From building rockets and learning rapid prototyping to joining a research project connected to historic NASA space missions, American University’s new BS in Engineering Physics degree is designed to get students putting ideas into action from their first year. 

The degree builds on AU’s strengths as an R1 research university, combining rigorous physics with hands-on design, experimentation, and faculty mentorship. And in Washington, DC, students are surrounded by leading scientific institutions including NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Naval Research Laboratory, and the National Institutes of Health. 

“Whether a project or a class, our goal is to try to have something hands-on that first years can participate in every year, says Physics Department Chair Philip Johnson. 

The program builds on a strong record in AU Physics, whose graduates have gone on to engineering and applied physics careers and graduate programs at institutions including Princeton, MIT-Woods Hole, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Google, NVIDIA, and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

Now, the new Engineering Physics degree gives students a direct path into that work from the moment they arrive at AU. 

Building, Designing, and Doing 

Caleb Dando-Haenisch, project lead for AU & NASA's 2024 High-Altitude Balloon Launch project. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, interested in advanced spacecraft propulsion, space systems design, and mission planning.

The hands-on work begins early. 

In the fall, first-year students can take a rocketry course that gives them an opportunity to design, model, and build their own rocket, which they will launch to over 2000 feet from an FAA-cleared facility. Successful launches will earn students Tripoli Level 1 Rocketry Certification. In the spring, they can enroll in Intro to Rapid Prototyping, where they learn to use equipment in AU’s Design and Build Lab and earn certifications that allow them to continue designing and building their own projects. 

Special research opportunities offer another route into engineering. Last year, first-year students joined an AU team that built and installed a radio telescope at Airlie in Virginia to track signals from Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years. The project brought together students and faculty from Physics and Mathematics and Statistics as part of a NASA citizen-science initiative. AU was among eight university teams worldwide selected to help track the spacecraft’s radio signals as it traveled around the Moon. 

The specific projects available to first-year students will change from year to year, Johnson says. But the goal remains the same, to give students a chance to start making and doing, rather than waiting until the end of their undergraduate careers to put what they are learning into practice.  

That approach continues throughout the major, culminating in advanced projects and research opportunities with close faculty mentorship. 

A NASA Connection in the Nation’s Capital 

The Engineering Physics degree arrives as AU expands its work with NASA and the region’s aerospace community. 

This year, AU was one of 13 institutions nationwide selected for a $600,000 NASA award focused on preparing an AI-skilled aerospace workforce. Led through the DC Space Grant Consortium, the initiative will expand classroom and hands-on opportunities at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computational science, and aerospace. 

The funding will also double the number of NASA- and AI-focused internship opportunities available through the initiative. Students will work with NASA and industry mentors on mission-related projects, building their technical skills and professional networks. 

The NASA award is part of a larger scientific ecosystem already available to AU students. The university is home to the DC Space Grant Consortium, the Institute for Integrated Space Science and Technology, and DaBL, where students can turn ideas and computer designs into physical prototypes. 

AU student team selected by NASA to track radio signals from the Artemis II space flight, contributing to an effort to understand how information travels across deep space. Photo by Nikolai Roster.

For Engineering Physics students, Washington also offers something beyond laboratories and aerospace companies: a front-row seat to the policy decisions and real-world applications shaping emerging technologies. 

Professor Aaron Grocholski, who coordinates the Engineering Physics degree, says that these connections are critically important. Alumni will go on to research and academia, but they will also find career opportunities across government, industry, technology, operations, and science policy.  

Room to Explore 

The degree is designed to give students a strong grounding in both physics and engineering while leaving room to shape the program around their interests. 

Students can pursue areas including applied physics, audio technology, biology, chemistry, computer science, and environmental science, and they can explore complementary programs across AU. Options include double majors and certificates such as STEM Entrepreneurship through the Kogod School of Business and Science and Policy through the School of Public Affairs. 

That flexibility reflects the breadth of careers that already draw AU physics graduates. 

Recent graduates have pursued advanced study in fields ranging from aerospace and ocean engineering to bioengineering, acoustics, mechanical engineering, materials science, and optical sciences. Others have gone into quantum computing, machine learning, AI, software engineering, and space science. 

The new Engineering Physics degree builds on that foundation, with opportunities for students to start doing hands-on engineering from their first year at AU. 

For More Information 

To learn more about the degree, reach out to AU’s Engineering Physics coordinator Aaron Grocholski at [email protected].