, and modeling; propulsion system integration; aerospace noise, emissions, and environmental impact; microelectromechanical systems and materials; multiscale modeling and simulation of advanced materials: engineered materials, failure mechanisms, and structural health monitoring; and biofluid mechanics.
Research laboratories and large interdisciplinary projects affiliated with the sector include the Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory; FAA/NASA Center of Excellence: Partnership for Air Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction; Gas Turbine Laboratory; Nano-Engineered Composite Aerospace Structures Consortium; Space Propulsion Laboratory; and Technology Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Structures.
Undergraduate study in the department leads to either the Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering (Course 16-1) or the Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with Information Technology (Course 16-2) at the end of four years. The program is designed to prepare the graduate for an entry-level position in the aerospace field and for further education at the master's level. The program includes an opportunity for a year's study abroad.
The CDIO of aerospace and related complex high performance systems and products forms the engineering context of the department's educational program. The skills and attributes emphasized go beyond the formal classroom curriculum and include: modeling, design, the ability for self education, computer literacy, communication and teamwork skills, ethics, and— underlying all of these—appreciation for and understanding of interfaces and connectivity between various disciplines. Opportunities for formal and practical (hands-on) training in these areas are integrated into the departmental subjects through examples set by the faculty, subject content, and the ability for substantive engagement in the CDIO process in the department's Learning Laboratory for Complex Systems.
The curriculum includes the General Institute Requirements described in the section on Undergraduate Education in Part 1 and the departmental program. The departmental program includes a fall-spring-fall sequence of subjects called Unified Engineering, Dynamics, and Principles of Automatic Control; a probability systems analysis subject and a subject in computers and engineering problem solving; professional area subjects; an experimental projects laboratory; and a capstone design subject. The program also includes the subject Differential Equations.
Unified Engineering is offered in sets of two 12-unit subjects in two successive terms. These subjects are taught cooperatively by several faculty members. Their purpose is to introduce new students to the disciplines and methodologies of aerospace engineering at a basic level, with a balanced exposure to analysis, empirical methods, and design. The areas covered include statics, materials, and structures; thermodynamics and propulsion; fluid mechanics; and signals and systems. Several laboratory experiments are performed and a number of systems problems tying the disciplines together are included.
Unified Engineering is usually taken in the sophomore year and the subjects Dynamics and Principles of Automatic Control in the first term of the junior year. Introduction to Computers and Engineering Problem Solving can be taken at any time, starting in the freshman year, but the fall term of the sophomore year is recommended.
The professional area subjects treat more completely and in greater depth the material to which the student is introduced in the core. In both degree programs, students take four subjects (48 units) from among the professional area subjects, with subjects in at least three areas. In Course 16-1, students must take at least two subjects designated as Aerospace Engineering. In Course 16-2, the student must take at least three subjects from among the Aerospace Information Technology list.
The subjects listed as Aerospace Engineering represent the more traditional aerospace disciplines encompassing the design and construction of airframes and engines. This includes fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, heat and mass transfer, computational mechanics, flight vehicle aerodynamics, solid mechanics, structural design and analysis, the study of engineering materials, structural dynamics, and propulsion and energy conversion from both fluid/thermal (gas turbines and rockets) and electrical devices.
The subjects listed as Aerospace Information Technology are in the broad disciplinary area of information, which plays an ever-increasing role in modern aircraft and spacecraft. This includes feedback, control, estimation, control of flight vehicles, software engineering, human factors engineering, aerospace communications and digital systems, the way in which humans interact with the vehicle through manual control and supervisory control of telerobotic processes (e.g., modern cockpit systems and human centered automation), and how planning and real-time decisions are made by machines.
