AEM Undergraduate Handbook

Welcome!

As a BAEM student there is a large amount of information that you will need to know as you progress through your course work towards your graduation date. This page was assembled to assist you in this process and to provide you with the information you will need to know to effectively complete your degree. If you have any questions regarding the information on these pages, please feel free to contact your advisor or the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

BAEM Requirements

Table of Contents

Registration

How to Register

To check your unique registration date and time visit: MyU under the academics tab.

You will not be able to register until the advising (DS) hold on your record has been removed by getting your plans for next year approved. You will receive an email regarding advising for next year and when plans for next year are being accepted.

You will receive an email about the process and here are a few things that might help:

• You can find your registration time on MyU, the general timetable is here: Onestop Registration Time Table
• How to Guides for registration and other processes are here: http://onestop.umn.edu/how-guides including how to add yourself to a wait list.
• Our TwoStop site has quick Class Schedules and a Liberal Education Class Search tool.
• Best practice is to put a class in your cart and then immediately check out.
• Permission numbers are requested for AEM courses only through the SRS.

What To Do When a Class is Full

We set our class sizes smaller than the room sizes to control enrollments. If an AEM section or class is full, request a permission number through the SRS and we can probably get you in. If you can fit another section that is still open into your schedule, we will not give you a permission number for a closed section.

Holds & Permission Numbers

Each spring an advising hold is placed on your records. To remove this hold you must complete the BAEM advising process. The process starts with you submitting your plans for the next year using the on-line SRS (Student Records System). As part of this process you may request an appointment with your adviser. Once you have submitted your plans and your adviser has approved them, the hold will be removed from your records and you can register for fall classes.

The AEM Department issues Course Permission Numbers through our SRS on-line system. If you believe you have an advising hold on your records erroneously, please contact the Undergraduate Program Assistant in 107 Akerman or contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

BAEM New Majors Welcome Event

The BAEM Welcome Event is usually held in February in the Akerman Hall Hangar. There will be a short presentation followed by refreshments, and faculty members will be present to introduce themselves. All students admitted to the Major in January or May will be invited to attend via email. If you cannot make it to this event, please send an email to aem-dugs@umn.edu and they will make arrangements for you to receive the necessary department and advising process information.

One-Year Plan (Upper Division BAEM Students)

One Year Plans are submitted online each Spring. The following only applies to Upper Division BAEM students.

In order to register for Fall semester, students must fill out a one year plan online and have it approved by their faculty adviser. You will receive an email letting you know when one-year plans for the coming year may be entered. Once your one-year plan has been approved, the hold will be removed from your records so you may register. You may also request a meeting with your adviser if you would like to create a plan with more support and guidance.

One-year plans are now part of the Department Student Records System (SRS). Your advisor will review your plans online. You will receive an email when your adviser either approves your plans or enters comments about your plans. The plans summary page will also show the advisers' comments and if your plans have been approved.
 

Accessibility: One year plans can be filed in alternative formats by people with disabilities. Direct requests to the Director of Undergraduate Studies or your adviser.

One-Year Plan Form Entry Information

• Add Required Class
  • These boxes let you choose from the courses required for your degree that are being offered this term.
• Add Technical Elective Class
  • These boxes let you choose from the Department courses that fulfill the technical elective requirements. NOTE: These do not include out of Department classes that may be counted as technical electives. Enter these classes using the Other Technical Elective Classes and Comment fields.
• Other Technical Elective Classes
  • Use this to indicate technical electives from other departments. Please indicate in the comments what these classes are.
• Liberal Education Classes
  • Enter the number of liberal education classes you will be taking this term. It is up to you to make sure you meet the liberal education requirements.
• Comments to your Adviser
  • Anything you think your advisor should know. For example: if you plan to be away from the University doing an internship or study abroad.
• Expected Graduation
  • Enter the term and year that you plan to be your last before your get your degree. This needs only be your best guess and is not binding.
• Request an Appointment with Your Adviser
  • If for any reason you want to directly talk to your adviser you may set this option to yes and your adviser will contact you about setting up an appointment. You may also always contact your adviser separately for an appointment at any time. Each time you submit a plan with this option changed to yes from no an e-mail is sent to your adviser, so please only select it for one term.
• Modify
  • Check this box before you click the submit button to confirm you want to submit your term plan.

