The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering is now the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This change reflects a strengthened commitment to aerospace and space engineering.
Karolos Grigoriadis, Moores Professor of Mechanical Engineering and department chair, emphasized the department's expanding mission: “This change is long overdue. As the Space City, Houston is entitled to an aerospace engineering program at its university. The new program will respond to the rapidly growing local, regional, and national need for a highly skilled aerospace workforce and advances in aerospace technologies. Currently, our department offers graduate degrees in aerospace engineering and space architecture. We plan to proceed with the introduction of an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and a graduate degree in space engineering. This expansion of our educational and research programs is a necessary step to ensure we stay in tune with the new space economy and space exploration initiatives”
The department aspires to become a premier national innovation hub that drives NASA-centric research and promotes cutting-edge aerospace education. It is taking significant steps by leading a new center for space engineering research, supported by a $5 million grant from NASA. This center, set to open in Fall 2024, will focus on advancing the agency's goals of extending human presence on the moon and Mars for sustainable exploration and development.
“The NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems Center at the University of Houston will conduct cutting-edge research on expandable, modular, and reconfigurable structures needed to develop space infrastructure in lunar orbit and on the surface of the Moon. This research will support NASA’s space exploration goals and simultaneously provide expanded opportunities to educate students to meet the growing needs of the aerospace engineering workforce.”