A Brief History of Aerospace Engineering at the ... - Virginia Tech

The Modern Era (1967-Present)Although dating back 36 years, we refer to this as the modern era primarily because in 1968 women weregiven the right to wear pants on campus. Dr. Fred DeJarnette served as Interim Department Head ofAerospace Engineering at V.P.I. from 1967-1969 prior to joining NCSU. One personal comment (fromRWW) about Dr. DeJarnette is that he is an excellent teacher and writes so fast on the chalkboard that hecan almost disappear in a cloud of chalk dust - literally.Dr. Joseph A. Schetz took over as Department Head in 1969 serving for an amazing 24 years until 1993.Dr. Schetz currently holds the Fred D. Durham Chair and remains as an extremely valuable faculty memberto this day. Both the university and the department went through many changes during his tenure asDepartment Head. In 1970, V.P.I. officially changed its name to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and StateUniversity and began its expansion from approximately 5,000 to over 25,000 students. In 1972 thedepartment changed its name to the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering (AOE) Department drawing on thesynergy that exists between the two disciplines. At first, a joint AOE degree was offered. Later, a separateaccredited OE degree was offered in parallel to the AE degree. Under the direction of Dr. Schetz, thefaculty tripled in size and undergraduate students were given significant roles in sponsored researchprograms. In addition, the department‟s record in winning AIAA student papers continued to grow and itsexemplary record in winning student design competitions began.After leading the department for almost a quarter of a century, Dr. Schetz decided to devote his efforts toresearch and teaching. Dr. Bernard Grossman began his nine year tenure as Department Head havingserved on the faculty for eleven years. One of Dr. Grossman‟s goals was to build on the design programand to emphasize the multi-disciplinary aspects of aerospace and ocean engineering in both theundergraduate and graduate programs. The Multidisciplinary Analysis and Design (MAD) Center forAdvanced Vehicles began under his direction and resulted in numerous awards and graduate studentfellowships. In 2002 Dr. Grossman stepped down from his position to assume the role of Vice President ofEducation at the newly formed National Institute of Aerospace under contract from the NASA LangleyResearch Center.As a testament to the outstanding faculty members in the department (especially Dr. William Mason andMr. Nathan Kirschbaum), Virginia Tech students placed first, second, third or received honorable mentionin each AIAA undergraduate design competition over the 12 year period spanning 1989-2001 (with sevenfirst place teams). Dr. James Marchman also played a key role in establishing international student designteams that contribute to the success of the department. Dr. Fred Lutze, the most senior faculty member toever serve the department is retiring this year. His work with student organizations including AIAA andDBF (Design-Build-Fly) and his academic and graduate advising for over 30 years denote special historicalrecognition.In 1999, the AOE department was named an exemplary department for its excellence in effectively linkingresearch with teaching with particular emphasis on innovative undergraduate programs. In the past threeyears, numerous other awards have been given to the faculty and students of this department including ourthree-time World Champion Human-Powered Submarine Team.In August of 2002, Dr. Robert (Bob) W. Walters assumed the position of Professor and Department Headof Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Long before ever having stepped foot on the Virginia Tech campus,Bob had been strongly influenced by the Aerospace program in Blacksburg. His Ph.D. advisor, Dr. HassanA. Hassan had been a Professor here before joining NCSU. Moreover, Dr. Fred DeJarnette (InterimDepartment Head) was one of his major professors as was Dr. James Williams, a 1951 graduate ofAerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech who later when on to assume the position of Department Head ofAerospace Engineering at Auburn.Today, our curriculum covers fundamental courses in structures, fluid mechanics, dynamics and control,ship design and optimization techniques as well as a wide range of advanced courses in these areas. We