A new Pitt class is taking engineering to greater heights

This semester, the Swanson School of Engineering rolled out the first of a set of new classes designed to train students about working at the intersection of engineering and space. It's part of a burgeoning effort to foster workforce development and keep up with growing demand in the many industries dependent on space-based technology.

"We almost all dreamed about going to space, right?" said instructor Zhi-Hong Mao. "Now there is an opportunity for students to learn about space. And they are excited."

Although he studied astronautics and aeronautics for seven years, Mao took a few classes himself this summer to prepare for the new course, including one in orbital mechanics and one on spacecraft altitude dynamics. He's been talking to professors who teach similar courses. He wants to make sure the class offers not just a breadth of topics, but depth as well.

"Space engineering is quite interdisciplinary," said Mao, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Swanson School. "That interdisciplinary nature gives us an opportunity to encourage engineers from different domains to work together."

The class's topics will span a significant range ­- about 22,000 miles, the distance to a geosynchronous orbit. Students start on solid ground, becoming familiar with rocket and propulsion design so they can build crafts that can fly. Learning about structure will give them the tools to build a craft that will stay in one piece while flying under extreme conditions.

The course will become more mathematically rigorous when it moves on to concepts of aero- and astrodynamics, guidance systems and control systems, Mao's areas of expertise. But he also intends to enlist the help of experts in a variety of fields as guest speakers.

That breadth means the course can benefit students who do not wind up working in a space-related field - they'll meet and work with with students from across engineering and beyond. And the lessons learned while developing a mission to space will undoubtedly be useful for engineering in the calm, more familiar environment of Earth.

Housing the space engineering class in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering might not seem like an obvious choice. But the class is part of Pitt Space, an initiative spearheaded by Alan George, the department chair, R&H Mickle Endowed Chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering. The initiative is bringing together researchers from across Pitt who are interested in space-based research.

"ECE is committed to supporting Pitt undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in space engineering with new courses, programs, research opportunities and more," George said. He has already been providing these opportunities to students at the Center for Space, High-Performance and Resilient Computing (SHREC), a research and education center that sees students working with industry and government partners and building computing systems that are deployed in space.

Mao's class will be broader than those existing efforts - and it's just the start of a new push to train students for the space industry. Not having a preexisting aerospace program might ultimately be a boon for Pitt because it is a chance to build something brand new.

"Today's astronauts are computers," said Samuel Dickerson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and vice chair for education and director of computer engineering undergraduate program. Most legacy aerospace programs developed around missions that had humans at the helm. To be competitive in the modern space industry, students need to learn computing techniques that didn't exist in the last space race.

"There are a lot of new technologies and techniques that are not well-supported by old school aerospace programs, he said. "No one has a program like this. This is what aerospace needs in 2024."

Photography by Alan George; The STP-H7-CASPR space system, developed by Pitt Space engineers, undergoes shock-and-vibration testing at NASA prior to launch on SpaceX-24 in December 2021. It has now been operating on the International Space Station for almost three years.

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