Today
As of June 2009, the aerospace engineering faculty consists of ten members. We have four full-time staff and one part time. Ginger Ware is our office administrator who keeps things running. Evia Vickerstaff keeps student records and assists Dr. Steve Gross and Dr. Brian Thurow with undergraduate and graduate students, respectively. Sara Allen, who works part time, keeps our books in order. Jim Lin is our Ph.D. electrical engineer and Andy Weldon is our model builder and machinist.
Excluding freshmen, around 160 students are enrolled in the undergraduate program. The future looks bright since, this year Camp War Eagle results include that over 40 aspiring freshmen have expressed the intent to enter the program. The relatively low student-to-faculty ratio in the undergraduate program will probably not remain low for too long, but should continue to be low enough to allow for considerable student/faculty interaction. The graduate programs (Master of Aerospace Engineering, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy) have a combined enrollment of about 35.
Current research emphasizes the application of genetic algorithms to design missiles, design and prototyping of unmanned aerial vehicles, non-obtrusive 3D diagnostics of flow fields, experimental aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, applied structural dynamics, orbital mechanics and modeling and simulation of flight vehicles and transportation systems. Even though much time is spent on research, the faculty members are all committed to providing excellence in instruction at all levels.
Plans are in effect to increase graduate enrollments. Of course, this implies that research funding and faculty size must be increased also.
