Tosa High Schools Shoot for the Stars with Aerospace Course

Wauwatosa high school students are poised to "explore strange new worlds" and "boldly go where no one has gone before."

Based on surveys with kids who are interested in engineering, the is preparing to become what is believed to be the first system in the Milwaukee area to offer a course in aerospace engineering.

According to Bill Anderson, supervisor of student learning, the proposed course will replace one offered in civil engineering that didn't attract much attention.

"Interest was low," Anderson said. "So we asked students what they wanted. In a survey, 48 percent said aerospace engineering — by far the most popular choice."

The district didn't make the switch just because students wanted it, though. There's little question that aerospace engineering's planes and rockets are sexier than civil engineering's roads and bridges. But there was the question of whether what students want aligns with what they need to succeed.

As it turned out, the kids were on the right track.

Math and science faculty researched aerospace both as a college preparatory curriculum and in the marketplace and found plenty to recommend it.

There are nearby options for pursuing an advanced education in aerospace at Marquette University and at UW-Madison, they found. What's more, they learned that aerospace studies provide an excellent grounding in any form of mechanical engineering.

"What is fundamental is fluid mechanics and thermodynamics," Anderson said, "and that's what aerospace is all about."

Aerospace is also an open door to cutting-edge nanotechnology, he said, something that Marquette University is touting highly.

"We also found that there are 500,000 jobs in aerospace at above-average salaries," Anderson said, "and employment opportunities are expected to increase."

Those jobs are dispersed through the private sector, government and defense, he said, and Milwaukee, while not widely known as a center of the aerospace industry, does have its share. Staff ticked off Orbitec, Astronautics, Eaton Corp., Derco and General Electric among area firms with a strong presence or connections to aerospace.

Assuming the School Board approves the move — and members gave every indication Monday night that they would — the course will be offered starting next fall. Staff said the new course would cost about $21,800 to introduce, mostly in one-time costs and with less than $1,000 in yearly renewable costs.

"We'll be the first district in the area to offer aerospace engineering, so far as I know," said Beth Erenberger, director of student learning.