Aerospace

Engineering at
Penn State
A Resource Guide

Thomas Santee /17 ENGL 202c

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

FRESHMAN YEAR 4

NROTC 4

Aerospace Department Website 5

Physics Concepts Site 6

SOPHOMORE YEAR 7

Engineering Case Studies Online 7-8

Catalog of Government Publications 9

Statistical Abstract of the United States 10

JUNIOR YEAR 11

Aerospace Students Concept Site 11

AIAA 12

1
INTRODUCTION
Intended Audience

This guide was written to help those entering Penn State for Aerospace Engineering
and the NROTC program. As accepted students already know, Aerospace Engineering
is the first tier-one major listed, alphabetically, for NROTC scholarships. It is tier one
for a reason, as the major not only is tough to complete, but it also has an academic
control placed on it preventing too many students from entering at any one time. All
totaled, the major may seem impossible to balance with the additional demands of
NROTC, yet countless have done it before the readers of this guide and many more will
complete it after them. While intimidating at each start of the semester, it is not
impossible. A little forethought can go a long way towards not only surviving
engineering, but having a little fun along the way.

Expected Knowledge

By no means will this guide contain everything needed to be successful at Penn State.
Rather, it is intended to be the extra push for a student to excel academically. That
said, to be fully effective, users should be aware of how to use Google effectively and
separate credible websites from bad websites. In addition, readers should know how to
send e-mail and possess a willingness to contact strangers. While seemingly trivial, e-
mail communication with professors, lieutenants, and other figures of authority within
the university is an essential information gathering tool. Fear to use, or even improper
use, of one of the most important tools available to students can be a critical
handicap.

Readers are expected to be entering college when starting to use this guide and
referring back to the guide as their academic careers progress. Note the title at the
beginning of each section, as it should denote which level of courses students should
be taking while using the sites included. For example, sophomore year students
should be taking one hundred and two hundred level courses to have the background
to use the sites effectively.

Content

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Spanning from the start of a college tenure and extending through the fall of junior
year, often called the toughest semester of undergraduate and graduate for aerospace
by professors, there are many resources for students to find answers. Many sites
explain basic concepts necessary to go further in the major. If a source is particularly
helpful for a certain course, it will be noted on the page. Additionally, contact
information will be discussed, such as a directory for teachers at Penn State. It is
essential to utilize e-mail skills early and often to achieve maximum results while at
the University.

Organization

As the guide is meant to grow with the user, it is organized chronologically, with a
heading for each year that a site becomes useful to students. The guide tends to follow
the typical path of an engineer in NROTC. The most essential information is placed
towards the front of the book. While a resource may start being useful in ones
sophomore year, it does not cease to be useful ones junior year. Each resource is listed
for the year that it first becomes useful and the year that the reader will have the
requisite background knowledge to use the site to its full potential.

Tips for Use

At the start of each resource listing, there is a two to four sentence description of the
resource and its scope. When in complete confusion, or skimming to save time, look to
the top of the page for help.

If still confused as to whether the major is a good fit, go towards the back of the guide
and thumb through the later sections to get a feel for the meat and potatoes of
Aerospace Engineering. Its easy to get lost in intro calculus and physics courses and
miss the reason for studying in the first place. Here, one can start to see the
applications and abilities gained from introductory courses, helping confused students
understand if they want to proceed on their current path.

The best source for many is to talk with a live person, and a good place to look for help
will be on the section pertaining to teachers and contacts in major. Feel free to send
anyone listed an e-mail, or use the page as a start point to dig deeper into what the
university has to offer. Theres never any penalty for asking, the only one missing out
from keeping silent is you.

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FRESHMAN YEAR
PENN STATE NROTC
http://nrotc.psu.edu/

This website is the front page for the NROTC program at Penn State. From here one
can find the answers to many basic questions a midshipman might have before
entering the unit. If navigating the site isnt enough, there is an about page listing
faculty to contact for advanced questions.