    You may go back and modify your plans at any time by clicking on the term-year (fall 2005, for example) link on the plans summary page. If you modify an already approved plan, it will need to be approved again. Even if you plan to be away from the University, on an internship or study abroad, please enter this in the comments field and submit a plan for each term you will be away.

BAEM Students taking Graduate Level Classes

If you plan to apply to the AEM Masters or PhD programs and would like to take Graduate level courses as an UMN Undergrad, you are able to do so. Please review the UMN Policy on Earning Graduate Credits and speak with an advisor before registering.

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Course Planning

Advising

If you are an upper division BAEM student and you do not know who your faculty adviser is, you may find out from the Department's Student Records System (SRS).

Your lower division adviser will continue as your College Adviser after you move into the upper division BAEM program. Contact CSE Student Services to speak to your college adviser. Drop-in hours are from 2-4pm on Monday through Friday. CSE Student Services is located in 105 Lind Hall and can help you with filing petitions and issues related to non-AEM courses and requirements.

You should be sure to check your central University email account regularly. The announcements from the AEM Department and your instructors will be sent to this address.

Advisers cannot reply to emails from non-University accounts about any issues that involve private information, such as your grades. Please send advising and course related emails from your University email account.

APAS Reports

These are used to clear you for graduation. When your report shows all green (OK) then you can graduate. You should check that your APAS report shows all green (OK or IP) after you register for your last semester before you graduate. This will confirm that you will have all the courses needed to graduate once you complete your last semester. Any minors or second degrees should have their own APAS reports.

If your APAS report does not show your technical electives in the correct section or has other problems, contact the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies who can fill out an APAS correction form for you.

BAEM Semester by Semester Academic Plan*

*For students admitted to CSE in fall 2021 or later. Students admitted to CSE earlier than fall 2021 should follow the previous 4-year-plan.

Freshman Year: 

Sophomore Year: 

*Courses required for entrance into BAEM Major (Upper Division)

**This course can be taken in the spring of junior year without affecting any other courses.

***This course serves as a technical elective and is therefore optional.

Junior Year: 

*This can be taken either in the junior or senior year.

Senior Year: 

Total Credits: 122

Courses ending in W are writing intensive.

**AEM 2301 and AEM 4301 can both be moved one year later to the spring of Junior and Senior years, respectively, without affecting any other courses. This is typically what transfer students will need to do.

BAEM Prerequisite Chain

The proper sequence for the required courses for the BAEM degree can be obtained from the following prerequisite chains. It is most important that the courses shown below be taken on schedule because other courses in the program depend on them. Students are not allowed to take courses without first taking the required prerequisites.

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• You must pass CHEM 1061/65, PHYS 1302W, MATH 2374 (or equivalents) and AEM 2011 to be admitted to the BAEM Major. These courses can be in progress when you do the online application to the Major.
• You should be sure to take AEM 2012 in the spring, as this is a prerequisite for junior level courses. If you are taking AEM 2011 in the spring, you can take AEM 2012 over the summer to get back on track. You should also take AEM 2301 in the spring if possible, but it can be put off until your junior year if need be.
• Remember that the separate Statics (AEM 2011) and Dynamics (AEM 2012) courses are required for the BAEM. If you took the combined course (AEM 2021) you will be required to also take either AEM 2011 or AEM 2012 (your choice). The combined course AEM 2021, does count in place of AEM 2011 for applications to the Major and meets the prerequisites for junior year courses that require AEM 2012.
• If you are ahead in your coursework and want to take some courses from the junior year of the BAEM 4-year plan, EE 3005/6 is a good choice. Deformable Body Mechanics, AEM 3031, is not a good choice because AEM 4501 Aerospace Structures is really a second course in deformable body mechanics and thus it's best to have these courses in consecutive semesters. In addition the spring semester is the busy term for AEM 3031 as all the ME students take it that semester. If you have already taken AEM 2012 Dynamics and Differential Equations you could also take AEM 4301 Orbital Mechanics in the spring of your sophomore year. Honors students that took PHYS 1401V and 1402V should take PHYS 2503H as their third physics course.
• Students may also take AEM 4301 Orbital Mechanics in the fall of your sophomore year.

