{"id":55157,"date":"2025-11-11T16:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/?p=55157"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:42:43","slug":"taking-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/inquiring-minds\/course-audit\/taking-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For students taking the Aerospace Structures course, words are not minced on the first day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will treat you as I would any newly hired engineer,\u201d says Tom Dragone<\/a>, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at the Whiting School, a program listed as No. 10 in U.S. News and World Report\u2019s<\/em> annual ranking of graduate programs, and technical fellow\/chief scientist at Northrop Grumman Corp. \u201cYou will often feel overwhelmed and underprepared, which is how you commonly feel in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With his decades of experience in the aerospace industry, Dragone takes his class of master\u2019s students and undergraduates through the history of flight engineering, from the Wright Brothers to the space shuttle. The course culminates with a multiday, out-of-class design project related to a single aerospace vehicle structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Taking Wing One Step at a Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Students learn the universal elements of aircraft engineering\u2014functionality, load bearing, stability, durability, economy, and safety\u2014through lectures, readings, problem sets, and a trip to the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWith its emphasis on using spreadsheets to solve our homework questions, this [course\u2019s] form of problem-solving seems more applicable to the professional engineering environment, so I thought it would be a great course to take before I start my full-time job.\u201d\u2014Grace Nockolds, Engr \u201925, mechanical engineering master\u2019s student<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Sometimes You Have To Fall Before You Can Fly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dragone stresses the importance of failure\u2014and learning from what didn\u2019t work. By going through the evolution of terrestrial and eventual spaceflight, and having students work through exponentially challenging problem sets, they learn that failure is part of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe capstone of the course is where the students pull it all together. And it\u2019s also the most challenging.\u201d\u2014Tom Dragone, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering and instructor in Engineering for Professionals programs<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Building a Real Airplane, Not Just a Paper One<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis course gives you an opportunity to get insight from an industry perspective, not an academic perspective, which I think is really valuable,\u201d Dragone explains to his students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe skills you learn are skills that you can use on your first day at the job, should you decide to choose a career in aerospace structures design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI am [particularly] interested in the final project, where we get to design our own wing box, and then build and test it.\u201d\u2014Alexander Pivovarov, Engr \u201925, mechanical engineering master\u2019s student<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 JONATHAN DEUTSCHMAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illustration by Jose Saccone<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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