M.Eng. in Aerospace Engineering (Distance Learning)

To receive a Master of Engineering degree in Aerospace Engineering the following requirements must be met:

1. A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate coursework (5000 level or above), 28 credits of which must be taken for a letter grade. Most courses must be of a technical nature (those found in Cornell Engineering, as well as those in mathematics, physics, and other sciences, are generally considered technical courses). One or two courses that are related to your overall goals for your degree but are non-technical (for example, finance) may be approved as well.
2. A minimum of 12 credit hours (not including the project or seminar courses) of coursework in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
3. Courses taken must match the “Program of Courses” form, which must be submitted to the M.Eng. Office at the beginning of your program and by the end of the second week of classes. Any changes made to it must be updated by submitting a new form.
4. A project (usually taken under MAE 6900) for at least 4 and not more than 8 credits and submitting an electronic abstract of your project report and a copy of your final report to the M.Eng. program.
5. A minimum cumulative M.Eng. GPA of 2.5.
6. No grade below a C-.
7. One residence unit (at least one semester registered as a full-time student in the M.Eng. program).
8. Registration limit of 20 credits per semester, minimum registration 12 credits per semester.

At the Sibley School, we work with you to define your goals for pursuing the degree and build you a program to attain this. Our advisors work with you to determine a focus for your program. Your focus area is usually built around one of our concentration areas – but is not restricted by them. You can easily create a custom focus by combining concentrations or adding different courses. Unsure of where you want to be when done with the program. The program is a great way to try out different areas and see what fits.

There are many courses that, when taken together, can help deepen your understanding of a particular subject within spacecraft engineering.   These focus areas can help streamline you course selection, but are by no means required to be taken together.

Experience the challenge of developing innovative small spacecraft to fly missions in high-priority areas of space science.

A major component of all Cornell M.Eng. degrees is your dedicated M.Eng. project. Listed as course number MAE 6900 (Special Investigations in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) this takes the form of the Satellite Mission Design Project, and is run over the summer semester. It is a group project, completed together with your Distance Learning cohort, with one week held in-person at the Ithaca Campus in Upstate New York.

The goal of the project is to design a sophisticated and true-to-life satellite with a dedicated scientific or technology pathfinder mission. A final report is produced that details everything you could anticipate for a real proposal submission; from launch opportunities and orbital staging, to scientific instrumentation and design traceability, to program planning and budgets.

A dedicated and experienced project supervisor with will help guide through your project. Further advice is provided through multiple faculty across both the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Astronomy, in order to provide you with a full experience across a broad field. Online lectures will delve into NASA’s scientific priorities, the management of large scale proposals, science and technology traceability processes, systems integration, and a general introduction to the commercial-off-the-shelf market.

While much of the project is completed remotely on a part-time basis, the in-person week is a full-time stretch of dedicated work where the project really comes together. You will be provided with tons of faculty interaction and review, as well as opportunities to meet with industry leaders, tour campus facilities and join informal events with your colleagues.