• Be sure to get the EE courses done in the Fall semester and don't worry if you took FORTRAN or Java instead of C; you won't be the only one who did so. AEM 4601, Instrumentation Lab, will give you enough background in C programming to allow you to 
• Students wishing to graduate with Latin Honors are required to do an Honors thesis. You should have worked out a plan to do your thesis with a faculty adviser by the end of your junior year in order to leave enough time to complete your thesis.

• Available AEM technical electives are listed here (link to technical electives page). Consult the restrictions on technical electives while you are choosing these courses. Note that it is possible to minor in Astrophysics by taking AST 2001 and PHYS 2303/2503. One of these courses will also count as a technical elective for your BAEM degree.
• To check that you have fulfilled all the requirements for the degree get an Online APAS Report. Once you are registered for spring you should check that your APAS shows all Green (OK and IP), which indicates that you are on track to graduate in May.

Graduating seniors only need to fill out an electronic Application for their Undergraduate Degree with the Registrar's office. This form is due early in the semester in which you plan to graduate, so make sure you get it in on time, and see the degree application deadlines. There is no separate form that needs to be filed with the Department.

• Note: If you have AP or transfer credit for freshman writing (WRIT 1301) you will need to request a permission number via the SRS for AEM 4602W and AEM 4303W.

Transfer Student Course Planning

The following assumes that you have already taken all required sophomore year courses. If not, consult with your advisor or the Director of Undergraduate Studies. You can also look at the Sophomore Year Course Plan on this website.

Junior Year

• Depending on how many liberal education electives you have left to take, you may opt to take AEM 4301 in the fall of your senior year.
• Be sure to get the EE courses done in the Fall semester and don't worry if you took FORTRAN or Java instead of C.

Senior Year

The italicized fields indicate a change from the regular course plan.

• Students wishing to graduate with Latin Honors are required to do an Honors thesis. You should have worked out a plan to do your thesis with a faculty adviser by the end of your junior year in order to leave enough time to complete your thesis.
• Available AEM technical electives are listed on the summary of course offerings. Consult the restrictions on technical electives while you are choosing these courses. Note that it is possible to minor in Astrophysics by taking AST 2001 as one of your technical electives.
• To check that you have fulfilled all the requirements for the degree get an Online APAS Report. Once you are registered for spring you should check that your APAS shows all Green (OK and IP), which indicates that you are on track to graduate in May.

Graduating seniors only need to fill out an electronic Application for their Undergraduate Degree with the Registrar's office. This form is due early in the semester in which you plan to graduate, so make sure you get it in on time, and see the degree application deadlines. There is no separate form that needs to be filed with the Department. Note: If you have AP or transfer credit for freshman writing (WRIT 1301) you will need to request a permission number via the SRS for AEM 4602W and AEM 4303W.

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Upper Division Technical Electives

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 or PHYS 2303/2503- see Minor in Astrophysics. A 3xxx level computation course such as CE 3101. A 3xxx level statistics course such as STAT 3021.

• 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 School of Management may be used as Technical Electives.

This includes similar courses such as CE 4101 and IE 5541, Project Management. 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. Starting Fall 2015: AEM 4796/4896, Professional Experience will not count as a technical elective.

AEM Technical Elective Courses

Full Course Descriptions

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. All the possible (but not necessarily offered) AEM technical electives are listed below by area. To see when these courses are offered by the AEM Department, see the courses section of the AEM website.

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.

Fluids Technical Electives:

• AEM 4290 -- Special Topics in Fluid Mechanics
• 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 4333 -- Aerospace Design: Special Projects
• AEM 4391 -- Independent Design Project (offered when 4333 is not offered)
• AEM 4490 -- Special Topics in Aerospace Systems
• AEM 5401 -- Intermediate 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 4590 -- Special Tops in Solid Mechanics and Materials
• AEM 5501 -- Continuum Mechanics
• AEM 5503 -- Theory of Elasticity

University Honors Program AEM

4894H -- Senior Honors Thesis

Note that 5xxx level courses count as both technical electives and honors experiences, which includes the courses 5247, 5253 and 5581 that have 4xxx level versions that undergraduates typically take. You will need a permission number to register for these courses.

Technical Electives from Other Departments

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.

