Take off with an Aeronautical Engineering Degree from SNHU
Learn about aircraft design, analysis, development, and manufacturing with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering degree from Southern New Hampshire University. Through this program, you'll have the opportunity to apply knowledge and theories learned in the classroom to practical, real-world situations. You'll develop projects from concept to completion, and build confidence and competence when it comes to solving engineering design problems.
SNHU has modelled its engineering programs in accordance with the international CDIO initiative, "an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers that stresses engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving, Designing, Implementing, and Operating real-world systems and products." CDIO is a prominent engineering educational philosophy and is intended to achieve a fine balance between project-based, hands-on learning and traditional, theory-based engineering education. No matter your interest, the program will help you develop the necessary skills to begin your chosen career.
The Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at Southern New Hampshire University is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
See Yourself Succeed with an Aeronautical Engineering Degree
When you enroll in the Aeronautical Engineering program at SNHU, you're signing up for a wide-ranging series of courses that will help you understand the full scope of the industry. The expert faculty members at SNHU are dedicated to helping you realize and guide your education and job goals down the path to a successful career in the industry.
As a private, nonprofit university, SNHU has one mission - to help you see yourself succeed. The benefits of majoring in Aeronautical Engineering at SNHU include:
- Supportive community. Join the SNHU campus community of students who are closely connected with faculty and staff dedicated to your success.
- Affordability. It’s our mission to make higher education more accessible. That’s why, SNHU is one of the most affordable private, nonprofit universities in New Hampshire.
- Accessible faculty. Learn from highly credentialed faculty members who are experts in their fields and interact with you in the classroom, dining hall, fitness center, and anywhere else you need them.
- Opportunity. Tap into our nationwide network of alumni and strong connections with employers for internship and career opportunities.
- Campus experience. Enjoy more than 50 student clubs, Division II athletics, and fun events on our 300-acre campus in Manchester, N.H., named a "Best Place to Live" by Money magazine.
Program Educational Objectives
The following statements describe the career and professional accomplishments that the BS Aeronautical Engineering program is preparing graduates to achieve within a few years of graduation:
- Professional careers in Aeronautical Engineering or other disciplines utilizing the knowledge and problem solving skills they developed in the SNHU Aeronautical Engineering program;
- Increasing responsibility in technical and/or management areas;
- Recognition or affirmation from their managers and peers as effective and valued members of their work team;
- Increasing discernment and sensitivity in the consideration of global and societal contexts and consequences when making engineering decisions;
- Expansion of their professional, personal, and interpersonal skills and engagement in lifelong learning activities, including post-graduate education for some graduates;
- Involvement with professional and other service activities that contribute to industry and society.
Internships & Outcomes
Graduates from the Aeronautical Engineering program at SNHU will be able to put engineering theories and concepts into practice. This program may prepare you to enter the workforce in various civilian and military aviation professions.
By gaining a thorough understanding of the problems that aeronautical engineers face on a daily basis and being able to apply your knowledge and skills to overcome them, you can make yourself a valuable asset to companies within your field. Whether your goal is to enter public sector, private sector, or even the military, this program will put you one step closer to achieving your goals.
Program Outcomes
The following statements describe what students are expected to know and be able to do upon completion of the BS Aeronautical Engineering program:
- Ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- Ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- Ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- Ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and social contexts.
- Ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
- Ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- Ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
Courses To Prepare You For Your Life & Career
SNHU's bachelor's in aeronautical engineering program includes:
- General education courses
- Degree-specific courses
General Education Program
SNHU's required general education program, known as The Commons, aims to guide you toward success in not only your academic career, but your personal and professional life too.
Throughout the curriculum, you'll gain some of the most in-demand skills in today's workplace, including:
- Research and information analysis
- Diverse audience communication
- Critical thinking and ethical problem solving
- Leadership, emotional intelligence and collaboration
This expertise will prove practical, transferable and invaluable as you grow in your career and contribute positively to society.
