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Aerospace classes and labs are getting an overhaul at the �鶹��Ѱ�����.

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is in the midst of a multi-year rollout of a new undergraduate curriculum, updating courses, assignments, and hands-on experiences to meet new demands of research, education, and employers.

“The old curriculum was very ambitious when it was developed and made a lot of sense at the time, but it’s important to review your curriculum every so often, modernize it, and adjust it to the workforce and pressing issues,” said Charles Hoke, associate chair for undergraduate studies.

The new curriculum rollout began for first year students in academic year 2024-2025. It is advancing annually as those students progress. The sophomore curriculum started in 2025-2026 and the new junior curriculum began with the current fall semester.��

It has brought significant changes to classroom instruction.

“We introduced five new sophomore courses last year and in August we began rolling out nine new junior courses,” said John Evans, professor and chair.��

With new classroom instruction also comes new labs, including orbital trajectory projects, a flight simulation studio, construction and testing of gliders, radio signal orienteering, and hands-on experiences with direct application to real events.

“Intro to Astronautics starts with a lab that is a replica of the CO2 scrubbers from Apollo 13. Students have to fit a round peg into a square hole and try to save the astronauts,” Evans said.

A major additional benefit of the new curriculum is more flexibility and streamlined options for students transferring from other majors and universities.

“We used to teach Intro to Thermodynamics and Fluid Dynamics as a single course. Those are separate classes in most programs. That meant that if you had taken one of them in the mechanical engineering department and transferred to aerospace, even though we’re on the same campus, it didn’t map to our curriculum and you’d lose those credits,” Hoke said.

The new curriculum is also designed for scalability. The previous undergraduate program was developed in 1997, and while it has been updated repeatedly, it was intended for a much smaller student body.��

“At that time, we had graduating class sizes that were around 50-60. This fall we have well over 300 first year students,” Evans said.

In designing the new curriculum and courses, faculty reviewed offerings at peer universities and changing industry needs, particularly surrounding artificial intelligence.��

“Graduating students need to be AI forward,” Evans said.��“They need to understand the opportunities it creates, but they also need the judgment to know when to use it. AI can be an extraordinary tool for learning, but sometimes you need to struggle with a problem long enough to build real understanding. ��Students need to recognize when AI can help them move forward and when they need to work through something for themselves."