BAEM Technical Electives Guide

The BAEM program requires three technical electives (9 credits total). These electives may be from any department as long as they meet the Restrictions on Technical Electives (see below). All the possible (but not necessarily offered) AEM technical electives are listed below by area. Another option is to participate in a co-op. Students who complete a co-op will earn four technical elective credits towards their BAEM degree (see Undergraduate Handbook for more information).

Our advice is to pick electives of interest to you. It is good to be able to explain your rational for picking tech electives to prospective employers, but trying to guess what electives they might care about is not a good criteria. Employers want to see enthusiasm from students about the subjects they study.

Note that 5000 level AEM courses are generally more challenging and typically have a significant number of graduate students enrolled. Math 4000 level courses also fall into this category, however, the ME Department has all its senior technical electives listed at the 5000 level.

 

AEM graduate students working on MURI project

Information on Upper Division Technical Electives

Fluids Technical Electives

  • AEM 4295 -- Problems in Fluid Mechanics (independent study -- faculty adviser required to register)
  • AEM 4247 -- Hypersonic Aerodynamics (Honors students may take AEM 5247)
  • AEM 4253 -- Computational Fluid Mechanics (Honors students may take AEM 5253)

Aerospace Systems Technical Electives

  • AEM 4305 -- Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control
  • AEM 4321 -- Automatic Control Systems This is joint with ME and EE  (For students who joined the BAEM program before spring 2023.)
  • AEM 4333 -- Aerospace Design: Special Projects
  • AEM 4391 -- Independent Design Project (offered when 4333 is not offered)
  • AEM 4371 -- Helicopter Aerodynamics
  • AEM 4495 -- Problems in Dynamics and Control (independent study -- faculty adviser required to register)
  • AEM 5401 -- Intermediate Dynamics
  • AEM 5431 -- Trajectory Optimization
  • AEM 5441 -- Structural Dynamics
  • AEM 5451 -- Optimal Estimation
  • AEM 5651 -- Aeroelasticity

Structures and Solids Technical Electives

  • AEM 4502 -- Computational Structural Analysis
  • AEM 4511 -- Mechanics of Composite Materials
  • AEM 4581 -- Mechanics of Solids (Honors students may take AEM 5581)
  • AEM 4595 -- Problems in Mechanics and Materials (independent study -- faculty adviser required to register)
  • AEM 5501 -- Continuum Mechanics
  • AEM 5503 -- Theory of Elasticity

Professional Experience

Note that AEM 4796 and 4896 do not count as technical electives. They are only for students doing internships who need to maintain full time student status for financial aid or other reasons.

University Honors Program

  • AEM AEM 4894 -- Senior Honors Thesis

 

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Technical Electives from Other Departments

Space Science Courses

​​​​​Courses from the CSCI, EE, MATH, MATS, ME and PHYS departments, to name a few, may be used as technical electives if they meet the Restrictions on Technical Electives. These courses can double count toward a Minor as well.

See CSE's Global Seminars Page. Note: you are limited to one independent study (xx9x) course as a technical elective, see Restrictions on Technical Electives.

  • AST 2001 -- Introduction to Astrophysics (prerequisite required PHYS II, see Minor in Astronomy)
  • PHYS 3022 -- Introduction to Cosmology (prerequisite of PHYS 2601 -- Quantum Mechanics)
  • PHYS 4611 -- Introduction to Space Physics (prerequisite PHYS 4002 -- Electricity and Magnetism)
    • Contact the instructor about the PHYS 4001 prerequisite and using AEM 2012 to meet it
  • BBE 2201 -- Renewable Energy and the Environment 
  • FR 3131 -- Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Natural Resources

*Note: You are limited to one technical elective below 4000 level, see Restrictions on Technical Electives

Math Courses

Especially if you plan to continue in school, you can never take enough math, so you might want to consider the following applied math courses as technical electives.

