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Space Isn't The Only Destination: Exploring Aerospace Engineering · You've Got Options

• Clare: Welcome back everyone Today we are going to be going over aerospace engineering. Very sought out major in our college. Many people come into the college thinking they know what aerospace engineering is. And while you may be correct, I want to challenge some of the assumptions you may have about the aerospace engineering major and do a deep dive into really what is this major about and what can you do with it. First, I think it's important we talk about the curriculum. What are you going to be doing in that first year, those first two years, once you've got into the program? Well, you can expect a lot of the same foundation courses as a lot of our other engineering majors, like Calculus One, through Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Physics, Chemistry, Computing, and Projects courses. But I think it's important we learn a little bit more about what is within this curriculum, what can you expect, how flexible is it? So I am joined today by Savannah Moore, who is a professional academic advisor in aerospace engineering. And she is here today to help us do a deeper dive into the curriculum and understand what it's like to be an aerospace engineering student at CU. Welcome Savannah. thanks for being here today. I appreciate you taking the time to give us a little bit more insight into what it's like to be an aerospace engineering student an insight into the curriculum, because I just can provide the basics, so I need I need all the info. before we start, I just want to know kind of how you got to where you are today. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm really excited to be here today and talking more about the aerospace major. So how I got here specifically, I actually did my undergrad in music education and I was like very set on becoming a music teacher, but then I did my student teaching during COVID and that kind of just It made me realize that that might not be where I want to be for a long time. So maybe I need to start considering a career pivot, even though I was like just getting started. And that's okay. It's okay to, you know, go through your program and then realize at the end this might not be where I want to be, but you can use relevant experience to kind of determine where the next best path would be. So for me, my undergrad degree was technically in education, and so I wanted to go and pursue a master's degree. In education, and I figured that instead of working in K-12, I wanted to maybe work with college students. So I was looking at different programs where I could use my previous education degree for a master's of education, and I found something that was student affairs, college, higher education related, and so I did that program. It was at the University of Georgia, the College Student Affairs Administration, Masters of Education, and so I completed that. And then from there, at that point, I knew I wanted to go. Into some sort of advising role for students in higher education. So I was looking at CU Boulder and I was able to find the posting for the College of Engineering was looking for aerospace advisors So now I'm here at Aerospace, which is really cool. And I've been here a little over two years now, Yay, thanks for sharing. Me and Savannah started around the same time. So yeah and I had a very similar experience. I started in business and then ended up here. just based on the experiences I had while I was in my undergrad. So I appreciate that perspective. thanks for sharing. We can just dive into it. What are some common reasons you hear about why students want to do aerospace? I love to hear the students why, for why they chose that particular major. And for aerospace, a lot of the times I'll hear that either a family member or a sibling was an engineering student and are now a full-time engineer, I've had some students who have bigger aspirations to become astronauts, which is pretty cool. But also, you know, there's the spacecraft side of things, but there's also the aircraft side of things. So we have a lot of students who are aspiring pilots who really want that aircraft background in aerospace engineering. And so that's what drove them to choose this major. But then other reasons, you know, for engineering related, they are problem solvers. They've always enjoyed their engineering classes in high school, or specific interest that aerospace can help get them there. So those are sort of some of the reasons why students will choose the aerospace major. And along those same lines With students that are interested in this major or coming into this major, what questions do they usually ask about this major and what are your answers to those questions? so we recently went through a curriculum change, and so anyone who's now moving into aerospace, we have sort of a track, and I'm using quotes when I say track, because students can choose between either focusing more on spacecraft or focusing more on aircraft. So the a lot of the questions right Now are you know how do I choose? How do I make sure that I'm in those classes that I want to be in? And my recommendation is just making sure that you are staying on top of when you receive your registration date and time, making sure that you're doing it that day, that hour that it suggests, so that you have the best chance of getting into that class because we do have a very large department, and sometimes you will find yourself getting