Aerospace Honors Program

The Aerospace Engineering Honors Program at the University of Maryland provides a rigorous and comprehensive education for a career in technical leadership and scientific or engineering research.

Honors Handbook Honors Curriculum Sheet

Honors course work encompasses the required curriculum for all University of Maryland Aerospace Engineering students, but at an advanced level. Students also have the opportunity to engage in a number of independent research projects.

Why is Maryland's Aerospace Engineering Honors Program special?

Only students with the highest academic credentials are invited to participate
Classes are limited to a small number of students, which facilitates discussion and close interaction with faculty
Research opportunities are an integral part of the program, providing students with hands on experience during their under graduate education

In your sophomore, junior, and senior years, you will take honors versions of core aerospace engineering courses, which go into greater depth and are more challenging than the standard program. In your senior year, you will enroll in elective courses and complete an honors project under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

Successful completion of the Aerospace Engineering Honors Program will be noted on your diploma. The curriculum is designed to prepare our students for the world of engineering and emphasizes design and hands-on engineering.

This program is intensive and is intended only for the top undergraduates in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

Students with a minimum 3.5 GPA can be considered for the honors program, however, this is subject to change based on the eligible invitees. For example, the cut off GPA could be higher if a large enough number of students meet, or surpass, this minimum requirement. To maintain a place in the Honors Program, students must maintain and graduate with a minimum of a 3.5 GPA.

Invitation

At the end of their first academic year, each aerospace student is evaluated by the Aerospace Undergraduate Faculty Committee. Students will be invited to join the program based on their University of Maryland cumulative grade point average and progress toward their degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Honors sections of these aerospace engineering courses are offered:

ENAE 283H- Introduction to Aerospace Systems
Introduction to airplanes and space vehicles as aerospace systems. Fundamentals that describe these systems. Elements of aerodynamics, airfoils, and wings. Airplane performance, stability, and control. Aircraft and rocket propulsion. Fundamentals of orbital motion. Aspects of vehicle conceptual design.
ENAE 311H - Aerodynamics I
Fundamentals of aerodynamics. Elements of compressible flow. Normal and oblique shock waves. Flows through nozzles, diffusers and wind tunnels. Elements of the method of characteristics and finite difference solutions for compressible flows. Aspects of hypersonic flow.
ENAE 423H - Vibration and Aeroelasticity
Dynamic response of single and multiple degrees of freedom systems, finite element modeling, wing divergence, aileron reversal, wing and panel flutter.
ENAE 398H - Honors Research Project
Undergraduate honors research project conducted under the direction of an AE faculty member in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the College of Engineering Honors Program.

Research projects take you to places that you have never been before.

Take a dive to view robots assembling space structures in simulated micro-gravity
Test new fluids for dampers in the dynamometer testing facility
Develop flight hardware that could be launched to the International Space Station
Spin some rotor blades in the hover stand to determine stability

While students are encouraged to reach out to faculty earlier in the program, by the end of the Fall semester of their Junior year they must submit a completed Project Approval Form to the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator.

In order to graduate with honors, students must complete an Application for Graduation Honors to ensure that they have met all the honors program requirements.