Subjects in aerospace information technology are taught in both the Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The capstone subjects serve to integrate the various disciplines and emphasize the CDIO context of the Aero-Astro curriculum. They also satisfy the Institute requirement as Communication-Intensive in the Major (CI-M) subjects. The vehicle and system design subjects (16.82 and 16.83) require student teams to apply their undergraduate knowledge to the design of an aircraft or spacecraft system. One of these two subjects is required and is typically taken in the second term of the junior year or in the senior year. The rest of the capstone requirement is met by one of three 18-unit subject sequences: 16.621 and 16.622 Experimental Projects I and II; or 16.821 Flight Vehicle Development; or 16.831 and 16.832 Space Systems Development I and II. These sequences satisfy the Institute Laboratory Requirement. In 16.821 and 16.831/16.832 students build and operate the vehicles or systems developed in 16.82 and 16.83. In 16.621/16.622, students conceive, design, and execute an original experimental research project in collaboration with a partner and a faculty advisor.
To take full advantage of the General Institute Requirements and required electives, the department recommends the following: 3.091 for the chemistry requirement; the ecology option of the biology requirement; a subject in economics (e.g., 14.01) as part of the HASS Requirement; and elective subjects such as 16.00 Introduction to Aerospace and Design, a mathematics subject (e.g., 18.06, 18.075, or 18.085), and additional professional area subjects in the departmental program. Other elective options include the following six-unit subjects: 16.810 Engineering Design and Rapid Prototyping, offered during the Independent Activities Period, and 16.812 The Aerospace Industry, offered in the spring term.
Students may pursue two majors under the Double Major Program outlined in the section on Undergraduate Education in Part 1. In particular, some students may wish to combine a professional education in aeronautics and astronautics with a liberal education that links the development and practice of science and engineering to their social, economic, historical, and cultural contexts. For them, the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Program in Science, Technology, and Society offer a double major program that combines majors in both fields. For a detailed description of that integrated degree program, refer to the description of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society in Part 2.
The following programs exist to broaden the opportunities available to undergraduate students.
To take full advantage of the unique research environment of MIT, undergraduates are encouraged to become involved in the research activities of the department through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Many of the faculty actively seek undergraduates to become a part of their research teams. Specific areas of research opportunity are outlined in the section Research Laboratories and Activities below. For more information, please contact Marie Stuppard in the Aero-Astro Academic Programs Office, Room 33-208, 617-253-2279, mas@mit.edu.
The Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP) is a program sponsored by the School of Engineering and administered through the Office of the Dean of Engineering. Open to all School of Engineering sophomores, this program provides students an opportunity to develop engineering and business skills while working in industry, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies. UPOP consists of three parts: an intensive one week engineering practice workshop offered during IAP, 10-12 weeks of summer employment, and a written report and oral presentation in the fall. Students are paid during their periods of residence at the participating companies and also receive academic credit in the program. There are no obligations on either side regarding further employment. For more information, please contact Barbara Lechner in the Aero-Astro Academic Programs Office, Room 33-208, 617-258-7243, blechner@mit.edu.
The Summer Internship Program provides undergraduates in the department the opportunity to apply the skills they are learning in the classroom in paid professional positions with employers throughout the United States. Students are offered individual career advising as well as seminars on resume writing, interviewing, and the job-search process. Some students also choose to receive academic credit for their work experience by participating in a three-part educational process including preparation activity, the work experience, and reflection/evaluation activities when they return to school in the fall. For more information, please contact Barbara Lechner in the Aero-Astro Academic Programs Office, Room 33-208, 617-258-7243, blechner@mit.edu.
The department offers its undergraduate students an optional Year Abroad Program in partnership with several foreign schools of aeronautics and astronautics. Current partner schools are: Imperial College (London), L'Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (Toulouse, France), Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos (ETSIA, Madrid, Spain), Royal Technical Institute of Sweden (KTH, Stockholm), University of Stuttgart (Germany), and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zurich). The department also participates in the Cambridge University-MIT Undergraduate Exchange (CME) program. Students enroll in the academic cycle of the host institution and take courses in the local language. They plan their course of study in advance; this includes securing credit commitments in exchange for satisfactory performance abroad. A grade average of B or better is normally required of participating MIT students. For more information, contact Professor Manuel Martínez-Sánchez, Room 37-341, 617-253-5613. Also refer to Undergraduate Education in Part 1 for detailed information on the CME program.