Abstract

Even if the student was previously in JROTC or a cadet structured high school, the
shift to college ROTC programs can be monumental. One of the biggest walls to climb
is getting used to the military jargon. Most students opt to participate in the new
student orientation during the last week of summer before school. To get a step ahead,
its beneficial to click the new student orientation tab and read the knowledge packet
link. From here, there is plenty of information to familiarize oneself with to avoid
culture shock on day one.

This site is a very good introduction to the NROTC program and regular student life of
a midshipman. The information contained is mostly basic, going into basic military
terms in the orientation packet and preferring to use scores of pictures to showcase
military aspects listed in the tabs at the top of the site. The site serves more as a
welcome mat, with plenty of links, especially under the new students tab, to help
graduated high school students find information to integrate into the unit.

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Tips

Once in the program, there are additional course requirements to keep a scholarship.
While as an Aerospace Engineer, most of these courses are required to complete the
major, there are some history and English courses that may not be taken if the
student is unaware. To find these courses and plan ahead, click on the required
courses link under the about us tab on the website.

One of the links that is harder to understand is the study abroad link, as it displays a
slideshow of one midshipmans trip rather than information about how to achieve it.
Instead, it serves as a taste of what is available to midshipmen at Penn State,
requiring students to contact the unit to find further information and demonstrate
interest in the unit.

PENN STATE AEROSPACE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

http://www.aero.psu.edu/index.aspx

Serving as the gateway to the Aerospace Engineering Department at Penn State, this
site provides a trove of links to helpful information for students looking to enter the
major or enhance their experience in major. Most of the links pertain to either
undergraduate students or research topics.

Abstract

When looking for research, particularly relating to Aerospace as a major, it is often

helpful to go straight to the source. This site contains not only all faculty within the
department, but also all of the research going on in the department. In addition, there
are explanatory pages for what the major is along with cursory information for new
students, though much of it is only for appearances.

If looking only for the type of research going on and the opportunities available, the
best place to start would be to click the research overview link under the research tab.
From there, pick the coolest sounding topic and start messaging professors listed.
While it may seem like overstepping bounds, most professors are more than happy to
help and accommodate students willing to go the extra mile.

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The site itself contains over twenty links under the Academics tab and over thirty
under the Research tab. While the major may be more biased towards helping
students find and get connected with research, it also contains guides for
undergraduate students looking to plan out their courses, in the form of the
Undergraduate Guide under the Academic tab.

Tips

Some people can be impartial towards research topics, and one of the best ways to find
some interesting research without searching by topic would be to go into the faculty
link under the people tab. From there, click on the name of any professor that seems
interesting, as it will usually be a link to his or her personal website. If you see
something that you like, message the professor to talk more about the topic, and if you
can do research on it.

When having trouble learning more about courses, the site also contains a
compendium called undergraduate courses under the undergraduate section of the
academics tab. From here, a student can click to learn about any course that seems
interesting or confusing.

GEORGIA STATE PHYSICS CONCEPTS GUIDE

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

This site is essential for basic conceptual questions in Physics. During an aerospace
students career, a student is expected to take at least three physics courses, all of
which are covered within this website.

Abstract

This website will help you successfully navigate your first two physics courses,
involving Electricity and Magnetism and General Mechanics. This site also contains
links to Quantum Mechanics, which is usually taken between sophomore and junior
year. The site starts at major branches of physics, such as the topics listed above.
From there, clicking on a topic will lead to a series of trees that form the basis of the
subject. For example, one path may be Mechanics to Velocity and Acceleration to
Applications of Velocity and Acceleration to a case of Constant Acceleration, from

6
which equations of motion and paragraph long explanations of the specific topic are
given.

While this process can be repeated to shore up any deficiencies in a full topic of a
students knowledge, it can also be used to cover specific questions and work through
examples. On the main page of the Mechanics bubble is an examples bubble, which
allows students to practice newly learned concepts.

