Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics

At the graduate level, the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) offers programs of study leading to a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (MSAEM) or a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Our mission is to serve society by educating the next generation of engineers and by creating innovative aerospace and mechanics knowledge to meet the technological challenges of the future.

The AEM department maintains and has access to excellent research laboratory and computing facilities. Two subsonic wind tunnels, two supersonic wind tunnels, and a water tunnel are available for experimental aerodynamics and fundamental fluid dynamics research. Two large-scale and multiple small-scale vacuum chambers are available for in-space propulsion- and spacecraft (CubeSat)-related research. In addition to traditional instrumentation, state-of-the-art laser-based diagnostics systems are available to support the research in the wind and water tunnels, as well as the ongoing space propulsion-related research being conducted by AEM faculty and students. Laboratory facilities for the design, fabrication, and testing of unmanned aerials systems (UASs) are also available as part of the Remote Sensing Center.

Computational facilities ranging from PC-based computer laboratories to high performance computing (HPC) facilities are used to support the broad spectrum of computational modeling research being conducted by the AEM faculty and students. Faculty and students in the AEM department have access to The University of Alabama’s High Performance Computing facility (located on the UA campus) and the Alabama Supercomputer Center (a state-run HPC facility that may be used free of charge by researchers at universities across the state of Alabama). In addition, AEM faculty maintain, in their respective laboratories, the specific computational modeling capabilities needed for their research. The AEM department also maintains a helicopter simulator within an actual UH-1 helicopter cockpit that supports ongoing rotorcraft research.  

The AEM department maintains the Advanced Materials Testing Laboratory, which is available for a wide range of macroscopic testing of materials systems and structural mechanics testing (with servo-hydraulic equipment for tensile, compression, torsion, fatigue, creep, and multiaxial high/low temperature testing as well as test cells for induction heating, spot welding, and X-ray inspection). The AEM department also maintains a multi-user composite materials laboratory (with equipment for the fabrication and testing of composite materials). Faculty and students in the AEM department have access to the Alabama Analytical Research Center (a state-of-the-art facility housing a myriad of equipment for microscopy related to materials science and engineering). AEM faculty and students also have access to the College of Engineering’s Cube facility (with equipment for both additive – including the 3D printing of composite materials – and subtractive manufacturing) and the College of Engineering Machine Shop (with a professional staff that supports the fabrication of research-related hardware).    

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