MIT leads the NASA-supported Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium (MASGC) in partnership with Amherst College, Boston University, Harvard University, College of the Holy Cross, Holyoke Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Northeastern University, Olin College of Engineering, Roxbury Community College, Smith College, Tufts University, University of Massachusetts, Wellesley College, Williams College, Worcester College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Boston Museum of Science, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Christa McAuliffe Center/Framingham College, and many aerospace companies and laboratories throughout the United States. The program has the principal objective of stimulating and supporting student interest, especially that of women and underrepresented minorities, in space engineering and science at all educational levels, primary through graduate. The program offers a number of activities to this end, including sponsorship of undergraduate research projects, support for student travel to present conference papers, a January internship at the Kennedy Space Center, a spring undergraduate seminar on modern space science and engineering, an annual public lecture by a distinguished member of the aerospace community, and summer workshops for precollege teachers. An important function of the program is coordinating placement of students in summer positions in industry and at NASA centers for summer academies and research opportunities. For more information, contact the program coordinator, Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, Room 33-208, 617-258-5546, masgc@mit.edu.
For additional information concerning academic and research programs in the department, suggested four-year undergraduate programs, and interdisciplinary programs, please contact the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Academic Programs Office, Room 33-208, 617-253-2279, mas@mit.edu.
Graduate study in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics includes graduate-level subjects in Course 16 and others at MIT, and research work culminating in a thesis. Degrees are awarded at the master's, engineer's, and doctoral levels. The range of subject matter is described in the section Sectors of Instruction; subjects are listed in Part 3. The section Research Laboratories and Activities provides an overview of research interests. Detailed information may be obtained from the Department Academic Programs Office or from individual faculty members.
In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, applicants to the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics should have a strong undergraduate background in the fundamentals of aerospace engineering and mathematics as described in the section Undergraduate Study. In some cases, unfulfilled entrance requirements may also be satisfied during the first year of admission to the graduate program.
International students whose language of instruction has not been English in their primary and secondary schooling must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 250/600 to be considered for admission to this department. TOEFL waivers are not accepted. No other exam fulfills this requirement.
All applicants to the graduate program in Aeronautics and Astronautics also must submit the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test results.
New graduate students are normally admitted as candidates for the degree of Master of Science. Admission to the doctoral program is offered to students who have been accepted for graduate study through a three-step process:
The FE and RE examination is offered once each year, during the January Independent Activities Period. Students who wish to be considered for the doctoral program must take the FE and RE before the fourth term following initial registration in the graduate program.
The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics requires that all entering graduate students demonstrate satisfactory English writing ability by taking the Technical Writing Diagnostic Examination offered by the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. The examination is usually administered during the week after the initial date of registration in graduate school, and all entering candidates must take the examination at that time. Students with deficient skills must complete remedial training specifically designed to fulfill their individual needs. The remedial training prescribed by the Writing Program must be completed by the end of the first Independent Activities Period following initial registration in the graduate program or, in some cases, in the spring term of the first year of the program.
All incoming graduate students whose native language is not English are required to take the Department of Humanities English Evaluation Test (EET) offered at the start of each regular term. This test is a proficiency examination designed to indicate areas where deficiencies may still exist and recommend specific language subjects available at MIT.
All entering students are provided with additional information concerning degree requirements, including lists of recommended subjects, thesis advising, research and teaching assistantships, and course and thesis registration.
The Master of Science (SM) degree is a one- to two-year graduate program with a beginning research or design experience represented by the SM thesis. This degree prepares the graduate for an advanced position in the aerospace field, and provides a solid foundation for future doctoral study.