  • MATH 4242 -- Applied Linear Algebra
  • MATH 4428 -- Mathematical Modeling
  • MATH 4512 -- Differential Equations with Application
  • MATH 4567 -- Applied Fourier Analysis
  • MATH 4603 -- Advanced Calculus I
  • MATH 4604 -- Advanced Calculus II
  • MATH 4606 -- Advanced Calculus
  • MATH 5467 -- Introduction to the Mathematics of Image and Data Analysis
  • MATH 5485 -- Introduction to Numerical Methods I
  • MATH 5486 -- Introduction to Numerical Methods II
  • MATH 5525 -- Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations
  • MATH 5535 -- Dynamical Systems and Chaos
  • MATH 5525 -- Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations
  • MATH 5535 -- Dynamical Systems and Chaos
  • MATH 5583 -- Complex Analysis
  • MATH 5587 -- Elementary Partial Differential Equations I
  • MATH 5588 -- Elementary Partial Differential Equations II

There are more courses, see the MATH course catalog.

Restrictions on Upper Division Technical Electives

General Restrictions

  • Three courses (9 credits) of upper division technical electives are required. Generally, the elective requirement is met by selecting non-required 3xxx, 4xxx, and 5xxx courses offered by Engineering departments; some courses from Mathematics or Science departments are also acceptable. There are exceptions and additions to this rule which are the subject of this section. One technical elective course may be 2xxx or above, while the other two must be 4xxx or above.
  • In particular, no course which is equivalent to a course required in the BAEM program may be used as an elective in the BAEM program; no 1xxx level Science or Mathematics course may be used; and no 1xxx level Engineering course may be used. Use of 2xxx and 3xxx level courses are subject to the restrictions below.
    • Restrictions on use of 2xxx-3xxx Level Courses as Technical Electives: One of the three technical electives may be replaced by one and only one of the following: (If you take more than one such course, the extra credits cannot be counted toward the degree requirements.)
      • The second semester of Chemistry: CHEM 1062 (lecture) and CHEM 1066 (lab) or equivalent.
      • A 2xxx-3xxx level Mathematics, Science or Engineering Course, such as AST 2001. 
      • A 3xxx level computation course such as CE 3101.
      • A 3xxx level statistics course such as STAT 3021.

Restriction on 2xxx-3xxx Level Courses as Technical Electives

  • Restrictions on use of 2xxx-3xxx Level Courses as Technical Electives: One of the three technical electives may be replaced by one and only one of the following: (If you take more than one such course, the extra credits cannot be counted toward the degree requirements.)
    • The second semester of Chemistry: CHEM 1062 (lecture) and CHEM 1066 (lab) or equivalent.
    • A 2xxx-3xxx level Mathematics, Science or Engineering Course, such as AST 2001. 
    • A 3xxx level computation course such as CE 3101.
    • A 3xxx level statistics course such as STAT 3021

Specific Restrictions on Technical Electives

  • Other General Restrictions on Technical Electives:
    • No 1xxx level Mathematics or Natural Science course (such as AST 1001) is acceptable.
    • Only one programming course may be used toward the BAEM; thus an AEM student will not be given credit toward the degree for courses in more than one of FORTRAN, Pascal, or C/C++, etc. The recommended programming course is CS 1113, C/C++.
    • The following 3xxx level Engineering courses contain material already covered in required courses and so are not acceptable as Technical Electives: CE 3502, ME 3332. These are essentially contained in the required AEM 4201. Also, CE 3202 (Surveying) is not suitable.
    • BAE 4744 and IOFT 4101 cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. In addition, IE 5513, and most other IE courses, are not suitable.
    • No courses from the Carlson School of Management may be used as Technical Electives. This includes similar courses such as CE 4101 and IE 5541, Project Management.
    • Only 3 credits of AEM 4796/4896, Professional Experience (before fall 2015, see below), or AEM 4295, 4495, 4595, Independent Study, or AEM 4894H (Senior Honors Thesis), may be counted towards the 9 credits of technical electives. In addition, all global seminar courses fall into this category.
    • History of Science courses and such courses cross listed in other departments do not count as technical electives (but are good choices for your Liberal Education Electives).
    • Only one "build" course may be used as a technical elective. These courses include AEM 4333, AEM 4391, AEM 5333, and any special topics offered (in 4x95 classes) that involve building a project.
    • Technical elective courses must be taken A-F (as all degree requirements must be).
    • AEM 3100 topics do not count for technical elective credit.
    •  AEM 4796/4896, Professional Experience does not count as a technical elective.