Dr. Adam Gorrell

My passion for teaching aerospace engineering education stems from my military experiences in research, development, and testing as well as aviation service. In my undergraduate years, my interest in spaceflight drove me to undergraduate aerospace engineering research with NASA’s Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program and Microsatellite design. My passion motivated me to continue toward a PhD though also a full-time active-duty USAF officer. I retired after 20 years from the USAF as a Command Pilot with over 2,000 flight hours spanning multiple aircraft including the supersonic B-1B Lancer and the MQ-9 Reaper. I discovered a passion for higher education while teaching Introduction to Astronautics, Rocket Propulsion, and Unmanned Aerial Systems Test and Evaluation at the United States Air Force Academy where I educated over 330 cadets. I take great pride in classroom presentations that are clear, concise, and compelling without violating the integrity of the core sciences. My goal is to teach transformative undergraduate and graduate-level courses that are both inspiring and fun. I am deeply committed to guiding the next aerospace engineers to build highly effective, and operationally useful, aerospace systems as experts in both air and space.