Beyond foundational skill development, the general education program also provides the benefit of allowing you to explore a wide range of fields outside of your intended major.
| View Full Curriculum in the Catalog |
|---|
| BS in Aeronautical Engineering and concentrations |
| Courses May Include | ||
|---|---|---|
| BS in Aeronautical Engineering Campus | ||
| EG 112 | Engineering Design II | This course is an introduction to mechanical design and analysis, in which students continue to develop their understanding of the engineering design process through individual and team projects. Software tools for modeling, visualization, and analysis are introduced, along with project management tools and practices. Individual and team projects, presentations, and reports will reinforce the design process concepts and professional communication skills. Students will implement prototypes using a variety of fabrication tools available. Successful completion of the design project will require the team to integrate their mechanical design, manufacturing, project management, computer control system, programming, and presentation skills. |
| EG 200 | Statics | This course explores the definitions and concepts of forces and moments, and their applicability to the analysis of static, rigid mechanical systems. Specific topics include free body diagrams, resultants and equivalent force systems, static equilibrium, shear and bending diagrams, static analysis of trusses and frames, friction forces, and calculation of centroids and area moments of inertia. |
| EG 201 | Fluid Mechanics | This course provides an introduction to the concepts and applications of mechanics of fluid. The course begins by introducing the student to fluid properties. This is followed by a discussion of fluid statics, including pressure distribution and forces on submerged, curved and plane surfaces. The student will then learn how to derive and apply integral formulations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy with emphasis on control-volume applications. Dimensional analysis is studied and applied. The latter part of the course focuses on pipe flows with consideration of head loss, use of the Moody diagram, and analysis of pipe networks. Finally, the concepts of drag and lift are introduced. Students will perform three laboratory experiments in this course. |
| EG 202 | Mechanics of Materials I | This course enhances the students understanding of stress and strain, and their linear-elastic relationship through Hooke's Law. The stress induced in simple beams and columns, as subjected to axial, torsional, bending, and shear loading, is extensively covered. The concept of state of plane-stress, as a result of combined loadings (superposition), and transformation to principal components, is covered. Based on allowable stress, basic beam design is introduced. Methods to determine the deformation of beams and shafts are covered. The concepts are supported by software-based stress analysis and the application of computational software in structural design. |
| EG 203 | Dynamics | This course develops the student's ability to solve non-equilibrium problems, extending mechanics beyond statics to the mechanics of motion. Vector analysis, trigonometry, and calculus are used to analyze advanced problems involving motion. The first component of the course covers particle motion (translational motion kinematics, kinetics via general equations of motion, energy methods, and conservation of momentum). Particle dynamics are explored by analyzing data from an actual flight in an instrumented airplane. The second component of the course covers rigid body motion (translational and rotational kinematics, kinematics via general equations of motion, energy methods, and conservation of momentum). A final course team project deals with the analysis of a complex dynamics problem. |
| EG 207 | Instrumentation & Measurements | This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts, principles, procedures, and computations regarding modern instrumentation and measurement systems. Students will gain a sound understanding of a language (LabVIEW ) used to describe modern instrumentation, measurement, and control systems and an appreciation of the various types of systems in common use in industry. Students will use this software to create virtual instruments. Particular emphasis will be given to electrical, mechanical, flow, and thermal measurement systems. The course will also cover statistical analysis to evaluate the quality of measurements, standard methods of characterizing measurement results, and methods for characterizing measurement system response. The students work in teams to conceive-design-implement-operate a project incorporating multiple sensors and data acquisition and analysis. |
| EG 208 | Materials Science | This course provides a broad survey of the fundamental concepts in materials science and engineering. It focuses on material microstructure and its impact on various bulk properties. The relationship between properties, structure, processing, and performance will be a repeating theme in this course. We will pay most attention to metals as about 80% of the elements form metallic bonds with an introduction to ceramics and polymers. The course includes introduction to the mechanical, thermal, and electrical, properties of materials. Through the course, we will discuss case studies that relate materials to applicable engineering design. |
