What does an Aerospace Engineer do?

smittysrv

smittysrv

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My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
 
Well, at the undergraduate level, he does similar study to what a mechanical engineer does, with a slight emphasis on aviation/space stuff in the last two years.

But being an engineer is like being a doctor - the BS degree is the equivalent to finishing med school and getting the MD. You know a lot of very general stuff, and when you start to practice you'll do more training for a specialty.

Your son, if he goes and gets a BS in Aerospace Engineering (which is the target I had when I started college, though I switched later), will then be at the "entry level" for various engineering jobs. He might want to work for a while and then get a MS in something specific, or if he's got a target in mind (sounds like he doesn't) he could head straight for the MS - some schools offer an accelerated BS/MS program.

One thing he might strongly consider is after getting the engineering degree do a tour in the military. As an officer he'll get a lot of useful skills added to his toolset AND he'll have the opportunities to work on varied and interesting projects.
 
They work on airplanes. Design of new aircraft, improvement of old ones. Material selection, testing components, quality control requirements, writing specifications. Failure analysis. Very interesting work. I worked with them closely at Sundstrand Aviation, and Brunswick Aerospace.
 
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Geico266 said:
They work on airplanes. Design of new aircraft, improvement of old ones. Material selection, testing components, quality control requirements, writing specifications. Failure analysis. Very interesting work. I worked with them closely at Sundstrand Aviation, and Brunswick Aerospace.
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They also work at auto companies doing things that are totally unrelated to aerospace engineering. :rofl:

But things like computational fluid dynamics or controls are big outside of the aerospace industry.

AEROSPACE
Propulsion
Fluid Mechanics
Thermodynamics
Structures
Celestial Mechanics
Acoustics
Guidance and Control

EMPLOYERS
Aircraft, guided missile, and space vehicle industries
Communications equipment manufacturers
Commercial airlines
Federal government departments: Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Business and engineering firms STRATEGIES
Discipline uses cutting edge technology to deal with challenges of aeronautics, space, mass transportation, environmental pollution, and medical science.
Keep abreast of status of federal funding for defense and space programs.
Seek co-op opportunities. Develop effective verbal and written communication skills. Learn to work well within a team.



We offer it as a "minor" as part of the mechanical engineering degree
http://www.ltu.edu/engineering/mechanical/AeroMinor.asp
 
smittysrv said:
My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
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They drive the aerospace train.
 
TMetzinger said:
But being an engineer is like being a doctor - the BS degree is the equivalent to finishing med school and getting the MD. You know a lot of very general stuff, and when you start to practice you'll do more training for a specialty.
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As a former professor in an engineering program, I have to disagree. While most engineers get core training for the first two years, it gets specialized for the last two (or three). An electrical engineer is very different from a civil engineer and both are worlds apart from a petroleum engineer.

That said, some engineering schools try to churn out generic engineers and say they can do anything. Stay far far away from those types for the first five years of their work if they aren't very closely supervised. Those guys can calculate anything and know absolutely nothing of practical value.
 
They walk around with pocket protectors in their shirts and annoy pilots...
 
Clark1961 said:
As a former professor in an engineering program, I have to disagree. While most engineers get core training for the first two years, it gets specialized for the last two (or three). An electrical engineer is very different from a civil engineer and both are worlds apart from a petroleum engineer.

That said, some engineering schools try to churn out generic engineers and say they can do anything. Stay far far away from those types for the first five years of their work if they aren't very closely supervised. Those guys can calculate anything and know absolutely nothing of practical value.
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I'll bow to your experience. Mine was almost 30 years ago, and there were only 6 course differences betweenthe BS in MechEng and AeroEng.
 
It isn't the work of 1960s aerospace engineers that's for sure. I became disillusioned with what the day to day of an aero engineer entailed, so I walked away from the profession after two degrees in it. Too much computer coding and data babysitting. It's hard to see the big picture at these jobs. The idea of working with airplanes was quickly lost at these outfits. I guess I realized I loved the classic theory, but hated the day to day grind of this job. There's not much innovation going on these days outside fudging the 32nd decimal place of a computer iteration. Rinse and repeat. I've spoken to many test pilots (used to be my dream job) who've essentially conceded it's all done by computers now. Theirs is now closer to a functional check pilot job (read checklist... yep it does what the computer already modeled last week...*yawn*) than a true grit 1950s test pilot opening the eyes of civilization to designs never validated before. By proxy, engineering jobs followed suit.

