Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering - Space Systems

The Department of Aerospace Engineering has world-renowned research centers, a rich and dynamic undergraduate and graduate curricula spanning fundamental and contemporary aerospace topics, and an esteemed faculty at the forefront of the field. Research at Michigan impacts every area of flight, focusing on aerodynamics and propulsion; autonomous systems and control; structures and materials; space systems, and computation. Our approach to research is often multidisciplinary, and research groups work with colleagues from across Michigan Engineering, such as Robotics, CLaSP and EECS. Research Areas: Aerospace engineering at U-M tackles the fundamental areas that drive advances in aircraft and spacecraft. Shared Facilities: Students and faculty use research environments to meet any project need for design, development and implementation. Multidisciplinary Centers: Engaging the range of expertise at Michigan Engineering allows researchers to better answer complex problems. Research Opportunities for Students: There are multiple ways to get involved in research, and students can pursue whatever combination fits them best. A subset of faculty members in Aerodynamics and Propulsion and Dynamics and Controls develop spacecraft and advanced spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and control systems. Experimental and computational studies center around spacecraft electric propulsion (EP) systems, such as Hall thrusters. Michigan is developing 10-W EP systems that are small enough to fit on a chip for cubesat propulsion, and 200-kW thrusters that are large enough to drive piloted missions to asteroids and Mars. Cubesats in orbit around Earth are currently used to observe plasmas in the atmosphere that are known to disrupt satellite communication with Earth.