Iowa State has been named one of the premier engineering schools in the nation, according to Aerospace Week and Space Technology Magazine.

This publication hasdeemed Iowa State the No. 1 school in regards to the number of graduates hiredin the aerospace and defense industry. An achievement of such caliber placesIowa States aerospace engineering department in the same conversation asprestigious schools such as Cal Tech and MIT.

What sets Iowa State apart from theseschools, however, is places like Cal Tech and MIT turn out some very high quality students, but they dont turn out very many students, said RichardWlezien, professor and department chairman of the aerospace engineering program. Iteach a freshman class, Introduction to Aerospace Design, and it's based on the MITcourse. When MIT teaches the class, they teach it to 35 students; when I teach theclass, I teach it to 230 students.

Wlezien said Iowa State is not only up topar with the quality of students it produces but is also exceptional in terms ofquantity. Given the readiness of graduates for the real world and thepromising future of job availability in the aerospace and defense field, this level of success appears tobe sustainable.

There are jobs in aerospace engineering, and it doesnt mean thateveryone has to be in aerospace engineering," Wlezien said. "There are other fields that theaerospace companies hire. The challenge aerospace companies have right now istheir workforce is aging, and theyre looking to replace those people, so there areopportunities.

With enrollment up 10 percent in the aerospace program,Wlezien said ISU graduates are primed to take advantage of theaforementioned opportunities for years to come.

One current student who hasalready taken advantage of a great opportunity is Prasad Raman, a senior in aerospaceengineering who has completed an internship with Boeing.

"[It was] a great opportunity to take some of the classroom knowledge and apply thatto a real world problem something thats difficult to do in a classroom setting, Raman said.

Similar experiences are the norm for other students within the program, asthey "come back with practical knowledge that really enhances what they do in theclassroom, which is something that contributes to ISU having the highest rate ofgraduates hired,"Wlezien said.

Stepping back to view a broader scale, ISU President Steven Leath explained how Iowa State goes about molding such high-levelgraduates, not only within the aerospace engineering program but universitywide.

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Aerospace engineering program named No. 1 in job placement