Aeronautics to Aerospace at the University of Notre Dame
Written by: Thomas J. Mueller and Robert C. Nelson
Academic Program
April, 1926: "The Department of Mechanical Engineering offers instruction and practical training designed to equip men* with the fundamental principles and techniques necessary for success in any of the various divisions of mechanical engineering. These include drafting, machine design, railroad mechanics, refrigeration, manufacturing, testing, steam and gas engineering, etc. The program offered by the Department gives the student a thorough knowledge of pure and applied mathematics, physics, materials and principles of engineering, drafting and design, with the opportunity to specialize in any particular division of the field." -- Tuition and fees: $750. (*Undergraduate women were not admitted until 1972.)
The University of Notre Dame was founded in 1842, but engineering did not become a part of the curriculum until 1873. At that time, one faculty member served as Professor of Civil Engineering. In 1886, mechanical engineering emerged as a specialty to teach design and functions of steam engines, boilers, and condensers, but again, there was only one Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The first bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering was not awarded by the university until 1899. From about this time, master's degrees were occasionally awarded to students for exceptional work, but the master's in all engineering programs, including mechanical engineering, did not officially emerge until 1946. The Department of Aeronautical Engineering was established at Notre Dame in 1936, and was renamed the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 1964. The Mechanical and Aeronautical Departments merged in 1969 into the present Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department.
Facilities
Like the academic program, the engineering facilities also underwent a great deal of change during the first century of engineering at Notre Dame. Originally, most classes and research activities were located in the Old Science Hall which currently stands on campus as LaFortune Student Center.
In 1893, many engineering classes were briefly relocated to the Institute of Technology, which was discontinued in the late 1890's. Engineering finally received its very own building in 1905 when construction of the small (40 ft. x 140 ft.) Engineering Hall was completed. That building served the department well until 1928, when it was struck by lightening and the second story was destroyed. Several facilities were relocated elsewhere on campus until 1931, when John F. Cushing, CE '06, donated money for the construction of Cushing Hall of Engineering. Every engineering department except the Department of Chemical Engineering moved into this beautiful neo-Gothic building which still serves the College of Engineering today. In the mid 1970's, space in Cushing became increasingly tight, and a drive for funding to construct a new building began. In 1979, Fitzpatrick Hall of Engineering was dedicated at its location immediately south of Cushing. (The two buildings are completely connected today.) Fitzpatrick is almost twice the size of Cushing, with two enormous floors built underground which house many of the engineering laboratories. The most recent addition to Notre Dame's engineering facilities is the Hessert Center for Aerospace Research, dedicated in 1991. It is a 38,000 square foot laboratory complex containing state-of-the-art equipment for aerospace research.
Faculty
Notre Dame has had many distinguished faculty members in the engineering department from its very beginning. The first Professor of Mechanical Engineering was Albert F. Zahm, an aerodynamicist who had built one of the first ever wind tunnels while pursuing his M.S. at Cornell. He also organized the United States' first International Aeronautical Congress, held in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair. At Notre Dame during the late 1880's and 1890's, he was most famous for his nighttime manned glider flights from atop university buildings. His tremendous influence on the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering is still apparent today.
Glenn Curtis, Charles Manley, and Albert Zahm with the Hammondsport Machine.
Albert Zahm's sketch of his "Orthoplane."
Comparison drawings of the Langley and Hammondsport Machines.
Research
Research has always been an influential part of the Notre Dame College of Engineering. From the time Albert Zahm experimented with his manned gliders at the old Science Hall to the computer-aided analysis of supersonic aerodynamics in the wind tunnels of Hessert Center, research in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering has always been state-of-the-art.
Students with exhibits for the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
Early engineering research.
An early wind tunnel.
Wind Tunnel circa. 1970.