Computer Science Courses:

• CSCI 2021 - Machine Architecture and Organization (4.0 cr)
• CSCI 2011 - Discrete Structures of Computer Science (4.0 cr)
• CSCI 2033 - Elementary Computational Linear Algebra (4.0 cr)
• CSCI 4041 - Algorithms and Data Structures (4.0 cr)
• CSCI 4061 - Introduction to Operating Systems (4.0 cr)
• CSCI 4611 - Programming Interactive Computer Graphics and Games (3.0 cr)
• CSCI 5551 - Introduction to Intelligent Robotic Systems (3.0 cr)
• CSCI 5143 - Real-Time and Embedded Systems (3.0 cr)
• CSCI 5511 - Artificial Intelligence I (3.0 cr)
• CSCI 5512 - Artificial Intelligence II (3.o cr)
• CSCI 5521  - Introduction to Machine Learning (3.0 cr)

Note: CSCI 5302 is not suitable as a technical elective because it covers material that
is already discussed in AEM 3103.

Space Science Courses:

• AST 2001 -- Introduction to Astrophysics (prerequisite required PHYS II.) This course, together with PHYS 2303 or 2503, will give AEM students a  Minor in Astrophysics.
• 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

Environmental Science Courses:

• BBE 2201 -- Renewable Energy and the Environment
• FNRM 3131 -- Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Natural Resources

*Note: You are limited to one technical elective below 4000 level

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 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 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.

Summary BAEM Degree Requirements

Lower Division Requirements:

*courses required or entrance into BAEM Major (Upper Division)

Upper Division Requirements:

*Total Combined Credits: 122

Liberal Education Requirements

Diversified Core Physical & Biological Sciences – a minimum of two courses totaling at least 8 credits, including:

Suggested Courses in the History of Science: (Note that three of the courses below satisfy the Technology and Society (TS) liberal education theme.)

One of the educational outcomes of our program is to produce graduates who understand how engineering relates to the global and societal context in which it is practiced. We also want our graduates to behave in an ethical and professional manner. Liberal education electives should be selected, so far as possible, to support the achievement of these outcomes. History of Science courses are very useful for this purpose, in particular the following History of Science courses are highly recommended.

• HSCI 3331 - Technology and American Culture (HIS, TS)
• HSCI 3401 - Ethics in Science and Technology (HIS, CIV)
• HSCI 3421 - Engineering Ethics (HIS, CIV)
• HSCI 3714 - Technology and Civilization: Stone Tools to Steam Engines (HIS, TS)
• HSCI 3715 - Technology and Civilization: Waterwheels to the Web (HIS, TS)

*A list of full requirements is listed here.

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University Academic Policies

Repeating a Course

See repeating a course on OneStop for additional information. Exemptions are only granted by petition (they are not under the control of the instructor or the department), see your college adviser in 105 Lind Hall for information on submitting one.

Required Grades 

A grade of C- or better is required in the major. This also means that you may not take any degree requirements S-N.

This requirement makes it necessary for you to receive a C- or better in any course required by the Department for a BAEM degree. This requirement covers all technical courses. Thus the only course in which a D or D+ is still a passing grades are the CLE elective courses, which include freshman writing and biology. D or D+ grades are still acceptable for prerequisite purposes, unless stated otherwise in the course prerequisites.

Credit and Grade Point Requirements for an Undergraduate (Baccalaureate) Degree 

This policy limits S-N credits to 25% of those required for the degree (30+ for the BAEM)-- but see the policy if you are a transfer student. A student who is admitted to a degree program or major and who completes all requirements of the degree, with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.000 in University of Minnesota coursework, will be allowed to earn a degree. The cumulative GPA is based on only University of Minnesota course work.

Max Credit Amount

The maximum number of semester credits you can register for without additional approval is 20. To add a course beyond this limit you will need to fill out the Academic Policy Petition (OneStop forms).

If you plan to be gone from the University for a semester (other than summer), you need to file a leave of absence plan or you will have to apply for readmission when you return.

Academic Probation

There is now only one level of probation before suspension. Students who have a term or cumulative GPA less than 2.00 are put on Probationary Status. Students with term or cumulative GPA's between 1.75 and 1.99 will be allowed to register on time if they submit letters from their instructors indicating satisfactory progress. Students with less than a 1.75 GPA will have to wait for grades to be posted before they can register for next semester. All students on Probationary Status must fill out an E100 form. This form requires a signature of the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studeis. The E100 form and instructor letters should be turned into the office of Student Affairs in 105 Lind Hall.