The general requirements for the Master of Science degree are cited in the section on General Degree Requirements for graduate students in Part 1. The specific departmental requirements include at least 66 subject units, typically in graduate subjects relevant to the candidate's area of technical interest. Of the 66 units, 42 units must be in H-level subjects, of which at least 21 units must be in departmental subjects. To be credited toward the degree, graduate subjects that are not H-level must carry a grade of B or better. In addition, a 24-unit thesis is required beyond the 66 units of coursework. Full-time students normally must be in residence one full academic year. Special students admitted to the SM program in this department must enroll in and satisfactorily complete at least two graduate H-level subjects while in residence (i.e., after being admitted as a degree candidate) regardless of the number of subjects completed before admission to the program. Students holding research assistantships typically require a longer period of residence.
In addition, the department's SM program requires one or two graduate-level mathematics subjects. The requirement is satisfied only by graduate-level subjects on the list approved by the department graduate committee. For students with a strong mathematical background, the requirement may be satisfied by taking one subject from the list of advanced math subjects approved by the graduate committee and achieving a grade of B or better. The specific choice of math subjects is arranged individually by each student in consultation with their faculty advisor.
The program leading to the degree of Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics is offered on a very limited basis to current students who are interested in a greater breadth of graduate subjects than is normally associated with a master's or doctoral program, with less emphasis on research than is required of doctoral candidates. The minimum study program of 162 subject units must include graduate subjects from each of the sectors, and the thesis work must have a strong engineering, as distinct from a scientific, orientation. Two years beyond the Bachelor of Science degree normally are the minimum for completion of this degree by a full-time student. New students are not admitted to the program; consult the department for more information.
Aero-Astro offers doctoral degrees (PhD and ScD) that emphasize in-depth study, with a significant research project in a focused area. Admission to the doctoral program requires students to pass a graduate-level examination in a field of aerospace engineering as well as to demonstrate an ability to conduct field research. The doctoral degree is awarded after completion of an individual course of study, submission and defense of a thesis proposal, and submission and defense of a thesis embodying an original research contribution.
The general requirements for this degree are given in the section on General Degree Requirements for graduate education in Part 1. A detailed description of the program requirements are outlined in a booklet entitled The Doctoral Program, available on the department website. After successful admission to the doctoral program, the doctoral candidate selects a field of study and research in consultation with the thesis supervisor and forms a doctoral thesis committee, which assists in the formulation of the candidate's research and study programs and monitors his or her progress. Demonstrated competence for original research at the forefront of aerospace engineering is the final and main criterion for granting the doctoral degree. The candidate's thesis serves in part to demonstrate such competence and, upon completion, is defended orally in a presentation to the faculty of the department, who may then recommend that the degree be awarded.
The department participates in several interdisciplinary fields at the graduate level, which are of special importance for aeronautics and astronautics in both research and the curriculum.
This program is available to students interested in biomedical instrumentation and physiological control systems where the disciplines involved in aeronautics and astronautics are applied to biology and medicine. Graduate study combining aerospace engineering with biomedical engineering may be pursued through the Bioastronautics PhD program offered as part of the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics PhD program in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) or in conjunction with the PhD and MEng programs in the Department of Biological Engineering (BE). Students wishing to pursue a degree through HST or BE must also apply to those graduate programs. At the master's degree level, students in the department may specialize in biomedical engineering research, emphasizing space life sciences and life support, instrumentation and control, or in human factors engineering and in instrumentation and statistics. For further descriptions of these programs, please see the listing for the Center for Biomedical Engineering in the section on Interdisciplinary Research and Study in Part 1. Most biomedical engineering research in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is conducted in the Man Vehicle Laboratory.
The Computation for Design and Optimization (CDO) program offers a master's degree to students interested in the analysis and application of computational approaches to designing and operating engineered systems. The curriculum is designed with a common core serving all engineering disciplines and an elective component focusing on specific applications. Current MIT graduate students may pursue a CDO master's degree in conjunction with a department-based master's or PhD program. For more information, see the full program description under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs or visit http://web.mit.edu/cdo-program/index.html.
