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AOE Bachelor of Science Degrees


The Aerospace & Ocean Engineering Department is unique in offering Bachelor of Science degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Ocean Engineering. Both of these Engineering programs are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD, 21202-4012, Telephone (410) 347-7700. Students in the department may major in either degree program or may choose to combine the programs of study in a double major program with either major as their primary. Students completing 30 credit hours beyond that required for a single degree may earn two separate degrees. In offering both majors, the AOE department builds on the common interests in both fields related to the design and analysis of vehicles and structures which operate in a fluid. While the earth’s atmosphere, its oceans, and the highly rarefied flowfields of space present aircraft, ships, and spacecraft with fluids of very different densities in which they must operate, many of the same basic laws of physics apply to all of them. Aerospace Engineering is in itself a combination of the disciplines of Aeronautical Engineering and Astronautical Engineering and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech emphasizes the older fields of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

The department’s undergraduate programs of study emphasize aero/hydrodynamics; vehicle structures; vehicle performance, stability & control, propulsion, with instructional material leading to a year-long capstone design experience in the senior year. Design project assignments are developed by industry and government experts as part of international design competitions in which teams of AOE students have won numerous awards for their aircraft, spacecraft, and ship designs.

Graduates of the department’s two BS degree programs have been highly successful in the aerospace and ocean field s. About 20 to 25 % of the graduates continue their studies in graduate school while most of the rest find excellent employment opportunities in the aerospace and related industries and in the shipbuilding and ship design fields. Some also choose to go into related fields such as automotive engineering, structural engineering, environmental engineering, as well as into professions such as law or medicine. The department’s long history and reputation for excellence in its graduates have ensured that AOE graduates are recruited by industry even in difficult economic times.

The complete course requirements for each degree program, as well as dual majors, are provided at the following links:
AOE Undergraduate Courses
  Aerospace Engineering
  Ocean Engineering
  Aerospace with Ocean
  Ocean with Aerospace

AOE Undergraduate Studies 

AOE Undergraduate Courses
  Aerospace Engineering
  Ocean Engineering
  Aerospace with Ocean
  Ocean with Aerospace
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Last updated: March 25, 2009 02:26:56 PM

Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace & Ocean Engineering
215 Randolph Hall, Blacksburg VA, 24061
(540) 231-6611 Fax: (540) 231-9632