There are three areas of concentration offered:

• Aerodynamics and Propulsion focuses on aerodynamics, viscous flows, hypersonic flows, and jet engine and rocket aero-thermodynamics. Courses are offered in these subjects, as well as in specialized topics such combustion, heat transfer, aeroacoustics, rotorcraft aerodynamics, and turbine engine systems. Computational Fluid Dynamics is offered at an introductory as well as an advanced level. Research topics within the Aero-Propulsion group include Research topics within the Aero-Propulsion group include: Aeroacoustic modeling and noise mitigation; micro air vehicles and synthetic jets for mitigating icing and flow separation; heat transfer in turbine blades, rocket propulsion simulation; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, hypersonic vehicles and hypersonic combustion, pulsed detonation engines, extending stall margins in highly loaded fans and compressors; rotorcraft aerodynamics; turbulent boundary layer/shear layers and their control; two-phase boundary layers; fluid structure interactions; numerical simulation of plasma for flow control and plasma assisted combustion, LES of compressible turbulence and high speed combustion.

• Dynamics & Control focuses on the modeling of complex dynamical systems and the design, implementation and testing of guidance, navigation and active feedback control of these systems to meet rigorous requirements and high levels of performance. Particular research topics include autonomous unpiloted air and ground vehicles; evolving aerospace structures and formations; control of flexible aerospace structures; networked systems; aircraft guidance control and handling qualities; spacecraft guidance, navigation and control, with emphasis on rendezvous and proximity operations; aviation safety; artificial intelligence; wind energy systems; and control of quantum information systems.

• Structures & Materials focuses on the study of aeroelasticity, vibration, fracture mechanics, thermoelasticity, composite materials, nanomaterials, smart materials, structural health monitoring, reliability analysis, computational structural mechanics, and design optimization. Particular research topics include aircraft structural design; aeroelastic tailoring; design for additive manufacturing; optimization of composite structures; smart actuators and systems; guided-wave structural health monitoring; static and impact performance of lightweight materials; use of carbon nanotubes and graphene for strengthening and repair of composites; and molecular dynamic simulation.