It's all materials (chemical eng) and control feedback logic (UAV) these days. Meh.
 
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Not sure what part of the world you're in, or how old he is, but there are a number of resources both online & in-person that can provide more information and assistance. Several companies provide substantial support for young folks interested in engineering....

See your PM....
 
I think you need to pose this question to Andrew on this site. He is a recent Aerospace or Aeronautical Engineering grad doing materials work (I think) at Bell Helicopter. Nice guy too.

One of my best friends in high school got his Aeronautical Engineering degree co oping at LTV. He was smart enough to go to school instead of leaving himself vulneralbe for the draft as I did.

He had a great career doing all sorts of things. The last project he headed up was putting a big engine in some military plane, an A7 I think. He said it was the closest he ever came to building a hot rod at work.
 
smittysrv said:
My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
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It would be a great degree to get. My question would be; is he a great mathemetician with an easy understanding of spatial concepts?
 
Clark1961 said:
As a former professor in an engineering program, I have to disagree. While most engineers get core training for the first two years, it gets specialized for the last two (or three). An electrical engineer is very different from a civil engineer and both are worlds apart from a petroleum engineer.

That said, some engineering schools try to churn out generic engineers and say they can do anything. Stay far far away from those types for the first five years of their work if they aren't very closely supervised. Those guys can calculate anything and know absolutely nothing of practical value.
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Where I agree that Electrical/Civil/Petroleum/Mechinical Engineers are all very different, you can not say that of Mechanical and Aerospace. Mechanical and Aerospace engineers are kissing cousins.

Mechanical's are a bit more broad in what they study over Aerospace engineers and the differences really come in durring theroy application examples. Ex, in Fluid Dynamic Mechnical engineers will look a fluid flow around spheres, coulmns, down HVAC shafts, and around wings. Aerospace will look at flow around wing planforms and how to improve them.

Aerospace Engineering is really just a specilized way of looking at Mechanical Engineering.

I chose Mechanical to have the broader degree that was more marketable, However I lost enthusiam for it and it was hard to compleate. If he is passionate about airplanes, go for Aerospace as anything that keeps him intrested is good thing.

Missa
 
Or they will be working with wind turbines.

I know of one person that went to school got his CFII/MEL Rating and then went to work as Wind Turbine Technician. Makse a lot more money than his pilot ratings would get him, Still gets to work behind a large propeller:) The company likes him so much because of is attention to detail, procedures and checklists that they have been looking for more pilots to hire:)

Brian
 
Missa said:
Where I agree that Electrical/Civil/Petroleum/Mechinical Engineers are all very different, you can not say that of Mechanical and Aerospace. Mechanical and Aerospace engineers are kissing cousins.

Mechanical's are a bit more broad in what they study over Aerospace engineers and the differences really come in durring theroy application examples. Ex, in Fluid Dynamic Mechnical engineers will look a fluid flow around spheres, coulmns, down HVAC shafts, and around wings. Aerospace will look at flow around wing planforms and how to improve them.

Aerospace Engineering is really just a specilized way of looking at Mechanical Engineering.

I chose Mechanical to have the broader degree that was more marketable, However I lost enthusiam for it and it was hard to compleate. If he is passionate about airplanes, go for Aerospace as anything that keeps him intrested is good thing.

Missa
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I will concur with that. While I finished my MS 30 years ago as well, the differences in the BS courses were in the "electives" which were used to emphasize the subspecialty of Mechanical that you focused on. Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering is merely a subspecialty of Mechanical Engineering. And both are vastly different from Electrical (another major field with numerous subspecialties), civil, chemical, etc..
 
