Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics
College of Engineering, San Diego State University
Graduate Program
The Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics at San Diego State University (SDSU) offers Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Aerospace Engineering and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree (jointly with UCSD) in Engineering Sciences with concentration in Applied Mechanics.
Master's of Science in Aerospace Engineering
The department offers two broad areas of specialization for the M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering, namely Aerodynamics and Structural Mechanics. Students will target their coursework to the specialization and work on a related research for their thesis. To ensure that students can work in multi-disciplinary environments, the program also requires the students to follow courses outside of the department in Computational Science, Mechanical Engineering and Bio-Engineering. The curriculum has been carefully designed to provide students with a sound background in analytical and numerical aspects.
Students can choose their thesis project from a variety of cutting-edge research projects that faculty members are involved in. Students are provided with ample opportunity to develop practical skills through participation in course projects, thesis research, funded industrial projects, and numerous internship opportunities at local aerospace companies such Northrup Grumann, General Atomics and Goodrich Aerostuctures. SDSU aerospace engineering department is also involved in various national level design-build-test competitions, and technical paper contests.
The Aerospace Department at SDSU is one of less than 30 departments nationwide that is uniquely focused on Aeropace Engineering. Moreover, the department of Aerospace Engineering is well established and recognized. The department has eight full time faculty members, three part-time faculty members and two staff members. At present, our typical graduate student classes size is 10-15 students. This ideal faculty-to-student ratio sets the stage for a warm and collaborative environment, where faculty members closely interact with students and mentor them.
Our students are rounded in and are highly sought after by employers. Our recent graduate students have been employed by Northrop-Grumman, General Atomics, Goodrich Aerostructures, Lockheed, Boeing, Honeywell and North Island Naval Command, a large local facility for naval aircraft repair and maintenance that is home to one third of U.S. naval aircraft carriers.
APPLICATION DEADLINE & APPLICATION MAILING ADDRESSES:
Application Deadline:
- Fall Semester applicants: May 1st
- Spring Semester applicants: Oct. 1st
- Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to increase their chances of being considered for assistantships and tuition waivers.
Application Documents:
- To apply for the M.S. degree program applicants must submit an online application (http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/graduate/) and pay the required application fees. In addition, applicants must submit two original copies of transcripts, official scores of the graduate record examination (GRE). International applicants must also submit official scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). All application materials must be sent directly to the enrollment services office.
Enrollment Services Graduate Admissions Document Processing Unit San Diego State University San Diego, CA 92182-7416
Minimum requirements for admission to the M.S. degree program:
Applicants to the M.S. degree in aerospace engineering must have a undergraduate degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering. Applicants with degrees in applied physics or applied mathematics may also apply to the program, but will be required to complete some undergraduate level aerospace engineering courses that are prerequisites to graduate level courses.
GPA requirement:
Students graduating from U.S. Universities: GPA of 3.0/4.0 or higher in the last 60 units of course work in a semester system (90 units in a quarter system). Students graduating from foreign universities: GPA of 3.0 or higher cumulative.
GRE score requirement:
Applicants to the graduate program must take the GRE exam and have ETS forward your scores to the university. A combined score of 1000 on the quantitative and verbal portions of the GRE test and 4.0 or better on the Analytical portion of the GRE test is considered satisfactory for admission to our graduate program. Graduate applications will not be processed until the GRE score is received. Students with lower scores will be admitted provided they have much better GPA and recommendations.
TOEFL score requirement:
International students are required to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). In some cases this requirement is waived if the undergraduate institution uses English as its language of instruction. Check with the graduate admissions office to find out if your institution is on the list universities whose students do not have to take the TOEFL exam.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
San Diego State University (SDSU) offers a doctoral degree in Engineering Science/Applied Mechanics in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego. The program involves graduate level courses and research projects under the supervision of SDSU faculty from the Departments of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering with cooperating faculty from the University of California, San Diego. The Ph.D. degree is awarded jointly by the two cooperating institutions.
Minimum requirements for admission to the Ph.D. degree program:
Please refer to the joint doctoral program website or contact the graduate advisor by email.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
University main web page: http://www.sdsu.edu
Aerospace engineering department web page: http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/aerospace/
Graduate admissions web page: http://gra.sdsu.edu/index.php
International students center web page http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/isc/iscindex.html
Graduate bulletin (procedures, programs and course descriptions): http://coursecat.sdsu.edu/bulletin/index.html
Class schedule (schedule of courses offered in the last two years): http://www.sdsu.edu/schedule.html
If you have any further questions please contact the graduate adviser
Dr. Satchi Venkataraman Dept. of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Drive, Mail Code 1308 San Diego, CA 92182-1308 Phone: (619) 594 6660, Fax: (619) 594 0933 Web page: http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/~satchi email: satchi(at)mail.sdsu.edu