We find solutions to problems in aerospace engineering that advance the field
Our researchers make air travel safer, satellites smaller, and surfaces stronger. Our students learn to fly airplanes, launch satellites, and explore the multidisciplinary nature of aerospace and aviation from the capabilities of materials to the possibilities of space.
Sidney Boakye, mechanical engineering alumnus, received the prestigious Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship and interned at Rocket Lab in Los Angeles after graduating from Mason in May 2021.
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Mosaic tile
Government Partnerships
Our Northern Virginia location places us at the epicenter of government contract activity. According to Defense Intelligence, five percent of contract dollars go to Fairfax County. Five major aerospace and defense contractors call Fairfax County home.
Read Our Latest News
May 29, 2025Four George Mason students in the aviation flight training and management minor took to the skies recently for a solo flight, the final step in completing requirements for the program.
March 5, 2025Mechanical engineering’s Jeffrey Moran continues to prepare an experiment to be carried out on the International Space Station (ISS). Via a powerful microscope in microgravity, the team plans to observe how common atmospheric aerosols move across a temperature gradient, information which would inform climate predictions, geoengineering proposals, and even HVAC applications.
December 4, 2024Darius Jack came to George Mason University with a passion for systems engineering and for flying. He’s been able to maintain his flight hours while earning a bachelor of science in systems engineering this May and an accelerated master's in systems engineering, his second degree from George Mason, in December.
August 5, 2024Mechanical engineer Jeffrey Moran, whose lab focuses on self-propelled micro- and nanoparticles, has loved outer space since childhood. Now, one of his experiments, exploring aerosol thermophoresis, will be carried out on the International Space Station.
June 10, 2024George Mason University will be the home of the $19.5 million recently approved Landolt NASA Space Mission that will put an artificial “star” in orbit around the Earth. George Mason faculty and students will work together with the NASA and NIST and nine other organizations for a first-of-its-kind project for a university in the Washington, D.C., area.
May 31, 2024George Mason's top-ranked aviation program allows students to earn a pilot's license while completing their degree.
May 8, 2024George Mason Systems Engineering and Operations Research students took first place in the Systems and Analytics Track of the Sage Memorial Design Competition and first place in the STEM Track of the Patriot Pitch Competition with their plan to deliver supplies to a hard-to-reach island in the Chesapeake Bay.
June 30, 2023Students from George Mason University's data analytics engineering program competed in the 2023 FAA Data Challenge Forum, using AI strategies to navigate air travel solutions and improvements.
January 3, 2023Drawn by Mason’s multidisciplinary research and teaching, Missy Cummings will create a new program in the design and deployment of Artificial Intelligence.
November 10, 2022Mason CEC SEOR student Darius Jack is often the youngest person landing a plane at one of Virginia’s 65 airports. Having gotten his pilot’s license as a teenager, Darius combines his interests in aviation and engineering when he’s in the cockpit.
October 27, 2022George Mason University is about to activate a massive satellite dish! Scheduled for the scrapyard in 2020, the 27-year-old, 30-foot satellite dish on its Fairfax Campus will be used by engineering students—as well as those in other Mason schools and colleges—for multidisciplinary, hands-on experience and projects.
October 4, 2022Reigning senior national judo champion Yasmin Alamin is looking forward to launching her career in mechanical engineering in 2023.
Notable faculty in aerospace research
Missy Cummings
Mason’s youth and innovation attract world-class research
Mary (Missy) Cummings’ faculty appointment spans three departments—Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. She will also be the First American Bank Endowed Chair and Director of the Center for Robotics, Autonomous Systems, and Translational AI.
Cameron Nowzari
Patriot pilots fly high in blimp competition
Cameron Nowzari’s research focuses on the design of efficient, distributed coordination strategies for complex network systems.
Peter Pachowicz
George Mason readies reclaimed satellite dish
Peter Pachowicz is an associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His current interests include CubeSats, SatCom, and SpaceCom.
Learn more about our other faculty in aerospace research
Lance Sherry
- Lance Sherry has pioneered research in data analytics and stochastic simulation of large complex adaptive systems such as the air transportation system, operations of airports, airlines, and air traffic control, as well other network-of-network systems. These analyses are used widely for strategic planning, business development, cost/benefit analysis, and system productivity improvement. He is the director of the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at Mason.
Leigh McCue
- Leigh McCue’s research interests are in nonlinear and chaotic vessel dynamics and computational fluid dynamics. This work has been supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, the US Coast Guard, CSC, and QinetiQ. She is chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Vessel Dynamics Laboratory.
John Shortle
- John Shortle applies deep mathematical creativity to applied problems of societal significance. Many of his current research projects are funded by the FAA and NASA supporting the goal of making the future air transportation system safer than it is today. He is chair of the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research and has been an active member of the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at Mason since its inception in 2003.
Medhi Amiri
- Medhi Amiri’s research interests focus on the behavior of structural materials under operational conditions, in particular the effects of materials' microstructure on performance under mechanical and environmental loadings. Amiri is the principal investigator of the Reliability and Mechanics of Failure Laboratory and an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Ali Beheshti
- Ali Beheshti’s research interests are inspired by the impending need for sustainable design and operation as well as prolonging the lifecycle of advanced components, especially focusing on surface mechanics. His research is centered around the performance of advanced materials and components such as super alloys as well as additively manufactured parts under extreme environments. Beheshti is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Tribology and Surface Mechanics Lab.
Our research collaborators include the Air Force Research Office, FAA, NASA, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, and many others.
Jay Deorukhkar, a student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at George Mason University, works with his team to create a satellite that will launch into Earth's orbit.
Photo credit:
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Ron Aira/Creative Services
Degree programs
We offer degree and certificate programs in aerospace engineering from various departments. These programs include:
- BS, Mechanical Engineering. Concentration in Aerospace.
- Small Satellite Engineering Graduate Certificate. ECE department.
- BS, Systems Engineering. Aviation Flight Training and Management Minor
- MS, Systems Engineering. Concentration in Advance Transportation Systems.
- PhD, Systems Engineering and Operations Research.
- BS, Computer Engineering. Concentration in Space-Based Systems.
- BS, Electrical Engineering. Concentration in Space-Based Systems.
- MS, Electrical Engineering. Concentration in Space-Based Systems.
- PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering.