UT Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics

🚀 New Staff Member Welcome! 🚀
 
Please help us welcome Eric Coleman, our new Director of Development. Eric is a proven leader who has championed a culture where excellence in athletics complements academic achievement. As an Athletic Director, he focused on strategic program growth, collaboration, and strong fiscal stewardship, building on earlier experience overseeing admissions and tuition assistance. He also brings valuable fundraising experience from his advancement work at a California high school and Occidental College.
 
We’re excited to have Eric on the team! 🤘

New rankings just dropped 💫
 
U.S. News & World Report () has ranked our Aerospace Engineering graduate program No. 8 in the nation! 🚀
 
The Cockrell School of Engineering also ranked No. 6 overall, with six programs in the top 10.
 
We’re proud to be among the top programs shaping the future of flight and space exploration—hook ’em! 🤘
 
See all rankings at the link in our bio.

Horns up for teams DUSTEE and Project Pharos 🤘
 
Selected among hundreds of proposals, these teams are now two of just 14 finalists in NASA’s RASC-AL Competition.
 
Next, they’ll take their ideas to the RASC-AL Forum, presenting their work to NASA and aerospace leaders shaping the future of exploration. 🚀
 
DUSTEE
Tyler Requa, Anna Ring, Connor Crain, Connor Gibson, James Mitrushi, Nguyen Ly, Peter Khorani, Virginia Knight, Riley Vazquez (Not pictured: Tyler Requa, Anna Ring, Connor Crain)
 
Project Pharos
Alexis Gracia Rodriguez, Cooper Hamilton, Oswaldo Hernandez Soto, Vaidehi Joshi, Bohumila Jones, Kaitlyn Donnel, Meera Ravi, Saleen Nyman, Aditya Jaiswal

🚀 Congratulations to Professor Maruthi Akella, recipient of the 2026 AIAA von Kármán Lectureship Award in Astronautics, for his outstanding work in spacecraft guidance, control, and autonomous space systems.

He played a key role in the first U.S. moon landing in over 50 years and has been honored with asteroid 5376 “Maruthiakella” for his contributions to astrodynamics.
Akella will deliver his lecture at the AIAA ASCEND Forum on May 20 in Washington, D.C.

Follow the link to read more: https://cockrell.utexas.edu/news/maruthi-akella-receives-2026-aiaa-von-karman-lectureship-award-in-astronautics/