on a wait list for a class that you really want, and you know that's just because we only have so much space. And so many faculty teaching those classes. So that's why I really encourage students to just be really on top of their registration date and time. But if you are waitlisted for a class, usually these classes are offered every single semester. So if it doesn't work out for a single semester, we could maybe consider doing it the following semester and making sure that you are still on track to graduate at that time. Other questions that students will ask just around classes in general are extra support options. That they have. We offer a lot of academic support for our basic engineering classes, but once we get into the aerospace 2000, 3000 senior level classes as well, students are looking for tutoring options. And we don't have a specific list of tutors, but we do offer aerospace study halls on Tuesdays and Thursdays where the teaching assistants or the professors themselves will be available for students to go get that extra support in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. so that's another common question that we get for especially our upper level aerospace courses. wow, that's great. I didn't know that that you offered that study hall for upper division aerospace courses. Yeah. That's amazing. I wish we had that sometimes. Yeah, I mean it's up to them to go. Yeah, right. Because you know, it's it's in the evenings and sometimes that doesn't work with everybody. And if they can't go, then I suggest office hours. But yeah, it is a consistent thing that we offer in. The fall and the spring. That's great. Well, along the lines of you know, if you're waitlisted for a class and you can't take it, if you can push it into the spring, how flexible is your curriculum? With this new curriculum change, it's opened up a lot more flexibility than in the past. So if you've known a person who has done the aerospace major in the past, it's been pretty rigid. But now we have the opportunity for students to really mix and match their class schedules based on where. They're at. And so if you are a student who is not starting first year as aerospace and coming in later, that's completely okay. We'll work with where you're at and make sure that you're still on track to graduating when you anticipate graduating, if that's possible. I mean, we still have prerequisite chains, so you can only take certain classes once you've completed other classes, and that's kind of where that rigidity still exists. And same thing over the summers, you know, there is a lot of different options where we can use some of your other credits over the summer so that we can focus. Focus more on the aerospace classes during the fall and the spring semesters when those are mostly offered. Okay, good to know. And what about integrating minors? Or I know study abroad can be a little tricky with aerospace. What are your recommendations on getting started with? Those opportunities, the availability to do those while you're doing aerospace. I'll start with study abroad. So with study abroad, that has also been a little bit more flexible because of this new curriculum that we have. So before there were like no aerospace classes that were offered abroad, and now we have way more opportunities to go abroad. It is program specific, so you do have to search for specific programs if you wanted to. Go in a fall or a spring semester because we want to make sure that you're still taking those aerospace classes while you're abroad so you're not falling behind if you don't want to fall behind. the best time to go would probably be sometime. in the sophomore year, so either the fall or spring of sophomore year or the fall of junior year. because we would want to make sure that by the time you're coming back in that, Third to last semester that you're really getting everything that you need here. And then with minors, that's pretty easy. To add to aerospace, we have a lot of different engineering minors that work really well with the technical elective requirement anyway. We also have a math science elective, which is sort of like a technical elective but includes some lower level math science courses. So you can actually use the math science elective and your technical elective to work towards an engineering minor, like the astronomy minor, for instance. That one is a really popular one for aerospace. And then if You wanted to consider something that more works with your humanities. we have a lot of different options, like the Space Minor is a very popular one where that can combine both humanities and technical electives We can also suggest the engineering leadership certificate that works really well with humanities and your writing requirement. I mean it's really up to what your interests are, and I encourage students to come to any advisor. And specifically say, you know, I'm interested in the electrical engineering minor or I'm interested in the computer science minor. What do I need to do to make sure that it's not one extending my degree past my expected graduation and two working to cover both aerospace requirements and minor requirements because it's best when you can really double dip. There are possibilities to completing minors that do not overlap with aerospace requirements, but It's probably better to find something that does just because you're not adding those extra classes into your already pretty full busy schedule each semester. Yeah, something I tell students is to pay attention to the credits, the amount