News

Aerospace Engineering hires a new faculty member, Professor Behçet Açıkmeşe

The Aerospace Engineering program welcomes a new faculty member, Professor Behçet Açıkmeşe who started at Berkeley on July 1, 2026. His research interests are in the area of area of control and optimization for planetary flight. This field of research is critical for planetary landing, spacecraft formation flying, and autonomous rocket guidance. “I am thrilled […]

Aerospace Engineering hires a new faculty member, Professor Michael Sangid

The Aerospace Engineering program welcomes a new faculty member, Professor Michael Sangid, who started at Berkeley on July 1, 2026. His research interests are in the area of predictive modeling for failure of structural materials operating under extreme loading conditions, with experimental validation efforts focused on characterization of the stress/strain evolution and precursors to failure […]

UC Berkeley’s Aerospace Engineering Celebrates its first cohort of graduates, Class of 2026

UC Berkeley’s Aerospace Engineering program celebrated its inaugural graduation for the Class of 2026 on Monday, May 18, 2026 during the College of Engineering Baccalaureate Commencement ceremony. A post commencement reception followed which was held at the Stadium Club inside the California Memorial Stadium where faculty, staff, family and friends gathered to celebrate this milestone […]

Madeleine Bardy named one of four 2026 University Medal Finalists

“Learning how to pick and choose between all of the opportunities presented at Berkeley was one of the biggest challenges I faced. When given so many possibilities, it is often easy to fall into the trap of trying to do everything, and consequently achieving nothing. Becoming critical about what opportunities were going to take me closer to where I ultimately wanted to end up was important.”

UC Berkeley’s Aerospace Engineering Celebrates its first cohort of graduates, Class of 2026

Over the course of spring break, 24 students from the UC Berkeley Aerospace Engineering program visited Relativity Space, Ampaire, and JetZero in the Long Beach Airport area. They were accompanied by Professor Papadopoulos and Professor Mueller. This was an extraordinary opportunity to catch up on the latest in large-scale rocketry, hybrid propulsion, and blended-wing transport!

The Vertical Flight Society Established as a Student Chapter at UC Berkeley

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) University of California, Berkeley Student Chapter was established on November 17th , 2025, marking an exciting start for additional rotorcraft and vertical flight activities on campus. The VFS UC Berkeley Student Chapter Faculty Mentor is Jasenka Rakas, a faculty member in the Aerospace Engineering Program and the Civil and Environmental […]

Jordan Kam, Aerospace Engineering Student, Honored as American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student of the Year

Last November 2025, Jordan Kam, a senior in our Aerospace Engineering program, was awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student of the Year for 2025 by the San Francisco section. Jordan was previously a member of the Rising Stars in Aerospace program with AIAA, where he published his first AIAA paper. Jordan has […]

Aerospace Engineering hires new faculty member, Professor Scott McCormack

The Aerospace Engineering program welcomes a new faculty member, Professor Scott McCormack, who started at Berkeley on January 1, 2026. His research interests are in the area of composite materials under extreme environments with a focus on experimental high temperature thermodynamics. This field of research is critical for the development of next generation leading edge […]