For students interested in a career in flight transportation, a program is available that incorporates a broader graduate education in disciplines such as economics, management, law, and operations research than is normally pursued by candidates for degrees in engineering. Graduate research emphasizes one of the four areas of flight transportation: airport planning and design; air traffic control; air transportation systems analysis; and airline economics and management, with subjects selected appropriately from those available in the Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Economics, and the Center for Transportation Studies. A special interdepartmental program may be established for the doctoral student, or participation in the Operations Research Center program may be considered—see the section on Graduate Programs in Operations Research in Part 2.
The Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) program combines graduate education in engineering and management for those with two or more years of work experience who aspire to leadership positions in manufacturing or operations companies. This rigorous 24-month program combines subjects in technology and management. A required 6.5-month internship provides opportunity to complete a research project on site at one of LFM's partner companies. The internship leads to a dual-degree thesis, culminating in two master's degrees—an SM in management or an MBA, and an SM from a participating engineering department. The program is offered jointly through the MIT Sloan School of Management and the School of Engineering. For more information, see the program description under Engineering Systems Division or visit http://lfm.mit.edu/.
The System Design and Management (SDM) program is a partnership among industry, government, and the university for educating technically grounded leaders of 21st-century enterprises. Jointly sponsored by the School of Engineering and the Sloan School of Management, it is MIT's first degree program to be offered with a distance learning option in addition to a full-time in-residence option. For more information, see the program description under Engineering Systems Division or visit http://sdm.mit.edu/.
The Master of Science in Technology and Policy is an engineering research degree with a strong focus on the role of technology in policy analysis and formulation. The Technology and Policy Program (TPP) curriculum provides a solid grounding in technology and policy by combining advanced subjects in the student's chosen technical field with courses in economics, politics, and law. Many students combine TPP's curriculum with complementary subjects to obtain dual degrees in TPP and either a specialized branch of engineering or an applied social science such as political science or urban studies and planning. For additional information, see the program description under Engineering Systems Division or visit http://tppserver.mit.edu/.
Financial assistance for graduate study may be in the form of fellowships or research or teaching assistantships. Both fellowship students and research assistants work with a faculty supervisor on a specific research assignment of interest, which generally leads to a thesis. Teaching assistants are appointed to work on specific subjects of instruction.
A special relationship exists between the department and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. This relationship affords fellowship opportunities for SM and PhD candidates who perform their research as an integral part of ongoing projects at the Draper Laboratory. Faculty from the department maintain close working relationships with researchers at Draper, and thesis research at Draper performed by Draper fellows can be structured to fulfill MIT residency requirements. Further information on the Draper Laboratory can be found in the section on Interdisciplinary Research and Study in Part 1.
For additional information concerning academic, research, and interdisciplinary programs in the department, contact Marie Stuppard, mas@mit.edu. For information concerning admissions, financial aid and assistantships, contact Barbara Lechner, blechner@mit.edu, or Beth Marois, bethamar@mit.edu.
The department's faculty, staff, and students are engaged in a wide variety of research projects. Graduate students participate in all the research projects. Projects are also open to undergraduates through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Some projects are carried out in an unstructured environment by individual professors working with a few students. Most projects are found within the departmental laboratories and centers listed below. Faculty also undertake research in the Computer Science and Artifical Intelligence Laboratory, Draper Laboratory, Laboratory for Information and Decisions Systems, Lincoln Laboratory, Operations Research Center, Research Laboratory of Electronics, and the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, as well as in interdepartmental laboratories and centers listed in the introduction to the School of Engineering. Refer to the section on Interdisciplinary Research and Study in Part 1 for more detailed descriptions.
The mission of the Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory (ACDL) is to improve the design of aerospace systems through the advancement of computational methods and tools which incorporate multidisciplinary analysis and optimization, probabilistic and robust design techniques, and next-generation computational fluid dynamics. The laboratory studies a broad range of topics which focus on the design of aircraft and aircraft engines.
