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USC Astronautics – ASTD

Astronautics and Space Technology Division, 2004

School of Engineering, University of Southern California, 2004

USC Astronautics

Establishment of Astronautics and Space Technology Division, 2004

Memo, School of Engineering, USC, 2002

Memo by USC Dean of Engineering Prof. Max Nikias

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Viterbi School of Engineering

Office of the Dean

Date: August 13, 2004

To: Faculty and Staff of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering

From: Dean C. L. Max Nikias [signed]

Re: Astronautics and Space Technology Division

In order to position the USC Viterbi School of Engineering to take full advantage of rapidly growing opportunities in space, I am today announcing the creation of a new Astronautics and Space Technology Division. Following the drastic funding cutbacks in the early 1990s, space technology and astronautics has recently re-emerged as an important sector of economic and engineering activity not only in the Southern California economy but also in the nation as a whole. Both national security applications and space exploration are driving this resurgence. However, recent congressional studies have warned of a looming shortage of engineers in this area.

This new division will be an independent academic unit within the USC Viterbi School and function in a manner similar to a department. It will be governed by the same rules and policies that apply to academic departments. The division chair will be responsible for the division’s budget, attend the bi-weekly department chair meetings and report directly to the dean. The division will elect its own representative to the Engineering Faculty Council and be represented on the Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee, the Curriculum Committee and other committees as appropriate. Like departments, the division will establish an advisory board with members from industry, government laboratories and academia.

The Astronautics and Space Technology Division, or ASTD, will be responsible for research and degree programs in astronautics and space technology. The ASTD will assume immediate charge of degree programs in aerospace engineering (astronautics) and of 24 courses to be transferred from the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (AME). ASTD will offer a program in astronautics and space technology concentrating on meeting the educational and research needs of interest to the space and defense industries and government research and development centers.

I am pleased to appoint Professor Mike Gruntman as chair of the Astronautics and Space Technology Division effective August 13, 2004 for a three-year term. Professor Joseph Kunc and Professor Daniel Erwin will join him as faculty in the division. Professor Stan Settles of the ISE Department and Professor Peter Will and Dr. Joseph Sullivan, from the Information Sciences Institute (ISI), will have secondary faculty appointments in the ASTD. Several other research faculty and staff will also be a part of the division.

For more than a year, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering with strong support from ISI has been engaged in a strategically focused effort to initiate a major program in astronautics and space technology. I expect the creation of the new division will help bring these efforts to fruition and expect the continuing close collaboration with ISI.

cc. Lloyd Armstrong, Jr.
Michael Diamond
Joseph Hellige
Martin Levine
Neal Sullivan

USC Engineer

Vol. 3, issue 1, p. 5

A New Frontier: ASTRONAUTICS AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY DIVISION (pdf)

In order to position the USC Viterbi School,to take full advantage of rapidly growing opportunities in space, in August, Dean Nikias announced the creation of a new Astronautics and Space Technology Division (ASTD).

"Following the drastic funding cutbacks in the early 1990s, space technology and astronautics has recently re-emerged as an important sector of economic and engineering activity not only in the Southern California economy but also in the nation as a whole," he said. "Both defense applications and space exploration projects are driving this resurgence. However, recent congressional studies have warned of a looming shortage of engineers in this area."

The dean appointed Professor Mike Gruntman as chair of the division. Other faculty are Professors Joseph Kunc and Daniel Erwin. All three will continue to have courtesy appointments in the department of aerospace and mechanical engineering. Secondary ASTD appointments went to Professors Stan Settles, Joseph Sullivan and Peter Will, from the Information Sciences Institute (ISI).

ASTD will be solely responsible for all research and degree programs in astronautics and space technology. It will offer a program in astronautics and space technology concentrating on meeting the educational and research needs of the space and defense industries. The new division has already taken responsibility for 24 courses formerly in the department of aerospace and mechanical engineering.

The division will function as an independent academic unit within the USC Viterbi School similar to a department. It will be governed by the same rules and policies and the division chair will report directly to the dean. Like departments, the division will establish an advisory board with members from industry, government laboratories and academia.

"For more than a year, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering with strong support from ISI has been engaged in a carefully orchestrated effort to secure major funding in space technology," said Nikias. "I expect the creation of the new division will help bring these efforts to fruition, and look forward to the continuing close collaboration with ISI."

Post factum.

In 2010, the ASTD Division was reorganized into the Department of Astronautical Engineering.

Today, the Department is one of the largest space engineering educational programs in the United States (pdf).

A publication by USC School of Engineering in 2002 noted that Mike Gruntman's effort in building up USC Astronautics in the 1990s and early 2000s "turn[ed] around the aerospace program at USC."

An article in USC Viterbi magazine ("The Great 'What-Ifs' of USC Engineering," pp. 46-51, Fall 2021) noted that "It's perhaps no exageration to say the department [of Astronautical Engineering at USC] would not exist without Gruntman" (pdf).

The Master's program of the Department is particualrly big. Mike Gruntman has been duirecting this program since its inception in the mid-1990s. From 2004-2024, the department awarded more than 1000 Master of Science degrees in Astronautical Engineering.

Awarded (annual) Master's degrees in Astronautical Engineering

           

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