Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is a department within the College of Engineering & Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, providing aerospace education and research. Housed primarily in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences building on the university's East Campus in Boulder, it awards baccalaureate, masters, and PhD degrees, as well as certificates, graduating approximately 225 students annually. History. Aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder initially began as an option within the university’s mechanical engineering program in 1930. In 1946, it was split  off and became the Department of Aeronautical Engineering under the leadership of aerospace education pioneer Karl Dawson Wood, who served as its first chair. It was renamed the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 1963. Both the State of Colorado and the department grew as aerospace research centers during the space race. In 1948, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics was founded on campus as the Upper Air Laboratory, followed a few years later by Ball Aerospace Corporation, which opened a research facility in Boulder that eventually became their headquarters, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, which established a strategic  plant in nearby southwest Denver in 1955. The later addition of numerous federal research labs to the Boulder landscape, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and in Golden, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, further expanded the area’s reputation as a research center. Today, Boulder and the surrounding Denver Metro are home to significant operations for large aerospace corporations and small startups. The department maintains outreach programs to many businesses and laboratories to provide internship and co-op opportunities for students and for collaborate research. In 2017 , the department was renamed the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences in recognition of former Kaiser Aerospace & Electronics Corp CEO, Harold “Joe” Smead, and his widow Ann Smead, in recognition of their significant contributions to the department. Later the same year ground was broken on a 175,000 square-foot, $101 million aerospace building, which opened in 2019. Research Focus Areas. The department conducts a wide range of research across aeronautical and astronautical science and engineering, as well as in Earth and space sciences. Much of the department’s research cuts across these focus areas: Reputation. The  Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is ranked 10th in the nation in both undergraduate and graduate aerospace engineering education among public universities by US News & World Report.