Aerospace Engineering is gaining popularity nationwide as the industry rapidly expands and UW-Madison is excited to grow the existing Engineering Mechanics + Aerospace program to keep pace.
In fall 2024, Associate Professor Jennifer Franck launched a new freshman course, EMA 200: Intro to Mechanics and Aerospace designed for incoming Engineering Mechanics + Aerospace (EM/A) majors. The course introduces EMA engineers to the curriculum through hands-on Aerospace themed design projects, practical engineering analysis tools, and builds community among EMA students, alumni and professors.
After the intro course, EMA students get to take Aerodynamics, Aerodynamics Lab, Rocket Propulsion, Astrodynamics, Flight Dynamics and Controls, and more. These are popular classes and help distinguish the program within Mechanical Engineering, while preparing students to succeed in the booming Aerospace Engineering industry.
Four recent alumni now working in aerospace are shining examples of where UW-Madison aerospace grads can wind up if they keep their eyes on the stars.
Melanie Solomon BSEM’2023
Melanie Solomon works at Blue Origin, where she started as a component test engineer in Kent, WA and is now a test engineer in Van Horn, Texas. “I’ve been focusing mostly on our flight instrumentation (pressure transducers, silicon diodes, thermocouples, RTDs, speed sensors),” shared Solomon. “No other program could have prepared me better for this position than EMA. First, just having a solid foundation in mechanics of materials, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics is so important for what I do. I am working around high pressure and cryogenic systems all the time and as a test engineer, it is my job to make sure these tests are carried out safely, so I must understand all the various mechanics. Then, having been in Mechanical Vibration lecture and also having taken the lab, I was well prepared for all the dynamics testing I’ve been doing.”
Don Kuettel III BSEM’2015
Don Kuettel works as the Ground Navigation Filter Lead at Intuitive Machines. He got his doctorate at CU-Boulder in astrodynamics, following his EMA degree at UW-Madison. He was part of the team that landed a robotic lander on the moon in February 2024, marking the first time the US has soft landed on the moon since the Apollo program. “We are currently gearing up for another landing attempt launching on 2/27. We are headed back to the south pole of the moon but with a much more precise landing site and larger scientific payloads.” Kuettel shared the lander news with Professor Riccardo Bonazza. “I just wanted to share this success with you because I wouldn’t be here today without your mentorship.”
Koby van Deelen BSEM’2022
Koby van Deelen has been a liquid engines engineer for United Launch Alliance for almost 2 years now out in Denver. “I’ve sat on console for 13 ULA launches monitoring engine systems and even gave the final “Go” callout from Cape Canaveral for the RL10s on the first ever flight of Vulcan in January 2024.”
“I get to do the coolest job in the world in no small part thanks to the education I got from amazing instructors like you both [Riccardo Bonazza and Sonny Nimityongskul]. Rocket propulsion and senior design specifically set me up for success in my current career.”
Clayton Fellman BSME’2019
Clayton Fellman has worked as an engineer at Boom Supersonic since graduating in 2019. In January 2025, the plane he’s been working on for the last five years, the XB-1, conducted their first supersonic flight test and broke the sound barrier! Fellman was in the control room during the test monitoring the aeroelastic behavior of the aircraft. Check out the livestream feed of the test flight for some cool highlights.
Learn more about aerospace at UW-Madison:
- New hands-on course launches first-year students’ journey into aerospace engineering
- A look at aerospace engineering in senior design
- Student Spotlight: Engineering Mechanics Senior Kyle Adler