READY FOR TAKEOFF

Adam Vanino ’24 ME, ’25 MSAE pursues Aerospace Engineering through Villanova’s new accelerated master’s program

By Queen Muse

Adam Vanino ’24 ME, ’25 MSAE has always had a passion for aerospace engineering, an industry
dedicated to developing aircraft, satellites and other systems designed for space operations. As a Mechanical Engineering major at Villanova, he pursued the department’s minor in Aerospace Engineering. Still, he was eager to learn more, as he felt the world was close to entering a new “space race.”

“I saw there was a lot of competition in this field and a lot of breakthrough technologies that were being pursued,” Vanino says. “It just felt like the perfect time to jump in.”

Vanino got his wish when he became one of the first students enrolled in Villanova’s new Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering (MSAE) program, which launched in fall 2025. Through the College of Engineering’s five-year BS/MS plan, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in May 2024 and completed his master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering a year and a half later, becoming the first graduate of the program.

The MSAE program follows an accelerated format, with classes running in eight-week blocks. Many part-time students benefit from the flexible schedule, completing the degree in as little as 20 months. As a full-time student, Vanino says he also benefited from the program’s blend of recorded lectures and in-person lessons and discussions.

“You would watch the lecture videos and learn the theory for the class,” Vanino explains. “Then, when you came to class, it was all dedicated to real-life examples and working through actual problems.”

In one course, Vanino says he learned for the first time about space mechanics, including orbital dynamics and satellite behavior.

“It was really cool to learn what causes a satellite to orbit a certain way, and then to be able to look up at the sky at night and know what factors are going into that orbit,” he says.

Vanino also gained research experience with hybrid aerial-aquatic vehicles (HAAVs), a unique hybrid of a drone and a submarine. Vanino was part of a team responsible for investigating improvements to launch mechanisms that boost the vehicles out of the water and into the air, led by Assistant Teaching Professor of Mechanical Engineering Stephen McGill, PhD.

As an undergraduate, Vanino balanced his rigorous engineering coursework with Division I athletics as a member of the Villanova Football team. The experience of managing two demanding focuses taught him collaboration and discipline, qualities he says later helped him thrive in MSAE’s accelerated format.

After graduation, Vanino joined the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, where he now works as a civilian engineer supporting the US Navy in the research, development, testing and maintenance of naval vessels and ship systems. While his current work focuses on maritime engineering rather than aerospace, he sees it as part of a broader engineering journey. The training he received in the MSAE program, he says, gave him the confidence and technical expertise to tackle complex challenges across the field, whether in aerospace or any other area of engineering that lies ahead.

“We don’t even know the next thing we could be working on,” he says. “It’s a very rapidly advancing field, and that’s exciting.”