of credits the minor is. Yeah. Cause sometimes it's like twenty-eight credits. And granted, some of that could be like physics one, physics two. So you already take those anyway, but sometimes they're not and they're a lot of extra credits that you would have to take. So that's great to hear that it's more flexible, that you can integrate these more easily, so what classes do you students usually find the most challenging and why? So I'll kind of start year by year. So in the first year, our calculus classes are the most challenging for students, especially if you take them through applied math. But that there's a reason for that, right? They want you to have that really good foundation and they want you to start applying these concepts to engineering related problems. So that's why we encourage students to take specifically the applied math calculus courses. differential equations is mostly taken in the sophomore year for aerospace students. and that one is very challenging for a lot of our students. We do have a lot of resources for that class, we have a lot of learning resources not only through the Of Engineering, but also through the math department has a resource center for learning differential equations or linear algebra We do require a computing class, which we have our own in aerospace. It's Introduction to Computing for Aerospace Engineering, which focuses specifically on MATLAB. But if you were to take a computing class that focuses on C or Python, you would want that additional MATLAB support, especially since going back to differential equations, that class uses a lot of MATLAB. As well. In the sophomore year, I can confidently say that the most challenging sophomore aerospace class is thermodynamics. That one is the one that really trips up a lot of students. And again, we have resources for the aerospace Study halls and office hours if you do need additional support in your thermo class. Then when we get to the Junior year, this fall semester, is the first time we're offering these junior classes from our new curriculum. So we don't have the information yet about how students are going to handle these courses. But I think for the most part, in the past, it's been heat transfer is another one of our, more challenging courses. great. And going back to MATLAB, if you are a student that takes a different computing course in your first year or you just end up taking something different and it doesn't teach MATLAB, there is a work group that goes along with linear algebra and diffy Q. I think it's Linear Algebra and DiffieQ is APP. 2360. I think this is 2361 or something along those lines, but it is an extra work group that specifically helps teach you MATLAB. So if you are one of those students that has not taken it or has not taken the aerospace class that learns MATLAB and you want some additional support, I'll plug that. Yeah, that is specifically, it should say computer lab. It shouldn't say work group, it should say differential inclusions computer lab. That's the one that focuses more on MATLAB. Yes. Well, what are the classes that students enjoy the most? A lot of our students enjoy the class where they enjoy the professor and the subject. So we're still kind of waiting to see what these junior level classes are gonna look like, but I know that a lot of students are excited about the fact that they can either choose spacecraft or aircraft track. So, if you're doing the spacecraft, you're gonna take astrodynamics. If you're choosing aircraft, you're gonna take aircraft dynamics. And And from past conversations that I've had with students in the older curriculum, they really enjoy the class that focuses more on the track that they're more interested in. And do you have resources? Whether like whichever path you choose, do you have resources on which classes you should take, or is that really just a conversation you have with your advisor? It's a conversation that you're going to have with your advisor. It's also listed on the degree audit, so you can see the information about the classes and which ones go together. it's not set in stone that you have to take classes in that order that are listed on the degree audit. it's a conversation that you can have where you're going to your advisor, or you can even go to the engineering career hub and have a conversation with a career advisor to see which area in the aerospace field you would like to more focus your attention on, But yes, we do in the sophomore curriculum have an introduction to astronautics and introduction to aeronautics. That's students have to take both. yeah. Getting that introduction class, but then in the junior year, you're deciding which one you would rather go towards. So you'll probably understand more about yourself once you've completed both of those classes. And there's nothing stopping you from taking both. That was kind of my follow-up question is can you do both tracks? Can you mix and match? I'm sure there's probably a recommendation to be a little bit more specific, but if they want to cross all these different classes across each other, is that something they could do? Yes, for now. I mean, it's something that we don't want to not let students who have to take these classes not be able to get in because everyone wants to do both. But if there is still open space, I don't see why not, they could definitely still register for that class as long as we prioritize the students who actually need to take them for degree completion. Right, right. Okay. Thanks for clarifying. That's good to know. And