The Aerospace Controls Laboratory (ACL) researches topics related to autonomous systems and control design for aircraft, spacecraft, and ground vehicles. Theoretical research is pursued in areas such as decision making under uncertainty; path planning, activity, and task assignment; estimation and navigation; sensor network design; and robust control, adaptive control, and model predictive control. A key part of ACL is RAVEN (Real-time Indoor Autonomous Vehicle Test Environment), a unique experimental facility that uses motion-capture sensing to enable rapid prototyping of flight controllers for helicopters and aircraft; robust coordination algorithms for multiple helicopters; and vision-based sensing algorithms for indoor flight.
Increasing complexity and coupling as well as the introduction of new digital technology are introducing new challenges for engineering, operations, and sustainment. We are designing system modeling, analysis, and visualization theory and tools to assist in the design and operation of safer systems with greater capability. To accomplish these goals, we apply a system's approach to engineering that includes building technical foundations and knowledge and integrating these with the organizational, political and cultural aspects of system construction and operation.
While our main emphasis is aerospace systems and applications, our research results are applicable to complex systems in such domains as transportation, energy, and health. Current research projects include accident modeling and design for safety; model-based system and software engineering; reusable, component-based system architectures; interactive visualization; human-centered system design; system sustainment; and organizational factors in engineering and project management.
Work in the laboratory is focused on advanced propulsion systems and turbomachinery. Activities include computational, theoretical, and experimental study of transonic turbomachines; stability of compression systems; heat transfer in turbine blading; engine noise reduction; performance enhancement of propulsive devices through embedded streamwise vorticity for both reacting and non-reacting flows; and vortical structure and unsteady flows in turbomachines. The laboratory also provides a focus for research directed at quantifying and reducing the environmental impact of aerospace systems. Major research thrusts are pollutant emissions and community noise, two areas of significant concern for current and future aircraft. Two other major research areas are work on "smart engines," in which active control is utilized to enhance the dynamic performance of propulsion system components, and "micro engines," i.e., gas turbine engines of millimeter diameter with blading fabricated using microfabrication techniques.
The Humans and Automation Laboratory (HAL) focuses on the multifaceted interactions of human and computer decision making in complex sociotechnical systems.
With the explosion of automated technology, the need for humans as supervisors of complex automatic control systems has replaced the need for humans in direct manual control. A consequence of complex, highly automated domains in which the human decision maker is more "on-the-loop" than "in-the-loop" is that the level of required cognition has moved from that of well-rehearsed skill execution and rule following to higher, more abstract levels of knowledge synthesis, judgment, and reasoning.
Employing human-centered design principles to human supervisory control problems, and identifying ways in which humans and computers can leverage the strengths of the other to achieve superior decisions together is the central focus of HAL. Current research projects include collaborative human-computer decision making for command and control domains, investigating human understanding of multivariable optimization algorithms and visualization of cost (objective functions); the need for bounded collaboration, design of complex acquisition displays, human supervisory control of multiple heterogeneous unmanned vehicles; and developing and applying metrics for human supervisory systems.
The mission of ICAT is to contribute to improving the safety, efficiency, environmental performance, and effectiveness of air transportation worldwide by education and the use of information technologies. Current areas of research interest include: advanced Air Traffic Control and Management (ATM, ATC) systems; satellite based Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) systems in mature and developing world regions; advanced flight information systems; airline management; and operations (both flight operations and operations research). ICAT works closely with the Engineering Systems Division, the Center for Transportation Studies, and the Operations Research Center.
The Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at MIT, together with its Educational Network, offers its 63 organizational members from industry, government, and academia the newest and best thinking, products, and tools related to lean enterprise transformation. A unique and powerful research consortium, LAI provides a neutral forum for sharing research findings, lessons learned, and best practices. LAI's work is designed to enable enterprises to effectively, efficiently, and reliably create value in complex and rapidly changing environments. LAI enables the focused and accelerated transformation of complex enterprises through collaborative stakeholder engagement in developing and institutionalizing principles, processes, behaviors, and tools for enterprise excellence. For more information about LAI, see Part 1: Interdisciplinary Research and Study.
