About the Department

Iowa State has a long history of educational and research excellence in aerospace engineering. This includes training students for engineering careers in aviation starting as early as 1928, housing one of five NASA centers of excellence in Computational Fluid Dynamics in the 1970’s, building the world’s first Tornado and Downburst simulator, and housing the only university icing research wind tunnel in the United States.

Over the years, our graduates have gone on to distinguish themselves in the aerospace profession. Aerospace Engineering students at Iowa State take a rigorous curriculum in core aerospace engineering sciences and design and have numerous opportunities to pursue hand-on work both inside and outside the department.

Undergraduate programs provide students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed. Research and classwork focuses on such things as aircraft design, unpiloted aerial systems (drones), aircraft and wind turbine icing physics and anti-icing technology, flow diagnostics, wind simulation, guidance, controls, astrodynamics and space systems, non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDTE) and more. Undergraduate students take advantage of special programs that involve aircraft design and construction, rocketry, designing satellites and creating specialized vehicles.

Graduate Programs allow our scientists to combine their knowledge, along with unique and state-of-the-art lab facilities, to allow graduate students pursue advanced degrees. Department researchers make continuous contributions to aerospace engineering advancements. Structures and materials, non-destructive evaluation of aerospace components, flight dynamics, controls, and optimization of systems impact the advancement of aerospace engineering worldwide.