I assume this is not something that goes on their diploma. This is just kind of almost like a sub plan or like a concentration. Yeah, It's just going to show that you've completed those classes and it's kind of like, an internal knowing that I did that. Right, right, right. And you can talk about it. Just because it's not on your transcript doesn't mean you can't talk about it. Right. You can you can say in an interview, I specifically chose to focus on aeronautics because I wanted to do that in this field for this job or whatever. Right, exactly. What mistakes do new students make when planning their coursework? A lot of the times students will not look at the prerequisite chain and they think that they can take classes at a certain time when they can't because they haven't taken another class before then. So it's really good to have an advisor look over what you have planned out or work specifically with your advisor to plan together. A lot of the times a mistake I would say would be taking too many courses in a single semester. sometimes students really want to max it out and they're like, I want to take nineteen credits this semester. But that's six or seven classes that they're taking and they don't have time for anything else other than studying and their class time. It's just such a large chunk of their week and then their weekends are just consumed by. studying or completing homework or projects. So I think that sweet spot is fifteen to sixteen credits per semester. that does give you back some more free time in your schedule to explore other opportunities like research opportunities or joining a club or being part of a student organization or just having time to yourself to not be stressed out all the time. And Prevent burnout. Because sometimes that is unavoidable. You do need to have that many credits if you're trying to meet a specific goal or graduation term and can't do a summer class. So that's something that we can have a further discussion on. and then I feel like you talked about this, but what support systems help students succeed in this major? Mm-hmm. If you have anything else to say on that. Really encourage students to come together and work together as much as possible for studying for classes, for just leaning on for extra support. because it's so much better when you have a friend to help you get through a really hard class or just have someone that you can vent to about it. someone that you can, you know, ask for support if you're struggling outside of class and if If they're doing well, then that can be a really good pairing If there is a friend that is taking the same course, say, Hey, will you just come to office hours? Because I'm kind of scared to go by myself, at least for the first time. And then from there, you'll probably be a little bit more comfortable. Going to the aerospace study halls in groups or by yourself is great. And then lastly, I'll Mention that sometimes students really struggle with motivation, time management, study habits. In those cases, I'll recommend our academic coaches and peer academic coaches just because they may need some more one-on-one support, not necessarily with the content of the class, but just getting it done, planning for studying, planning for exams, making sure they're using their time efficiently. So at that point, I'll recommend going to the coaching. we do have aerospace peer academic coaches, I will specifically send them to them. them because I'm like they've been in your shoes, they know these professors, they know what's up, so you can really pull on their student experience. So those are a lot of resources to use and that's just barely scraping the surface. So if you're having a specific issue I would talk to your advisor about it because they can really help point you in the right direction. That you need to be looking for that support. Yeah, definitely. And with those peer coaches, we also have peer advisors. I do also emphasize they have been through this. They are current engineering students. So they have developed those tips and tricks that sometimes professional staff, we just don't know because we haven't been there. Most likely. I certainly wasn't an aerospace student at CEO, so no engineering background here. No, so they definitely know in some cases better than us what it's like. So I definitely encourage students to lean on them for support And then are there any clubs or organizations you recommend students get involved with? We have a lot of aerospace-specific. Clubs and organizations. We have a lot of engineering specific clubs and organizations, but you don't have to be an engineer full-time. You can do something that you enjoy outside of engineering. There's tons of different clubs and organizations on campus. And so the best time to explore that would be the Be Involved fair at the beginning of each semester. That's typically where all the different clubs and organizations on campus will table, and so you can walk through and see all the different options that are available to you. We also have a student organization directory on the student involved. Network website But we do also have on our aerospace website a list of the different aerospace organizations that students can get involved with. A lot of students really like the design build fly student club, especially those students who are more into the aircraft side of. things and then we have the Sounding Rocket Lab. we have a specific organization for our female STEM students. we have a lot of different options and there's so many