Outside the Classroom

Qualified AEM students may participate in the CSE Engineering Co-op Program in order to gain valuable work experience while maintaining a full-time-student status and earning elective credits towards their degree.

Completion of the program requires engagement in co-op work over at least two terms, including a summer term.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be upper-division AEM majors in good academic standing as determined by the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies.
• All required coursework through the spring semester of the junior year must be completed before a student can begin their co-op.
• Applicants are required to indicate that they plan to do a co-op when submitting a one-year plan and should not apply for a co-op until the plan has been approved by their faculty advisor.

Required Coursework

Students admitted to the Engineering Co-op Program are required to register for the courses:

• ME 3041 Industrial Assignment I (2 credits) (first co-op semester)
• ME 4043W Industrial Assignment II (4 credits) (second co-op semester)

Technical Elective Credits

The 4 credits from the second semester Industrial Assignment course may be applied towards the 9 required technical elective credits for the BAEM degree. Lower division technical elective credits will not be accepted in conjunction with technical elective credits for a co-op.

AEM Co-op Schedule

Standard option:
Students following the standard AEM 4-year plan can complete a co-op in one of two ways.

Option 1: Summer after junior year followed by fall of senior year.

Option 2: Fall of senior year followed by summer after senior year.

In both cases, students will need to take classes in the fall of their fifth year.

Non-standard options:
Students who are ahead of schedule with their classes may be able to create their own timelines for doing co-ops. In such cases students will need to contact the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval of their plan.

CSE Co-Op Page Apply to the Co-Op Program More about CSE's Co-Op

The UROP: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program provides funds for you to do a semester of research with a faculty member. You must first find a faculty member to be your adviser and then write a proposal. Currently, almost all proposals are getting funded. Note that you cannot get class credit for UROP projects.

Undergraduate Research Scholarships (URS) are awarded by the Office of Admissions to incoming freshman. The URS provides awardees with funding for a research project while being mentored by a faculty member.

All faculty in the AEM Department have research programs. There are often opportunities for undergraduates to contribute to these programs. Faculty that do experiments and computations typically have the most opportunities, but you don't know until you ask. See what research interests you and contact the faculty member to discuss the possibilities.

The North Star STEM Alliance Program offers opportunities and programs aimed at helping students just like you to succeed academically by inviting you to be a member of the North Star STEM community.  STEM areas include science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates opportunities can be found using the NSF REU Search page. These are research opportunities that are funded by the National Science Foundation and are often attached to faculty research projects. Note that NSF encourages students to go to other schools for these, so the U of M REU's may not be your best choice. Applications should be directed to the individual sites and not NSF.

Directed Study/Directed Research allows students to design and carry out an independent project, working one-on-one with a faculty member for academic credit.

The courses AEM 4295, 4495, and 4595, which are all independent study courses, may allow you to get class credit for your research. You need a faculty adviser for these courses and you have to arrange with them what work will be required for a grade. These courses are offered every semester, including over the summer. These courses count as technical electives in the BAEM program, but you can only replace one technical elective with an independent study course.

The Minnesota Space Grant Consortium (MnSGC)  is a University outreach program  from NASA under AEM, which provides students with scholarships/fellowships, internships with NASA, and many other opportunities for involvement. Activities range from a Stratospheric Ballooning team and quadcopter design to high power rocketry competitions.

The UAV research group  develops and implements world class, open-source, and low cost aeronautics research infrastructure. Research activities include control, navigation and guidance algorithms, embedded fault detection methods, and system identification tools.

The UAV Lab offers undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to participate in real-world aircraft development and flight testing with the ultimate  goal of enabling safer and more fuel efficient aircraft and UAVs.

The University of Minnesota Rocket Team brings together undergraduate students  from a wide variety of majors to work together on the construction and launch of multiple high-powered rockets throughout the school year. 

Team competitions include:

The Spaceport America Cup that takes place near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, is the team's main competition. In 2017, they competed in the Advanced 30,000 ft. target altitude division and they plan to continue to compete in this category in the years to come.

The Space Grant Midwest High-Power Rocketry Competition has worked on the Gopher Project - an inter-team project to teach incoming members how to build high power rockets and the High-Altitude Shot - a project to see how how the team could make a rocket fly. 

The  Big Ten Alka Rocket Challenge  at the Space Center in Houston.  The team set a Guinness record for the Highest Launch of a Rocket Powered by Effervescent Tablets in 2017 and  took home a prize of $25,000.

The CanSat Competition is an annual event hosted by the American Astronautical Society (AAS) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The event provides valuable hands-on-experience managing the complete, end-to-end life cycle of a complex engineering project.  

Alphadrone Team is all about going fast. Drone racing is the next up-and-coming sport/esport and Alphadrone has fully embraced the challenge of flying drones at high speeds. The Alphadrone pilots use special headsets to see the course from the perspective of the drone, allowing for incredible 3D maneuvers.

The SAE Aero Design Competition is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate engineering students to be exposed to the kinds of situations that engineers face in their real-life work environment.

There are three classes of competition - Regular, Advanced, and Micro. This year's team, The Flying Gophers, participated in the Micro Class, and had an objective of designing a light-weight, UAV-style aircraft. The Flying Gophers presented their design over three days of competition. The first day involved a detailed inspection of the aircraft to check design consistencies, the second day involved a presentation on design and testing details, and the last day involved six rounds of flight competition. The team finished the competition in ninth place out of twenty-four teams. 

The AIAA Student Chapter organizes opportunities for students to learn outside the classroom, including student engineering projects, outreach events, laboratory tours, and presentations from industry professionals. The chapter also helps students develop connections with professionals and employers. AIAA is a  national forum for professionals in the aerospace industry and the student chapter provides a similar mission of aligning students with interests in aerospace. 

The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project was founded in 1990 by a group of undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering. The team has build thirteen solar vehicles since that time and is one of the most decorated teams in America.