If you are interested in designing and building machines that fly, this career may be the right choice for you!
An aerospace engineer designs, tests, and manages the manufacturing of aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. They also test prototypes to make sure they function properly according to design, and develop new technologies to be used in space exploration, aviation, and defense systems.
Aerospace engineers can specialize in a specific type of aerospace product, such as missiles and rockets, military fighter jets, spacecraft, helicopters, or commercial aircraft. Or they may choose to specialize in specific areas, such as instrumentation and communication, navigation and control, structural design, guidance, or production methods.
They work mostly in analysis and design, manufacturing, industries that perform research and development, and the government.
Aerospace engineers design, analyze, test, troubleshoot and develop advanced technology in defense systems, spacecraft, and aviation. They develop the standards for quality control and design processes, identify issues for products that aren’t working properly, and try to find solutions to fix those issues.
Aerospace engineers may choose to specialize in areas such as aerodynamic fluid flow, structural design, guidance / navigation and control, instrumentation and communication, robotics, or propulsion and combustion.
They can specialize in designing different types of aerospace products, such as commercial and military airplanes and helicopters, remotely piloted aircraft and rotorcraft, spacecraft, including launch vehicles and satellites, and military missiles and rockets.
They often become experts in one or more related fields: aerodynamics, thermodynamics, celestial mechanics, flight mechanics, propulsion, acoustics, and guidance and control systems.
Duties and responsibilities of aerospace engineers:
– Assess proposals and design requirements
– Determine if projects are technically and financially feasible
– Go over budgets, timescales and specifications with clients
– Do theoretical and practical research
– Evaluate designs to confirm that products meet engineering principles
– Ensure designs meet customer requirements
– Direct, coordinate, produce and implement design, manufacture and test procedures
– Measure and improve performance of aircraft, systems, and components
– Assist in assembling aircraft
– Test, evaluate, modify and re-test products
– Determine if proposed projects will result in safe aircraft and parts
– Ensure that projects meet quality standards
– Inspect malfunctioning or damaged products
– Identify sources of problems and possible solutions
– Write reports, manuals and documentation
– Provide technical advice
– Analyze and interpret data
– Work towards completion dates and deadlines
Aerospace engineers can apply their knowledge to any part of the engineering process: design, analysis, integration, testing, deployment, or maintenance. They can also hone in on the analysis areas, such as: mechanical / structural design, dynamics, programming, and electronics.
Aerospace engineers are typically well-suited to project engineering, systems engineering, and business roles – these are roles where system-level knowledge as well as math and science knowledge is needed to make, and back up, any decisions.
Aerospace engineers can choose to specialize in one of two types of engineering: aeronautical or astronautical.
Aeronautical Engineer
An aeronautical engineer uses his/her technical knowledge to study an aircraft’s aerodynamic performance. This includes the aircraft’s materials, propulsion system, and aircraft design.
Aeronautical engineers design, develop, manufacture and maintain both civil aircraft and military aircraft, aeronautical systems and aeronautical components in order to improve fuel efficiency and improve flight safety. They also keep in mind the importance of reducing costs and lowering the environmental impact of air travel.
Astronautical Engineer
Astronautical engineering deals primarily with overseeing the entire process for the development of spacecraft that functions outside the atmosphere of Earth (versus an aeronautical engineer who deals primarily with aircraft that functions inside the atmosphere of Earth).
An astronautical engineer, also known as a rocket scientist, studies spacecraft and focuses on areas that include thermodynamics, aerodynamics, celestial mechanics, propulsion, guidance systems, and flight mechanics.
Spacecraft may include products such as: rockets, remote sensing satellites, missiles, space launchers, space vehicles, navigational systems, planetary probes, and communication / direct broadcasting / reconnaissance satellites.
Aerospace engineers work in offices, laboratories, or manufacturing environments where they design or build aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, or systems for national defense. They work for either private companies or the federal government where they can engage in manufacturing, analysis and design, and research and development.
A person working as an Aerospace Engineer in Kenya typically earns around Ksh199,000 per month. Salaries range from Ksh97,700 (lowest) to Ksh311,000 (highest).
While overall demand for aerospace engineers is projected to be weak, expected opportunities will stem largely from the need to replace retirees and the necessity to hire U.S. citizens because of the security clearances required for jobs related to national defense. The impetus to redesign commercial aircraft to decrease noise pollution and increase fuel efficiency should create some openings for engineers who work on engines and propulsion systems. However, mergers of defense contractors and slowdowns in manufacturing sectors may temper this growth. The emergence of private civilian companies developing low-orbit and beyond-earth-orbit technologies for human and robotic space travel will add a small number of openings in the field, specifically for aerospace engineers familiar with modeling, simulation, and robotics.
High school students interested in studying aerospace engineering should take courses in chemistry, physics, and mathematics, including algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.
Entry-level aerospace engineers usually need a bachelor’s degree. Bachelor degree programs in aerospace engineering are designed to take four years and include classroom, laboratory, and field studies in subjects such as general engineering principles, propulsion, stability and control, structures, mechanics, and aerodynamics (which is the study of how air interacts with moving objects).
Some colleges and universities offer cooperative programs, in partnership with industry, that give students practical experience while they complete their education. Cooperative programs and internships allow students to get valuable experience and to finance part of their education.
At some universities, a student can enroll in a five-year program that leads to both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree upon completion. A graduate degree will allow an engineer to work as an instructor at a university or to do research and development.