| EG 209 | Thermodynamics I | This course provides the student with a working knowledge of thermodynamic concepts and the problem solving ability to set up and apply the appropriate laws in the thermodynamic analysis of engineering systems. Energy, heat, and work are defined and used in the First Law of Thermodynamics. Other thermodynamic properties and equations of state are introduced with emphasis on tabular and graphical forms for simple compressible systems and on the ideal gas. Phases and phase transitions are discussed and energy analysis of both open and closed systems is examined. The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the property entropy are introduced, and their macro and microscopic implications are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of irreversibility and the limitation this places on the behavior of engineering systems. |
| EG 308 | Gas Dynamics | This course provides students an opportunity to study the one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional compressible fluid flow with an emphasis on supersonic flow. The fundamental equations (continuity, momentum, and energy) that govern the characteristics of compressible flow are derived. The Mach number and various flow regimes are introduced. The phenomena and sources of normal shock waves, oblique shock waves, and Prandtl-Meyer expansion waves and their analysis techniques are presented. Other topics are: nozzles, diffusers, one-dimensional flow with heat addition (Rayleigh flow), one-dimensional flow with friction (Fanno flow), moving shock waves, shock tubes, and linearized supersonic theory. |
| EG 310 | Junior Engineering Design | In this continuation of the engineering design sequence for all engineering students, this course reinforces student knowledge of the design process to prepare students for Capstone Design. As part of a variety of instructor-approved design projects, students explore relevant mechanical, electrical, and aeronautical engineering topics. All stages of the design process are reinforced, including project proposals, project planning, preliminary and detailed design and relevant reviews, analysis, design iteration, fabrication, and testing. As in other design courses, teamwork, report writing, and presentation skills are emphasized. |
| EG 314 | Aerodynamics | This course studies the fundamentals of incompressible fluid flow, compressible flow, subsonic and supersonic flow, inviscid flow, laminar and turbulent flow, and potential flow, followed by their theoretical applications on airfoil theory and finite wing theory, including Kutta-Joukowski law, linear thin airfoil theory, and Prandtl's lifting-line theory. The course also introduces fundamental aerodynamic concepts and phenomenon such as wing tip vortex, downwash, induced drag, induced angle, spanwise efficiency factors, friction drag, pressure drag, and aerodynamic center. |
| EG 316 | Electrical Circuits | This course provides fundamental knowledge to solve problems in electrical circuits. Topics to be covered include nodal and mesh analysis of circuits, using Kirchhoff's laws, superposition theorem, Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits. Analysis of first and second order RC, RL, and RLC circuits. Software packages are employed throughout this course to simulate and analyze various electric circuits. |
| EG 326 | Aircraft Structures | This course provides a description of aircraft materials, structural components and their functionalities. The maneuvering loads and flight envelope are introduced. The analysis of aircraft thin-walled structural components when subjected to torsion, bending, and shear loads is covered in detail. A design project utilizing commercial finite element software provides students with real-world experience. |
| EG 330 | Propulsion | This course provides a basic understanding of, and analysis tools for, various aerospace propulsion systems. Students apply the fundamentals of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics to complex propulsion systems. Subjects included are: analysis of various common aircraft propulsion systems with emphasis on jet engines (turbojet, turbofan, and turboprop) and their subsystems (including afterburners and exhaust nozzles). Reciprocating engines (including propeller momentum and blade element theories and propeller efficiency analysis) and rocket engines (both solid and liquid propellants) are covered. |
| EG 333 | Control Systems Analysis | This course provides students an opportunity to model, analyze, and design control systems. It includes mathematical modeling of linear systems for time and frequency domain analysis, transfer function and state variable representations for analyzing control system's performance and stability; and closed-loop control design techniques by frequency response, and root-locus methods. It also involves computer programming and simulation exercises. This course gives a basic understanding and analysis tools of various control systems used in the aeronautical, mechanical, and electric and electronics industries. |
| EG 390 | Experiment Design and Analysis | In this course students learn how to design, evaluate, and implement experiments, and analyze the resulting data. The professional presentation and reporting of experimental results are addressed. Uncertainty analysis techniques are covered in detail. General uncertainty analysis is introduced as a means to evaluate a proposed experiment. Both the Taylor Series and Monte Carlo methods for estimating error propagation are covered. Hypothesis testing procedures for one-sample and two sample data comparisons are covered in detail. Factorial experiment design and analysis are also introduced. Students apply these theories in a final project. |