Students on Probationary Status whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 may have to wait a year before they can enroll in classes at the University again. This is called Academic Suspension. If you are on academic suspension you will no longer be able to get around the suspension by taking extension courses. If you want to take courses, attend a local community or junior college.

Transferring Credits

You must take 15 of your last 30 credits here and then you can transfer, at most, half of your upper division credits. See Campus-Specific Requirements for Undergraduate Degrees and Major, Minors, and Certificates.

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Dual Degrees and Minors

It is possible to get two degrees at the same time while attending the University of Minnesota. The following are the basic guidelines and specifics about a dual AEM/ME degree. It is suggested that you have a meeting with the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies to make your plans for obtaining a dual degree.

Guidelines

• You must meet all the requirements for both degrees, however, common requirements need to only be taken once. For example: Math, Physics, and Chemistry courses that are taken count towards both degrees.

• Liberal education requirements only need to be met once.

• Required courses for one degree can be used as technical electives for the other degree provided that they meet the requirements for the technical electives for that degree.

Applying for a Second Major

The process for applying to your second major is the same as the first. Please see instructions on the AEM intranet.

Minors

This page lists some of the minors available on campus. Minors in Engineering, Math and Sciences can often be completed while using some of their courses as technical electives for the BAEM program.

BAEM Upper Division Honors Program

The BAEM Upper Division Honors Program falls under the University Honors Program (UHP). Please refer to their website for further information. In particular,

BAEM-specific information is available on the Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics page on the University Honors Program website.

The AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies is the BAEM UHP adviser. Feel free to reach out to them with any questions.

Degrees with Distinction

Degrees with distinction are conferred automatically.

*Calculated from last 60 semester hours of course work.

University Writing Requirements

All students must meet the Writing Intensive course requirements in addition to freshman composition. Students must take four (4) Writing Intensive (WI) courses. These are courses specifically designated WI, as seen on web page listed below. Additionally, one of the WI courses must be in your major and two must be at the 3000 level or higher. These last two requirements will be automatically satisfied for AEM majors because the senior laboratory course, AEM 4602W, and the flight dynamics course, AEM 4303W, are both WI courses.

Because the first two physics courses are also WI courses, students who entered as freshman usually do not have to worry about meeting the WI requirements.

Transfer Students have to meet the WI requirements. Check your APAS. If it does not show this requirement fulfilled, you will have to take a couple of WI courses in addition to the required AEM 4303W and 4602W courses. These courses can be from any subject area.

There is a class search tool at TwoStop to find all the WI classes offered in a given term. The Center for Writing has writing support for students to assist you with these courses.

Research Opportunities

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AEM Co-op and Intern Program

Co-Op Program

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

AEM Intern Program

This program is now only for students that need to maintain full time status while doing an internship during a Fall or Spring semester. The courses AEM 4796 and 4896 no longer count as technical electives. The Aerospace Engineering Intern Program provides students with an industrial experience during their junior and senior years. This experience helps students gain an understanding of an engineer's role in industry while earning technical elective credits. Students apply for the Intern Program at the time they apply for upper division courses or after they have already been admitted. Students applying for the program should have a minimum GPA of 2.7. Intern Program job opportunities are posted in Akerman Hall as they are received.

The course grade is based on a written report due at the end of each work assignment. Work assignments may be full or part time during the Fall or Spring semester or over the summer. The Intern Program may prolong the time it takes to get an AEM degree because most required AEM courses are offered only once per academic year. Students must work with their advisor to minimize this impact.

If you are doing an internship during a Fall or Spring semester (so you will not be taking classes that semester), you need to fill out a Undergraduate Leave of Absence Form and submit it to the CSE Advising office in 105 Lind Hall to keep your status active with the University. If you are taking AEM 4996 to maintain full time status you do not need to fill out this form.

Internship inquires can be send to aem-internship@umn.edu. Additional questions on the internship program can also be directed to the AEM Director of Undergraduate Studies.

AEM Internships & Job Co-Ops  Aerospace Companies and Organizations 

CSE Career Services Internship Resources  NASA Internship Opportunities

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Opportunities Abroad

Experience with other cultures and countries can count as part of your degree requirements for the BAEM. Or you may be interested in an international internship that pays you to work in another country. There are many opportunities to broaden your horizons and below is some information to get you started.

