Since 2015, sophomores in AeroAstro’s foundational Unified Engineering course have traveled to different regions of the country for an immersive field trip that offers a first-hand look at the aerospace industry and the wide range of career and educational paths open to them post-graduation. This year, 34 students traveled the east coast during MIT’s independent activities period (IAP) in January, touring leading aerospace companies and organizations. The visits give students the opportunity to see real-world projects in process and step onto factory floors where the concepts and models they learn about in Course 16 are realized as full scale aircraft, satellites, and rockets.
The group visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Blue Origin along Florida’s “Space Coast,” then headed north to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, Aerospace Corp, Electra.aero, and Aurora Flight Sciences.
At each destination, students got the opportunity to connect in person not just with potential employers, but with future coworkers and teammates, many of whom are Course 16 alumni and MIT graduates themselves. Getting face time with MIT alumni founders, like those at Electra and Aurora, got students thinking about opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation.
“The idea originated from a Course 16 lab (16.82), evolved through years of iteration, and ultimately reached a point where the concept was mature enough to start a company,” Ryosei Tanakamaru ‘28 says of his takeaways from the visit to Electra. “I felt that the company truly encapsulated the engineering process.”
The trip also included a stop at the 2026 AIAA SciTech Forum, where a number of Course 16 graduate students were presenting their research. Afterward, AeroAstro community members and alumni in town for the conference gathered for a reception. The event provided a warm welcome to the newest cohort of Unified Engineering students, giving them a sense of the supportive, multigenerational AeroAstro community they’re now a part of.
“After this trip, I have a really clear picture of where I want to end up post-graduation. Seeing all of the different types of industry from start-ups to government-funded companies helped me realize which of those environments I want to immerse myself in, and what my career goals are,” says Asma Patel ‘28.