| EG 412 | Aircraft Design I | In this course students learn aircraft design techniques and apply aeronautical science concepts to aircraft design. It brings together most of the aeronautical subjects studied so far and requires the students to demonstrate creativity in the application of these concepts. Design procedures, processes, steps and tools related to aircraft are introduced and applied to the three major phases of design: conceptual design, preliminary design, and detail design. The course includes an aircraft design project, with problem sets and lectures devoted to various aspects of the design and analysis of a complete air vehicle. |
| EG 418 | Flight Dynamics I (Performance) | In this course, the equations of motion for steady state rectilinear flight are derived and applied to various flight conditions, such as pressure and temperature as functions of altitude and other atmospheric variables. Students learn to calculate all performance specifications of an aircraft such as maximum speed, maximum endurance, range, ceiling, take-off run, rate of climb, fastest turn, and tightest turn. Both propeller-driven and jet aircraft are covered. As part of this course, students plan and conduct three flight tests using a specially instrumented DWC Cessna 172 aircraft; they evaluate the results of the flight tests and compare them with theoretical calculations. |
| EG 419 | Flight Dynamics II/Stability/Control | This is a basic course in the stability and control of aircraft which are two pre-requisites of a safe flight. The six degree-of freedom differential equations of motion are introduced, after which the linearized perturbed state equations of motion are derived. Important topics in this course are: longitudinal static and dynamic stability, stick fixed and stick free neutral points and static margin, lateral-directional static and dynamic stability, trim conditions, longitudinal-lateral-directional coupling, control and maneuverability, stick fixed and stick free maneuver points, stability and control derivatives and handling qualities and control response. As part of this course, students will plan and conduct three flight tests using a specially instrumented DWC Cessna 172 aircraft; they will evaluate the results of the flight tests and compare them with theoretical calculations. |
| MAT 325 | Calculus III: Multivariable Calculus | Many real-world applications of calculus in science, engineering, economics, and business employ functions with many variables. This course extends the basic concepts of single-variable calculus developed in MAT 225 and MAT 275 to functions of several variables. Topics include vectors, the geometry of space, vector-valued functions, motion in space, partial derivatives and multiple integrals. |
| MAT 350 | Applied Linear Algebra | This is a first course in linear algebra and matrices. Topics include systems of linear equations, linear independence, matrices of linear transformations, matrix algebra, determinants, vector spaces, eigenvalues and eigenvectors. After mastering the basic concepts and skills, students will use their knowledge of linear algebra to model a selection of applied mathematics problems in business, science, computer science and economics. |
| PHY 216 | Physics II | This is the continuation of PHY-215 with similar characteristics; i.e., it is a calculus based physics course and stresses problem-solving. Topics covered include temperature, thermal equilibrium, thermal expansion, calorimetry, periodic waves, mathematical descriptions of a wave, speed of transverse waves, sound waves in gases, electric charges, atomic structure, Coulomb's Law, Kirchhoff's rules, magnetic fields and flux, motion of charged particles in a magnetic field, reflection and refraction, total internal refraction, Fermat's Principles of Least Time, geometrical optics, refraction of spherical surfaces, lenses, and an introductory topic of modern physics. The required lab component of this course covers introductory methods and techniques of laboratory experimentation in topics covered in this course. Students learn about procedures for measuring physical quantities and methods for collecting and analyzing experimental data. Students are required to complete 12 experiments in areas such as Thermophysics, Sound and Waves, Electricity, Magnetism, Optics, or Atomic and Nuclear Physics. |
| PHY 216L | Physics II Lab | This is the continuation of PHY-215 with similar characteristics; i.e., it is a calculus based physics course and stresses problem-solving. Topics covered include temperature, thermal equilibrium, thermal expansion, calorimetry, periodic waves, mathematical descriptions of a wave, speed of transverse waves, sound waves in gases, electric charges, atomic structure, Coulomb's Law, Kirchhoff's rules, magnetic fields and flux, motion of charged particles in a magnetic field, reflection and refraction, total internal refraction, Fermat's Principles of Least Time, geometrical optics, refraction of spherical surfaces, lenses, and an introductory topic of modern physics. The required lab component of this course covers introductory methods and techniques of laboratory experimentation in topics covered in this course. Students learn about procedures for measuring physical quantities and methods for collecting and analyzing experimental data. Students are required to complete 12 experiments in areas such as Thermophysics, Sound and Waves, Electricity, Magnetism, Optics, or Atomic and Nuclear Physics. |
| Total Credits: 125 | ||
Campus Undergraduate Tuition
Our Manchester campus aims to keep tuition and related costs low for our students so that you can pursue your degree and your goals.
University Accreditation
This program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Student and graduate data can be found below:
Program Enrollments (Fall 2023)
Aeronautical Engineering (BS): 47
Graduates (Academic Year 2022-2023)
Aeronautical Engineering (BS): 12
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