One other note:

Defense and Government business supports a lot of aerospace engineering. And a significant portion of that work requires security clearance. Bluntly, that means he needs to keep a very clean "permanent" record.
 
rainsux said:
> thermodynamics

Thermogoddamnics.
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I did just fine with thermo because I listened. :wink2:

I took thermo during a summer session. In the first class, the professor said "if you learn the following, you will pass this class". Not being stewpid, I made particular note of those items & how one applies them. Sure enough, the final consisted of fairly simple application of those items. I ended up with a B+ for the class - as an EE, that put me in pretty good standing. :)
 
smittysrv said:
My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
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I was going to write a nice paragraph on what a Aerospace Engineer does.... but unless he stays in an analysis or design engineer role, where traditional number crunching engineering takes place........

Engineers go to meetings, make presentations, get group consensus on decisions.

You need the engineering degree to understand what you are looking at, and to develop product, but few engineers still draw up components or run CFD / FEA / Analyze parts. We have designers for CAD.

Engineers are managers that sift through a load of information and make quick decisions. I do 90% paperwork / meetings, and physically touch parts or run tests the other 10%.


rainsux said:
> thermodynamics

Thermogoddamnics.
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:D

I thought thermodynamics was bad until I took a graduate level compressible fluids course. Shockwave calculations...... :mad2:
 
Geico266 said:
Back in the day you were judged by your peers by the amount of stuff in your pocket protector. :rolleyes:

Can you guys use a slide rule? Anyone still have one?
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i have a standard size (10 or 12 inch) slide rule as well as an 8 ft long teachers demonstrator. not to mention several circular slide rules on E6-B's and a CR flight computer.
 
smittysrv said:
My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
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Flip burgers and ask "Do you want fries with that?"
 
A friend of mine was an A.E.-- he worked on the C-17 at McDonnell Douglass (this was in the 80's? Maybe the 90's). It seemed like a really cool job.
 
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Geico266 said:
Can you guys use a slide rule? Anyone still have one?
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I'm pretty sure I still have my slide rule from high school and I might even be able to use it. What I do know for sure is that I'm not so bored that I'll go try to find it. ;-)
 
Tracey said:
Does anyone know how to delete a post? My newbie-ness is showing. Again. :mad2:
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An "Edit" button should appear below your own posts; click it and it should provide an option to delete it.
 
rainsux said:
> thermodynamics

Thermogoddamnics.
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OMFG, no kidding. I had it at 7 AM on Mondays, in a movie theater (BU was renovating their physics/science building at the time), with about 200 others. Then we had a separate smaller session later in the week with a TA. Neither of them spoke English very well. You haven't lived until you've heard "wee times wee equals wee squared" at 7:05 AM.

And what I've learned while going back to school is how quickly all that math goes away. Because the courses I took were so long ago, and because I got certain requirements waived back then, I'm taking algebra and analytical geometry again. No real difficulties, I'm acing it, but I couldn't have just taken the final and passed it.
 
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smittysrv said:
My son announced last night that he wants to study to be an Aerospace Engineer when he starts college. I asked him "what does and Aerospace Engineer do?". He said "I dunno, it just sounds like a cool job".

ARRRGGG. Help me out guys. Anybody know?
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Well the one I know works on a machining center at a company making guns.
 
rainsux said:
> thermodynamics

Thermogoddamnics.
Click to expand...

I laughed out loud in class on this. Summer sessions for thermo 1 and 2. I about died. Luckily the final was MC and you could usually work backwards to the correct answers.
 
I work as an Aerospace Engineer at Bell Helicopter. I'll be more than glad to talk about my experience when I get a chance. I'll respond with more later.
 
This is about the best description I've found of aerospace engineer:

The aerospace engineer is the guy in the plane who is whimpering quietly and looking worried.
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wsuffa said:
This is about the best description I've found of aerospace engineer:
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Ohmygosh, that's hysterical. I'm going to email that to my friend (the AE). I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it. He's not an AE any longer.:dunno: Probably ran out of slide rules.
 
rainsux said:
> thermodynamics

Thermogoddamnics.
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Gotta agree with you there although I think it was mostly presentation. I embraced physical chemistry but absolutely loathed thermo. P-chem covered the same concepts from a completely different perspective though. It didn't help that the thermo instructor was in love with unit conversions and engine cycles. Me, I'm too practical to give a flip about metric to imperial unit conversions. The engine cycles were a little interesting but I've forgotten all that stuff now because it just isn't useful. In the few cases where it might be useful, software implementations have hidden it and pushed "design" down to the salesman level.
 
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