The main resource at the University is the U of M Learning Abroad Center, which keeps lists of international courses that can be directly used for technical or liberal education credit. See their AEM Program Study Abroad Major Advising page for details on courses that can be used for technical credit. The Students page has information on how to get started finding a program that is right for you. CSE has support for study abroad and has a Global Seminars Page for short courses that take you abroad.

Aside from getting course credit there are also opportunities to work, intern, or volunteer internationally. For these type of opportunities see International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience where you can apply for an international internship. Work, intern, or volunteer by searching the U of M Abroad's database. Engineers without Borders is a non-profit organization established in 2000 to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. There is now a U of M Chapter.

College in many EU countries is free and in English, see 7 countries where Americans can study at universities, in English, for free (or almost free).

Continuing in Graduate School

If you are considering continuing your education in graduate school, this page attempts to give you some background on graduate school in engineering. There are two levels of degrees in engineering at the graduate level: Master's and Ph.D. Most students who get a Ph.D. degree get a Master's degree first, but it is not required.

Financial Support

In engineering* almost all students attending graduate school are supported by either a teaching assistantship (TA) or a research assistantship (RA). A few top students may be offered fellowships. The best fellowships may provide support for several years. When you apply to a graduate school getting support is of much more importance than getting admitted (you won't get support without getting admitted). All of these forms of support, TA, RA, and fellowship, cover tuition and provide a stipend that is adequate for a student to live on.

Most students that get support will be promised a TA or RA for the first year and support for subsequent years is contingent on finding a faculty adviser with funding support for you. If you get offered an RA, it will be with a specific faculty member and by accepting this support you are agreeing to work with that faculty member on the research project providing the funding. A TA offer will usually entail either grading or teaching lab or recitation sections of a course taught by a faculty member, but this does not involve a commitment to have this faculty member be your research adviser.

There are also fellowships, such as the NSF Graduate Fellowship, that will allow you to attend any graduate school. You can apply for many of these fellowships during your first year of graduate school. Having a fellowship is very desirable as it lets you choose to work with any faculty member regardless of whether that faculty member has funding for research in the topic that interests you.

*This is not the case in the sciences and mathematics.

GPA Requirement

Continuing on in graduate school is for students who have done well as undergraduates. While the formal entrance requirement for graduate school at the University of Minnesota is a 3.0 GPA, we prefer to see students have at least a 3.3 GPA to enter our program.

Finding a Graduate School

GradSchools.com allows you to search for graduate schools in your field of interest. You can also ask your adviser or other AEM faculty about which schools might be right for you. You can get ranking information from the US News & World Report, although for a Ph.D. the reputation of your research adviser is at least as important as the ranking of the program as a whole.

Staying in AEM

Details on our graduate programs can be found on the AEM Graduate Program Pages. We generally advise our BAEM graduates wanting to get a Ph.D. to attend another school. This provides a much broader educational experience. However, we regularly have several students stay to pursue Master's degrees and if a faculty member has a research project that fits you perfectly, it may also make sense to stay for your Ph.D. You can complete the last few credits of your BAEM degree while at the same time starting graduate school. Contact the AEM Director of Graduate Studies for more information.

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Finding a Job

Finding a job may be one of the hardest and most stressful things you will have to do. Unlike applying to schools, finding a job requires much more initiative on your part, if only because of the large number of opportunities and choices involved. But the process is the same for everyone and it's mainly a matter of perseverance. If you plan ahead and take advantage of internship, research, and other opportunities, you will be in a better position to convince employers you have what they need. The fact that everyone needs to do this, usually several times, means there is an enormous range of help available, from job search web sites to career counselors.

The College of Science and Engineering provides a Career Center for Science and Engineering, which has information on the job search process and arranges interviews with employers that visit campus. The University offers help on resumes and other career tips on their website.

GoldPass is the U of M's online database to help connect students and alumni with employers, volunteer organizations, and internships across the country. There is additional information including search site links and job listings on our career information page (current students only).

Check out the different careers and opportunities you can explore as a BAEM major.

Additional Links

Most University information is available on the OneStop site.

General Links List

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