Tips

Often, during google searches, if you look up a particular theory or equation, you will
find the hyperlink on this webpage. Navigation can be tough, as you have to click a
very gimmicky word net to get to the information you need.

I recommend sticking to the mechanics tab to start, as it easily quantifies a lot of

concepts and can help one get ahead of the class.

In general, thinking ahead is the most important thing in physics. If one is two steps
ahead, he or she can ask questions in class and fully understand the material.

Additionally, utilize office hours early and often. Most students dont go after the first
week, and a lot of intro professors sit bored in their offices, happy to have any student
interaction.

SOPHOMORE YEAR
ENGINEERING CASE STUDIES ONLINE
http://search.alexanderstreet.com/engv

This website serves as an index of engineering disasters, easily searchable in terms of

disaster name, subjects such as mechanical or aerospace engineering, and popularity.
When looking to answer the question of why people become engineers, this index is
essential.

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Abstract

At Penn State, through the libraries website, countless databases and indexes are
available for free to students that would normally cost significant amounts of money.
With this particular index, one can search without knowing what he or she is looking
for. With pictures of different events and playlists of popular articles, the index can
help engineers find something they didnt even know they were looking for.

This website is continually expanding, eventually planning on containing at least 250

hours and 50,000 pages of case studies of over 20 major engineering failures. To
search the site, there is a navigation bar on the left side if looking for major specific
examples of bad engineering, while there is a search bar towards the top of the page to
find a specific event.

Early on in a students career, this website will be helpful in obtaining backgrounds for
writing reports on major engineering disasters for class. Later on, say in Strengths and
Materials during sophomore year, when the Tacoma Narrows bridge is brought up, a
student can research the actual reports on the failure and apply technical knowledge
from his or her class to understand the forces at play.

Tips

With this website, it may be best to take a wiki approach to the information, in that
the user should click on the first interesting link and explore the subject. From there,
any questions brought up by one article can be answered by finding another article.

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For students concerned about
whether aerospace is right for
them, check out the actual
mission report for the Apollo 13
mission with this index. It
provides tremendous insight into
the demands of a lunar mission.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications

https://catalog.gpo.gov/

Small Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine Paper

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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160014802.pdf

There is no greater trove of freely accessible high quality information than the Catalog
of U.S Government Publications (CGP). From here, one can access almost any article,
report, or citation published by any of the U.S. Governments agencies.

Abstract

One of the harder things to pick up as an engineer can be the art of writing a lab
report correctly. In aerospace engineering, there are two specific classes required by
Penn State to acquire a degree, both of which address technical writing. Engl 202c is
one such class, taught from the English departments point of view on technical
writing. While not addressing report writing explicitly, it does tackle how to write
concisely and, for lack of a better term, like an engineer. Additionally, Penn State
requires students to take Aersp 305, which does force students to write lab reports.
Doing so for the first time, and without example, can be extremely difficult, which is
where this catalog is essential.

In terms of scope, the notecard system alone, which has now been digitized, contains
over one million entries of government publications. Available documents extend from
NASA to the EPA, with one such entry included as an example later on.

Tips

When searching for information, use government organization names as a rough

starting point. For example, use NASA to start if unsure of where to look for air and
space information.

The website functions like a search engine, and it is important to realize browsing
through entries randomly is difficult.

Example

The report can be used to find the applications of a midshipmans junior year nuclear
classes in the aerospace field. One such article, found by searching NASA in the
website, involves developing a Small Nuclear Thermal Rocket for the cheapest price. A
link to this paper is listed above.

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STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/statab/131ed.html

To provide hard numbers for any research paper, the statistical abstract is crucial.
Whether it is looking up the raw amount of money allocated to different fields of
research or finding the employment figures of engineers in the economy, the abstract
provides a quick look at fundamental information.