to name. So if you are interested, ask your advisor to show you the opportunities and aid tab on the aerospace website because that's where all of them are currently listed. Thanks for sharing. That sounds like there's a lot of good opportunities. And I also Also echo if you have interests that fill your soul and fill your cup that are not necessarily engineering related, I do encourage you to pursue those. I know sometimes it's hard and daunting because you feel like you don't have the time, but I like to help students make the time to see how we can, you know, get you involved in this thing that's going to help you balance and keep you mentally sane. Right. And something you can also consider is that a leadership role can look really great on a resume or just building those interpersonal skills that you're not always getting in an engineering major specifically. So any opportunities you have for leadership roles in your clubs and organizations or on campus jobs, those can really benefit you in other ways than the engineering can with just the content that you're getting. Yes, absolutely. Thanks for adding that. I very much agree. okay this is rapid Fire. We only have two questions, so it'll go fast. But what is your best advice for choosing a major in general? Do what you want to do. You know, a lot of people are going to weigh in and say, this is what you should be doing, but if it's not making you happy, then you might be wasting your time. Going back to my original story, I did something that made me really happy. And then I got to the job, and I was like, this job is actually not making me happy. Making music was making me happy, not teaching K through 12. So I really enjoyed the one-on-one interactions with students, though, especially in music lessons. I taught, so I was like, okay, I really like the one-on-one connection rather than the whole group wrangling. So I think I want to work more on more in an advising capacity, and that's what has made me happy. Like, I really, really love this job now, and it's not what I started with, but it's what I ended with. So, if you're trying to get to a specific goal, just know that your goal might change. Things might happen, things might come up that really change your perspective, and that's completely okay. But for the most part, I want to encourage students to choose an. Major that they're going to enjoy and not get burnt out from and super stressed out from, you want to feel successful in that major. And so if you are constantly struggling in your math and science and engineering courses, engineering might not be the best option, but let's see what a related field could look like And what's one piece of advice you wish every incoming aerospace engineering student knew? That's a really that's a really tough one just to narrow it down to one piece of advice. Yeah, you have two all out. Okay. Well I'm gonna do one. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to ask for help. As someone who struggles to ask for help, I want to tell you it's okay to ask for help because you may be doing so well in your first year, and then all of a sudden in the second year, you're floundering and you're like, What's going on? What happened? And it's just the classes got harder or they changed. In the way that you're not used to preparing for or studying for. And at that point, it's okay to reach out and say, I am struggling. What can I do? I need that extra support. And that's what the staff is here for. We've built so many different resources and support structures so that we want to make sure that you're getting the best attention that you need for that specific problem. And so it's okay to come to your advisor or go to your faculty member and say, you know, I used to do really well. all of a sudden I'm not, what should I be doing? Where should I go? Who should I talk to? because a lot of students do struggle to ask for that help because engineers are problem solvers. They wanna see if they can figure it out before having to go ask anyone else. And I'm I'm telling you now, it's okay to come to us and ask for that support. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. That's all the questions I have. my gosh. Is there anything else you wanna leave, put out there? aerospace engineering is a great major. If you are interested in joining, we'd love to have you. so yeah, don't be afraid to come talk to an advisor in aerospace, even if you're not an aerospace major, we're happy to guide you through that process. You can always join or ask us more information. Well, thank you so much, Savannah, for coming on. this was so insightful for me and I'm sure it was for the people who are going to be listening. So I appreciate your time. Yeah, thanks for having me. This was so fun. Yay, we did it. So to give you an idea of the breadth that aerospace research covers, they research in areas like astrodynamics, satellite navigation systems, bioastronautics, remote sensing, earth space sciences, which is still pretty broad, I know. So to give you an example. There are solar storm chasers who are concerned about space weather producing ground-induced currents, which disrupts power grid operations and affects satellite operability Or in partnership with other universities, C Boulder helped create Raven, where the goal is to collect data to improve the conceptual model of supercell thunderstorms, which are the parent storms of some of the most destructive tornadoes, and this can help with future forecasting and warning. Which kind of reminds me of the movie