The laboratory's goal is to optimize human-vehicle system effectiveness by improving our understanding of human physiological and cognitive capabilities with particular emphasis on human spaceflight. Research is interdisciplinary, utilizing techniques from manual and supervisory control, estimation, signal processing, robotics, biomechanics, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, sensory-motor physiology, human factors, and biostatistics. The laboratory has several experiments in development for the International Space Station, and other ground-based projects sponsored by NASA and the National Space Biomedical Institute. Research focuses on control of posture and locomotion in partial gravity, spatial orientation in both real and virtual environments, aircraft cockpit displays and controls, and physiological and human factors aspects of EVA and artificial gravity systems, and design of exploration class missions.
The Space Systems Laboratory's (SSL) mission is to develop the technology and systems analysis associated with small spacecraft, precision optical systems, and International Space Station technology research and development. The laboratory encompasses expertise in structural dynamics, control, thermal, space power, propulsion, software development, and systems. Major activities include the development of small spacecraft thruster systems and the examination of issues associated with the distribution of function among satellites. In addition, technology is being developed for spaceflight validation in support of a new class of space-based telescope which exploits the physics of interferometry to achieve dramatic breakthroughs in angular resolution. The objective of the laboratory is to explore innovative concepts for the integration of future space systems and to train a generation of researchers and engineers conversant in this field.
The Technology Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Structures (TELAMS), formerly known as TELAC, has provided leadership in advancing the knowledge and capabilities of the composites and structures community through education of students, original research, and interaction with the community at large. The laboratory's emphasis on composite materials has led to research topics ranging from a basic understanding of composite materials to their behavior in specific structural configurations, with the ultimate objective of gaining a sufficient understanding of their properties and how those properties interact to determine the behavior of laminates and structures made of composite materials. This includes multiscale modeling and simulation of the mechanics of advanced materials used in the aerospace industry. Recently, the focus of the laboratory has broadened into other areas including nano-engineered hybrid advanced composite design, fabrication, and testing; carbon-nanotube–based nanocomposite synthesis, characterization, and modeling; and design, fabrication, and testing of microelectromechanical systems together with their associated materials and processes.
The largest on the MIT campus, this wind tunnel has a 7x10-foot cross-section, and is capable of steady flow speeds up to 200 mph. The facility is used for graduate and undergraduate instruction and research, as well as testing for outside companies. Active research and educational programs include aerodynamics of airplanes and space vehicles and the simulation of wind loads on architectural structures. Recently, the tunnel has been involved in aerodynamic test programs for Olympic athletes and sporting equipment such as bicycles and skis.