Abstract

As midshipmen are government employees, it is important to know how the

government spends its money. Particularly of interest to students looking for research
would be to use information to find trends in research funding to understand where
more funding will be available in the future.

For example, from table 802, research allocations of the federal government are
displayed in both current and constant dollars, with constant dollars being in
reference to the year 2000. As seen in the table, the mathematics and computer
sciences category is rising faster than other categories, indicating research in
computational methods in aerospace, rather than direct engineering solutions to
problems, will be more likely to secure funding. In the future, allocations may change
and will be noted in the Statistical Abstract.

Going beyond to applications for life as a Penn State student, the abstract is key in
providing context to arguments in papers for Naval Science classes. With continuous
doubt being cast on historically reliable news organizations, it is important to have a
government resource to add credibility to ones arguments.

Tips

The statistical abstract is meant to be a quick look at a large volume of data. On the
bottom of the title screen, under Sources of Data, are links to sites for additional
research.

Specifically valuable to engineers is section 16, the science section, which is pertinent
to writing reports and preparing to look for research funding.

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JUNIOR YEAR
AEROSPACE STUDENT CONCEPTS SITE
http://aerostudents.com/info/home.php

Created by a community of aerospace students around the world, this site is dedicated
to helping fellow engineers understand and succeed in their major. It includes not only
numerous books pertinent to major specific courses, but also plenty of guides to
explaining basic classes and concepts, such as linear algebra.

Abstract

This website is important to know for all students entering the aerospace major. It has
access to scores of books, complete with solution guides. Most books wont be directly
used in your courses, however there is a ton of crossover between materials. It has a
large community that continually updates the site, ensuring the information does not
go out of date.

The tabs are ordered in terms of years in major, though the courses on each tab are
not all in sync with major progression at Penn State. There are over forty sections
covered in vast depth. Most section will have book links to help understand the topic,
in addition to formula sheets, old exams, and slides from old lectures. While not
providing much in the way of background information, this site is incredibly helpful in
understanding many courses after a students sophomore year and entry into major at
Penn State.

Tips

Navigation can be problematic, as the courses are scattered between the first through
fourth year tabs. I would also suggest reviewing published equation sheets and
creating your own from the information provided. Creating master sheets and saving
them for future courses is an invaluable skill to have.

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Personally, I recommend the Aircraft Structural Analysis link under the second year
tab, as the book link is directly applicable to your AERSP 301 course.

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND

ASTRONAUTICS (AIAA)
http://arc.aiaa.org/loi/aiaaj?_ga=1.4768118.494264619.1487054362

This website, with access paid for by Penn State while a student, provides a look into
the professional side of Aerospace Engineering and the work done after obtaining a
degree. In addition, if one is looking to further knowledge in a subject discussed in
class, such as acoustics, it is easily searched in this journal.

Abstract

AIAAs journal is especially relevant to engineers at Penn State, as the organization not
only has a student chapter at the school, but also has many Aerospace teachers
regularly contribute to its publication. For example, one article from November 2016
was produced in part by Dr. Sven Schmitz on the Methodology to Determine a Tip-Loss
Factor for Highly Loaded Wind Turbines. One can easily look up articles by
contributing author, look for Penn State professors, then have an in person resource to
explain the research found in the journal.

The journal itself covers many topics within the purview of aeronautics and
astronautics. It repeats all of the fields covered in the research tab on Penn States
aerospace department website, which was previously mentioned in this guide. To name
a few, there are pieces on aeroacoustics, aerodynamics, combustion, fundamentals of
propulsion, fluid mechanics, plasmas, and more. With the journal entering its 55
volume, there is a backlog of over fifty years of aerospace research stored online to
comb through.

Tips

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While there is a tree of publications listed by volume and issue at the bottom of the
site, it is more effective to use the search bar in the upper right corner if there is a
particular topic in mind.

Search for professors from Penn State and their recent research to prepare yourself for
interviews for your own research projects.

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