Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will offer the aerospace engineering minor starting in the Spring 2025.

Beginning spring 2025, SEAS students will be able to minor in aerospace engineering. Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang announced the development in an email on Monday morning, writing, “In response to widespread interest from students in aerospace engineering, we have designed this minor to be flexible and accessible to students across departments, bringing together existing aerospace-relevant courses at Columbia into one curriculum. This minor has been developed to build high-demand skills that will prepare students for a variety of aerospace careers.”

The minor will consist of six classes in total: two “foundational courses,” which “can be chosen from offerings including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, controls, and signal processing, among others,” and four “exploratory electives,” including “classical aerospace topics like aerodynamics and propulsion, and extend into disciplines ranging from robotics and communications to energy, structures, and human-centered aerospace design.”

Students will be able to double count courses for both major and minor requirements.

Looking to the future, Dean Chang wrote, “we will continue to explore possibilities of extending the initiative to include a new major, a new graduate program, as well as new faculty members dedicated to aerospace engineering.” 

Perhaps an aerospace major is right around the corner.

Email sent from Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang to Columbia Engineering students on Monday, December 9 at 9:09 am:

Dear Columbia Engineering Community, 

I am thrilled to announce that, beginning this spring, Columbia Engineering will be launching a new minor for undergraduate students in aerospace engineering. 

In response to widespread interest from students in aerospace engineering, we have designed this minor to be flexible and accessible to students across departments, bringing together existing aerospace-relevant courses at Columbia into one curriculum. This minor has been developed to build high-demand skills that will prepare students for a variety of aerospace careers.

Completion of the minor will require students to take six courses in total. 

• Two courses of foundational classes, which can be chosen from offerings including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, controls, and signal processing, among others. 
• At least four exploratory electives covering a wide breadth of aerospace topics. These electives include classical aerospace topics like aerodynamics and propulsion, and extend into disciplines ranging from robotics and communications to energy, structures, and human-centered aerospace design.
• As with all minors, students can double count courses for both major and minor requirements. 

We are so pleased to be offering this opportunity to our students and hope that it serves our undergraduate population in a meaningful way, enabling students’ continued success in their many extracurricular, career, and research pursuits. We know that many of our students go on to pursue careers in aerospace, including at companies like SpaceX, NASA/JPL, Boeing, Blue Origin, and various startups across the industry. Others pursue graduate studies in aerospace at top universities. Going forward, we will continue to explore possibilities of extending the initiative to include a new major, a new graduate program, as well as new faculty members dedicated to aerospace engineering.

I would like to give a special thanks to Professor Mike Massimino and student leaders from the Columbia Space Initiative, Matthew Werneken and Kathryn Lampo. Their hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm made this offering possible. I’d also like to thank all the  faculty and representatives who helped with the planning, including consulting closely with our partners across academia and industry. 

If you have any questions at this time, you can reach out to Mel Francis, the Student Affairs Manager for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at mece-admin@columbia.edu.

I hope many of you will take advantage of this opportunity to support your interest in aerospace engineering. 

Sincerely, 

Shih-Fu Chang

Dean, Columbia Engineering

Mudd Hall entrance via Bwog Archives