Mechanical and Aerospace engineers design, build and test devices and vehicles, such as cars, aircraft, satellites, engines, robots, and control systems.
The MAE department’s undergraduate programs provide a broad education in the fundamentals of engineering. We offer two ABET accredited degree programs in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. Students pursue a focus in either one of these areas, or they can take a combined mechanical and aerospace engineering track.
These programs provide a foundation for a wide range of career objectives and may be combined with minors or certificate programs in fields across a variety of departments at Princeton.
All MAE students engage in independent research projects or write a senior thesis. This gives students the opportunity to work on real engineering problems in close collaboration with one or more faculty members.
Our students follow a variety of career paths after graduation, including engineering, research, entrepreneurship and the military. For the Class of 2024, students went on to graduate school at Stanford, Cambridge, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT. Others went into industry at companies such as Asylon, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Siemens, Boston Consulting Group, Medtronic, and more.
The financial aid policy of the University means that admissions decisions are not influenced by financial needs and that grants have replaced loans so that it is not necessary to go into debt to attend Princeton.