Twisters. and maybe that's a wrong analogy, but that's where my brain goes. As for careers, most postgraduate students will work within the private sector of the aerospace industry or for a federal government agency like NASA, the Department of Defense, US Air Force. And a lot of companies that students work for are companies like Boeing, Raytheon, United Launch Alliance, and more. and many students, even in their undergrad, apply to places like LASP, which is the laboratory for atmospheric space physics. And this is an institute that focuses on quote solar, planetary and space physics research, climate and space weather monitoring, and the search for evidence of habitable worlds. Now I've been talking about all these different research areas and focus areas and opportunities, but what do those actually look like in practice once you're in the major? Why should you decide to do this major? So to get a little bit more insight into this field. from someone who is actually doing the research and teaching about these topics. I invited Kurt Mate, who is our Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education within the College of Engineering and Applied Science, but he's also a professor in the aerospace engineering department with a focus on structural and material systems. So let's dive in. thanks for being on the podcast today. Appreciate it. You're welcome. before we dive into the questions, I'd just love to know how you got into this discipline. What made you want to teach and mentor in this field? Okay, let's start where my upbringing is in Germany, I grew up there and back in the days you had to do a military service, so after Graduating from high school, I had a full year to think about where I wanna go. My high school focus areas were actually not engineering. They were not even STEM. my two focus areas were history and Latin. I always liked engineering. I also liked very much math and physics and my family background, they were mostly engineers. So that draw me into applying for engineering. Actually I was debating physics, math or engineering. And then I had no specific interest in aerospace, but it was the closest that I could get to what we would call engineering physics. And so I picked that as my undergraduate major. and then by the way I was late with my application and in Germany the applications are university specific and sometimes even major specific and aerospace had the one of the f later deadlines and so that that also inf influenced my choice. And so I got into aerospace engineering. I took the classes that I had to take but I did an internship at a small German aerospace company, mostly they involved in in developing a commercial small aircraft. And my mentor there was a professor, at another university in in Germany and he got me in interested in a field that is called optimization. and it really, kind of somehow caught my interest and it's I know it's pretty lame. I still do the same thing today. I I c that is essentially where I then pursued my the area in which I got my PhD and the area that I do my research in. It's closely related to the area that I'm teaching. I did my PhD Not in aerospace, not because I didn't like aerospace, but to some extent a PhD you obviously wanna get paid while you do your PhD. I was looking for funding in the area that I'm interested in. I was actively looking for places and it turned out that there was actually at the University of Stuttgart where I did my undergrad aerospace there was also an opportunity to do my PhD actually in the civil engineering department. And this was all fun. I learned about reinforced concrete. I learned about all this strange stuff they are doing. And the set was actually very I I would say eye opening. I didn't know after I finished my PhD what I should do. Do I stay in academia or do I go in industry? I decided to take we would call it today a gap year, that is essentially being a postdoc and go somewhere and learn new things and that got me to Boulder. back in that day's Boulder was the epicenter for what is called aeroastic computational simulations. so I came here I worked with one of my postdoc mentors on for example simulating flutter around the f16 and the F-35 And while I was a postdoc I applied to an opening here at CU and for some strange reason the department decided to give me the position, but that was about twenty six years ago and since then I'm here. So sorry for the long story, but that's really also important to understand where I come from, what's my expertise with respect to Question to come. Absolutely. Well, speaking of that, what types of students are drawn to this major if someone's undecided, how would they be able to tell this major is right for them? so right now aerospace draws a lot of interest mostly from the space side. So we have a lot of students. Not have originally applied to aerospace that are interested in some aspect of space, space technology, space flight that also includes kind of access to space, which means rockets of all kinds. So that is right now a big draw. obviously there are a lot of space applications. for example, the airspace department here in Boulder. is very famous for the use of satellites to observe Earth, very much from a scientific perspective. So think of all the discussions about climate change or things like this. Commercial space is getting bigger and bigger. That can be again satellites, but that could be now moon explorations, mining on moon, mining on asteroids, all these kind of things. And then we have people like me that are