[1][2] It was established in 1880 and has produced several notable individuals including Wendelin Wiedeking, Hugo Junkers, and Jesco von Puttkamer.
Theodore von Kármán, a pioneer of modern Aerodynamics, accepted a position as director of the Aeronautical Institute in 1912.
The faculty received a high amount of funds granted by third-party donors in the last years.
The faculty is closely affiliated with the German Universities Excellence Initiative as all the three lines of funding, including the institutional strategy, one graduate school, and three 'clusters of excellence', involve chairs and institutes from the faculty.
There are cooperations with the Jülich Research Centre and the four Fraunhofer Institutes in Aachen.