1/6/2016 Susan Mumm, Media Specialist
Written by Susan Mumm, Media Specialist
Several new Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Certificate Programs are intended to provide students with accessible, online or on-campus means to gain expertise on particular topics in AE’s graduate student curriculum.
AE Prof. John Lambros, who has led the program’s development, believes it presents an opportunity not only for on-campus but also for off-campus students who want the additional training for their general knowledge or to advance their careers. “Now that almost all of the AE graduate courses are online, they are much more accessible; they can be taken wherever the people are at.”
Since Fall 2014, AE has offered all non-laboratory graduate degree courses online. Specific groupings of these courses create the four areas that are now available as certificates.
Certificates are awarded upon the completion of 12 hours of coursework selected from each course grouping. Lambros believes the new program could appeal to working individuals who might be considering a master’s degree, but after spending many years away from school may be hesitant to jump back into student life. Earning a certificate first would allow them to gradually re-enter the academic environment. A master’s degree requires 32 hours and up to 12 hours of these could be transferred from a previously earned certificate.
Certificates also may be attractive to AE bachelor’s degree graduates who were interested in additional courses but were unable to fit them into undergraduate schedules. “An undergraduate’s time is filled with what they have to do; there’s not much time for electives,” Lambros observed. “This could be an option for people who have recently graduated and may have started working but don’t want to do a master’s, while still wanting to learn a few more things that may help them advance their careers.”
The certificate programs being offered are:
- Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics – for students who desire knowledge in these basic aspects of aircraft engineering.
- Aerospace Materials – for students wanting a closer examination of advanced materials – particularly composites and high temperature materials – that are becoming more commonplace in aerospace engineering.
- Aerospace Structural Mechanics – for practicing engineers who want additional technical expertise in aircraft structures.
- Spaceflight Engineering – for practicing engineers who want technical expertise across a wide range of space science topics.
These four new certificate programs are now being offered in addition to the Systems Engineering Certificate that AE has been offering since 2011.