THE FUTURE OF AEROSPACE
The MIT Course 16 alumni perspective By Steven Barrett
In fall 2012, the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics faculty set out to renew the department’s strategic plan.
Our goal in this undertaking was, and continues to be, to make clear choices about the future that will affect the department’s research and education enterprise over the next decade. Knowing that we don’t exist in a vacuum (although we do have astronauts in our community), we needed advice about the forces shaping the aerospace sector over the coming decade. The question then — whom to ask? We consulted with aerospace industry leaders. We talked to government officials. We interviewed National Academy of Engineering leaders. We quizzed one another. And, well aware that the biggest impact AeroAstro has on the world is through its alumni, we reached out to almost 2,000 of our graduates, more than 300 of who responded to our call. This article summarizes the results of this effort.
“Best education on the planet. Maybe on other planets, too, but I don’t have the data to assess” OUR ALUMNI Our survey began by asking respondents to identify themselves by industry and employer. As one might expect, the number one industry in which our alumni work is aerospace. From their responses, it’s clear that our graduates believe Course 16 has prepared them well for a wide range of technical and non-technical challenges — from solving deep research problems to architecting large-scale systems, and from designing products to leading organizational change. Those alumni
The MIT Course 16 alumni perspective
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