still interested in aeronautics. the new frontiers are anywhere from unmanned vehicle. We have a very vibrant research center that actually provides a lot of undergraduate research opportunities to do drones for various purposes anywhere from wildfire observations to flying drones into tornadoes what makes aerospace different from other disciplines in terms of experience as an undergrad student. We are pretty broad in the sense of we are touch on a lot of fundamentals anywhere from my field that is understanding the mechanics of solid structures to fluid dynamics, But then we have also things that are very specific to aerospace like astrodynamics, how do you design the flight trajectory of a satellite or another space vehicle that is very specific to aerospace and then there are also some courses that are more relating into I would say the the space environment However, I also want to stress that aerospace students are not just doing space building satellites, I think even on the terrestrial side, you know kind of the impact of commercial aviation on the climate is significant and I think there will be a lot of great and interesting opportunities of reducing that impact through green fuel through means of improving the efficiency and reducing emissions of aircraft of all kinds. So it's pretty broad, which means it is good for students that have a broad interest. I think what it is maybe not that great of a field, you know, just to contrast that is there are definitely other majors like mechanical engineering if you are more into kind of fabricating a component, designing a mechanical component or if you like more things that related to civil that can really go to designing a bridge, building a bridge. it's good to know the wide variety that they can go into. to dive kind of into the curriculum and what students can expect to experience, how much of the curriculum would you say is hands-on versus more theoretical, like you're attending lectures versus the amount of projects that you do? the curriculum if you join the aerospace program right now, is definitely more on the theoretical side, but we have still very intentional hands-on experiences. I think what sets us apart a little bit is we have a long tradition of integrating hands-on into lecture-based courses, and you will see that the aerospace building has a lab that called a pilot and so It's essentially like a lecture room except for it's equipped with you know various data acquisition systems that are used for running desktop level experiments. So I think that the aerospace curriculum really stands out in in integrating hands on activities into the the lectures and complementing theoretical lectures with experimental experiences. And then we talked a lot about research and the opportunities there. So are there opportunities to work with faculty on research while they're taking classes? What advice do you have for getting involved in research or internships? We have for the entire college, we have The summer program, SPUR, and we have the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship program, but that's organized at the college level. Everything else comes really more from the interaction between the students and the faculty. So I cannot tell you, there will be fifty research opportunities It is really kind of depends on the faculty. It sometimes depends on the projects that the faculty. Have how many research opportunities there are. I feel very comfortable saying that if you are really interested in getting involved in undergrad research, you will find an opportunity. But it is on you as the student to reach out to faculty. Some faculty advertise if there is an opening and they are in need of an researcher, but most often it is really just, cold call, say who you are, what your interests are, reach out to a faculty, and there is also the need for being persistence. Don't don't be too frustrated. If you don't get an answer right away, sometimes it it requires maybe another email and follow up. Also, don't don't be shy. Just go and say, what you have told us about your research really interests me. Can you tell me more about it? Do you have an opportunity to work with you? I would definitely encourage you to do that. you choose if you are here at CU to be at an R one research university, which means have very vibrant research programs. take advantage of that. It's almost a waste of opportunity if you don't. Yeah, agreed. Thanks for sharing that and and that advice. What courses do you think have the biggest impact on students' development as an engineer as they're going through this major? I think it's very hard to single out, one course. I would argue by far the most impact typically we see from senior design. if the the project is industry sponsored, it is very often essentially the first foot in the door to maybe get a job at that company. But otherwise I would argue the impact of a course really depends strongly on how much the subject of the course, resonates with you. And what seems to challenge students the most as they go through this major and why? So not necessarily a class but it's the time management. It requires quite some, I would say mental preparedness and also willingness to change. you have to say, okay, you know, I got only ninety percent through my homework, but because I have to not only get the homework done for that class, I also have to do homework in all the other classes, that you just start managing that fact that no hundred per percent is not feasible, at least not in all classes. I have to