Aviation Week again recently named ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ the No. 1 supplier of graduates to the U.S. aerospace and defense industries β for the fourth consecutive year.
More than 4,000 students are currently enrolled in the universityβs Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering programs. There were 111 students who graduated last year with bachelorβs and masterβs degrees in aerospace engineering, and more than 120 are expected to graduate this year.
More than 550 students have graduated with an aerospace engineering degree during the past five years.
βOrlando is the epicenter of rapid economic growth as more engineering companies begin calling it their home.β βΒ Yoav Peles, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering chair
βΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs ranking as the top producer of talent for the aerospace and defense industries showcases, one more time, the sustained partnership that ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ has established with the aerospace and defense industry to educate the next generation of engineers and computer scientists that this industry needs to perpetuate its continued dominance,β says MichaelΒ Georgiopoulos, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
Rounding out the Top 5 universities that have provided the most graduates to the industries are: University ofΒ Florida,Β University of Arizona,Β Pennsylvania State UniversityΒ and University of Washington.
Yoav Peles, department chair, says ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs graduates are working at some of the top engineering sites in the nation, such as Lockheed Martin, Siemens and the Kennedy Space Center.
βAs one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, Orlando is the epicenter of rapid economic growth as more engineering companies begin calling it their home,β he says, including other companies such as Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Mitsubishi, HarrisΒ and Disney.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs newest engineering program, a doctorate in aerospace engineering, was recently approved and is accepting applications for the Fall 2019 semester. The department also offers a doctorate in mechanical engineering, and masterβs degrees in aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering.
Aviation Week collaborated with the Aerospace Industries Association, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and PwC on the annual study. ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ also has earned a Carnegie Classification of Highest Research Activity, and ranks among the nationβs Top 25 U.S. public universities for the number of patents secured by the National Academy of Inventors.