Ian Anton Waitz, PhD
Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Department Head
David Louis Darmofal, PhD
Associate Professor Aeronautics and Astronautics
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Associate Department Head
Edward Francis Crawley, ScD
Ford Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
John Jacob Deyst, Jr., ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Mark Drela, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terry J. Kohler Professor of Fluid Dynamics
Alan Harry Epstein, PhD
Richard Cockburn Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Edward Marc Greitzer, PhD
H. N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Steven Ray Hall, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Robert John Hansman, Jr., PhD
T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Wesley L. Harris, PhD
Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Associate Provost for Faculty Equity
Daniel Edgar Hastings, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Dean for Undergraduate Education
Jeffrey Alan Hoffman, PhD
Professor of the Practice of Astronautics
Jonathan Patrick How, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Paul Alfred Lagacé, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Nancy Gail Leveson, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Robert Liebeck, PhD
Professor of the Practice of Aerospace Engineering
Manuel Martínez-Sánchez, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
David W. Miller, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Dava Jean Newman, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Director, Technology and Policy Program
Deborah J. Nightingale, PhD
Professor of the Practice of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering
Systems
Amedeo Rodolfo Odoni, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jaume Peraire, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Sheila Evans Widnall, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Institute Professor
Brian Charles Williams, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Laurence Retman Young, ScD
Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics
Professor of Heath Sciences and Technology
M. L. Cummings, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Olivier Ladislas de Weck, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Emilio Frazzoli, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Eytan Modiano, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Raúl Alberto Radovitzky, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Zoltan Sandor Spakovszky, PhD
H. N. Slater Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Karen Elizabeth Willcox, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Moe Win, PhD
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Hamsa Balakrishnan, PhD
T. Wilson Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
and Engineering Systems
Paul Cesar Lozano, PhD
Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Youssef Marzouk, PhD
Boeing Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Nicholas Roy, PhD
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Brian L. Wardle, PhD
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Annalisa Lynn Weigel, PhD
Jerome C. Hunsaker Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and
Engineering Systems
Nicholas Cumpsty, PhD
Leonard Daniel, PhD
I. Kristina Lundqvist, PhD
Raymond J. Sedwick, PhD
Tomoki Kawakubo, MEng
Seung-hyun Kim, PhD
Richard Horace Battin, PhD
Fredric Franklin Ehrich, ScD
John E. Keesee, MS, Colonel USAF (Ret)
Richard B. Lewis II, MS
Charles McMaster Oman, PhD
Rudrapatna V. Ramnath, PhD
Peter Paul Belobaba, PhD
Doris R. Brodeur, PhD
Brian N. Nield, MS
George Thomas Schmidt, ScD
David J. Willis, PhD
Diane Hauer Soderholm, PhD
Todd R. Billings
Richard Frank Perdichizzi
David Robertson
Charles McMaster Oman, PhD
Choon Sooi Tan, PhD
Gerald Roger Guenette, Jr., PhD
Robert Haimes, MS
Stuart Jacobson, PhD
Oleg V. Batishehev, PhD
Peter Paul Belobaba, PhD
Yifang Gong, PhD
James Hileman, PhD
Joseph A. Palladino, PhD
Alvar Saenz-Otero, PhD
Woo Sik Kim, PhD
Antonio Miravete, PhD
Alan Natapoff, PhD
David J. Willis, PhD
Paul Henry Bauer, BS
John J. Kane, Jr., BS
James M. Letendre
Jacob Crandall, PhD
Birsen Donmez, PhD
Nicholas Dulac, PhD
Hai Minh Duong, PhD
Hyang Won Lee, PhD
Ngoc Cuong Nguyen, PhD
Afreen Siddiqi, PhD
James M. A. Waldie, PhD
Paul Jon Cefola, PhD
Javier de Luis, PhD
Dov Dori, PhD
James Stark Draper, PhD
Heiko Hecht, PhD
Michel Ingham, PhD
Joakim Karlsson, PhD
Ali Merchant, PhD
Richard Miake-Lye, PhD
James Donald Paduano, PhD
Martinus Van Schoor, PhD
Conrad Wall, III, PhD
Gregory Leon Zacharias, PhD
Eugene Edzards Covert, ScD
T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
John Dugundji, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Shaoul Ezekiel, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Electrical Engineering, Emeritus
Robert Louis Halfman, SM
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Norman Douglas Ham, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Walter Mark Hollister, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Jack Leo Kerrebrock, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Yao Tzu Li, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
James Wah Mar, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Winston Roscoe Markey, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Earll Morton Murman, PhD
Ford Professor of Engineering, Emeritus
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, Emeritus
Theodore Hsueh-Huang Pian, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Robert Channing Seamans, Jr., ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Thomas Brown Sheridan, ScD, D (hon)
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering and Applied
Psychology, Emeritus
Robert Warren Simpson, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Leon Trilling, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Wallace Earl Vander Velde, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Harold Yehuda Wachman, PhD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus
Emmett Atlee Witmer, ScD
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Emeritus