manage that I get a decent grade, I get to 90% in all classes instead of 100% in one class and then I fall behind in another class. you need to do time management with the understanding that your resources are limited. And what I mean also by that is you need to also schedule time when you replenish the energy. You cannot burn yourself out in the first few weeks. You have to develop an understanding. This is a marathon. I need to pace myself, I need to be self-aware how much energy, how much time I can work on going to lecture, preparing the next lecture, doing homework, doing projects, all that thing. Because you also need to have reserve time when you wanna go into rec center, you know, attend a play in a theater or something like this, and you have to manage that actively. And I think this is where students struggle the most. It's usually less of the technical things. it's usually more the time management. you are now in college and you should really actively manage your time not only to pass the courses and be academically successful, but to also be able to take advantage of all the other things that a college and a university offers, whether this is undergrad research, or going into a student club or being active in a student organization, all these things, you will not have much opportunities in the rest of your life to engage that broadly So I would highly encourage you to actively manage your time and create the time to take advantage of all the great things that CU offers. The one thing I strongly recommend to take advantage of if you need it is support. And that could be support at all ends, anywhere from academic, please go and attend office hours. Don't be told that they are not beneficial. Experience it yourself. Give the professor and the TAs feedback if they are not beneficial. What do you expect from office hours? These are the things that you should really take advantage of. And then, beyond the academics, there is more to life. Reach out for help. We have coaching, and we have other forms of support, take advantage of it. It to some extent because you pay for it. Yeah. Be aware of that. I always tell students this is probably the only time in your life you're gonna have counseling, wellness, healthcare, academic support, all in the same area. So taking advantage of all of that. and before I forget it, while CU offers a lot of let's call it organized support, don't forget you're not alone. you have A lot of students that are in a very similar situation you are. So don't put pressure on yourself to say, okay, I need to find fifteen good friends in the first two weeks. This takes time, but make sure that you connect to people your friends, your peers, this is maybe this the best support group that you can potentially have. And I also say, especially in this first semester. If you go up to someone, they were probably hoping that you came up to them. They're in the same position as you. They just want someone to talk to. So put yourself out there and they probably are just as nervous as you. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. All right. Well, we're in our rapid fire round. So I'm gonna ask a question and you just say the first thing that comes to your mind. So what misconceptions do incoming students often have about aerospace? We don't provide a pilot license. Perfect. What habits or mindsets can help set students up for success? curiosity. You know, don't say you know something is boring because your friends told you it's boring Be curious, be open minded, explore things. have that what I call the beginner's mind. Every semester, every class, every opportunity, have this beginner's mind which essentially says, I wanna learn something, I wanna explore things, I'm open to new ideas, and that's I think a good recipe for success. Great. What makes this engineering discipline meaningful to you? I could say because I think what I'm doing is helping society, but quite frankly, what I'm doing both in the class and in research because I enjoy it. I enjoy teaching, I enjoy research. I wanna learn. I wanna improve myself. And that is what makes this really meaningful to me. And then what's one takeaway you hope listeners remember? Aerospace is a really exciting discipline, but I hope that you also remember that other disciplines are exciting too. it has its unique features and you should really explore whether aerospace has these these additional add-ons that other majors don't have that excites you. But otherwise don't sweat. Yes, selecting a major has an impact on your next four years here. Different majors have different challenges. All of them have challenges. But I know a lot of people that work at Boeing, that are civil engineers, electrical engineers. So you don't carve your career path in stone by picking a major. So don't sweat too much. I think it's more important what you do as a student outside the classroom, whether you do an internship, engage in a student org, be the leader of a student club, these things are actually more impactful whether you become a mechanical and aerospace major. So I hope you remember that. Well, that's it. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I really appreciate it. I hope everyone learned a thing or two Thank you, Claire, for giving me the opportunity to talk about our program. Absolutely. And that wraps up our episode for Aerospace Engineering. Thank you all for listening. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something. And as always, keep your ears and eyes open for a new episode. Bye, y'all.