aerospace engineering

howdy, I am currently in college studying electrical engineering, and im finding out how much i hate it. I was looking at the occupations post and noticed that a few of you are aerospace engineers. I have been thinking about changing to that for a while now. I thought it would be a lot more interesting than electronics since i have loved planes ever since i was a kid. I have about 20 hours now towards my pilots liscense in a 7ac champ and find myself more interested in aircraft than ever. I was wondering if some of you might have some advice for me. Any replies would be appreciated, thanks
chris

Hello champ_chump,

I found myself in the same position that you are currently in 15 years ago. I loved airplanes and thought aerospace was best for me, but I started doing some research on available positions for aerospace engineers and found it to be limiting. I took the mechanical engineering route and do not regret it at all. Not only can I do engineering work on aircraft, but everything else as well. My personal opinion is that more opportunities exist for ME's. I now have my own engineering firm, we specilize in product development and industrial automation. I get to use my engineering background to modify and tweak my super cub. Just my thoughts someone else might think differently

I would have to agree with ksecub. I was advised early on by several aerospace engineers to get me BSME instead, which I did and do not regret in the slightest. The aerospace industry is very cyclical, and if the industry starts laying off, then it is very hard for an AE to get a job in another industry. In the 6 years that I've been in the aero industry, our company went through several name changes and two acquistions. So, my advice is to go for your ME and gear most of your studies toward the fluids. You won't regret it.

The dean of the aviation department where I went to school highly recommends taking a Purdue University program where you design maintenability into aircraft. I don't recall what it is called, but it sounds fascinating to me. I think I'm too old to get into that, now, however.

The dean of the aviation department where I went to school highly recommends taking a Purdue University program where you design maintenability into aircraft. I don't recall what it is called, but it sounds fascinating to me. I think I'm too old to get into that, now, however.

I know an aerospace engineer who hates it. He says you just do one little part of the airplane along with several others and then it is all intergraded in a computer.

I met some of the engineers at Air Tractor. They seem to enjoy their job. They are designing a plane similar to the Caravan and 2 larger twin engine airtankers that will carry 1,000 gallons and more.

I guess it all depends on where you can get a job. My Dad is a ME and seems there are always good job oportunities in that field.

C-C

Frankly, I have a BSAE and worked for 33 years . I'd say I used the aerospace education for about the first five. I had perhaps the best job with a very good company, but I would suggest - like most of the others- that the most versatile engineering degree is a BSME. If you are technically oriented, my advice is a BSME and then a MSBA from the very best school that will accept you.

GR

A good combination is a BSME with some manufacturing experience (you can get that through co-op or interning or summer jobs). Once you know how parts are produced and assembled, you're ready for anything. Getting experience while you're in school will really help you get your first fulltime job.

I've got a BSME, and a Master's in Manufacturing, and work at Ford in engine design. My husband has a BSME, and Master's in Mech. Eng., and is currently looking for another job after getting laid off from an automotive parts supplier. If anyone knows of any openings anywhere, please let me know. We come as a package. Willing to relocate to good flying weather.

champ_chump: No guarantees come with any degree or experience.

Anne.

I graduated with a BSAE 40yrs ago and retired 3yrs ago. When I retired I was with a major Corporation in an executive position managing an engineering organization and included among my responsiblities was hiring new graduates. I also worked with most of the major Aerospace and not Aerospace firms and was familiar with their hiring practices. In general I would say that the reputation of the school you graduate from was by far more important than the undergraduate engineering degree. I would say also that an MBA on top of the undergraduate degree was a major attribute in hiring for the first job out of the University. After the first job, the undergraduate degree specialty is no longer significant at all. The degree is replaced in significance by where you worked, what you did, and what you accomplished. Through my career I have found the undergraduate degree to be of value only to get your foot in the door and to start your learning process. My recommendation? Pick a reputable University in engineering and follow your talent and heart. Your passion will be worth more than the title.

thanks a lot for your advice everyone, I am currently at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (if anyone has heard of that). All your suggestions have been a lot of help, I think ill give a good look into mechanical engineering as well, and see which i think is best for me, thanks again
chris

Chris,

Permit me to give another endorsement for the BSME degree. You can always emphasize the more aero-related electives (more fluids, thermo &/or heat transfer, stress, numerical methods &, of course, finite elements courses) that might appeal to an aerospace firm but have a degree that might well have broader appeal outside the highly cyclical aerospace industry. A Master's, whether in engineering or an MBA et al, can also open doors & be a good "tie-breaker" when your resume is up against someone else without one, esp. during your early working years. While I don't know about your specific school, I think most US citizens can pull in a better-than-just-survival-level income as a full-time grad student in engineering. You can also have a whopping enjoyable time; I liked grad school 10-to-1 better than my time as an undergraduate. One last tidbit: accumulate credentials... e.g., if you work in aerospace, try to follow a track that will allow you to obtain DER or DAR certification from the FAA. These particular tickets backed by the right experience can lead to lots of both interesting and profitable part-time consulting opportunities. A doctorate, and sometimes even a master's degree, can open the path to part time college teaching and lots of good contacts while you work elsewhere. It seems to me that a lot of engineers miss the boat in this arena. I essentially paid for the SuperCub with work on the side.

Best of luck!

Contacts

Champ chump,

I can remember being in engineering school and hating it -especially the calculus. I got away from it - and rode a bicycle from Oregon to Delaware the next summer to figure out what else I could accomplish. You will find something. The sooner you do the longer you can spend productively at something you are more attuned to.

Verdigris hit on this idea. While it is best to have the foundation of being good at something you love to do, and pursuing it and working at it intently in service to others - therefore to be compensated - my opinion is that it is ultimately who you know, not what you know, that makes for where you end up in life. This is a cliche of course, and not entirely true as we cannot all be diplomats by profession (I am not). But nurture your contacts as much as your engineering or whatever you pursue for a profession. Reciprocity, or in some fashion returning the favor, is important.

This I learned gradually through many years of focusing my awake hours heavily on matters in my own business. At first in business, the tendency is to do everything yourself. Independence is good; interdependence and delegation can mean greater success for you and others.

For sure this is not to say I have known exactly the right people at the right time every time, or even clearly recognized opportunities in every situation. But strive to.

Character and intention, contacts and serendipity seem to have a lot do with success. Stand firm when you can. Try to think of your successes more often than the setbacks.

Bob Breeden

Here's my 2 pence worth.
I'm sorry if it flies in the face of the others, but it is my own biased opinion based on 30 years in the engineering industry.
I started out with an apprenticeship in an aerospace company, and trod the Elec Eng path. At the time I much preferred Mech Eng, but felt the future was with electronics, (this was after the time electricity came in bottles). I am really glad I did. As people have said above, the big airliner stuff is feast or famine, and you are a small cog in a big wheel. It's my opinion that there are more jobs out there for elec eng, especially those with software experience. In the industry I'm now in, RF with software is the talent in demand. My belief when I started out is that an Elec Eng background would give me the freedom to work on stuff I was interested in, and possibly work in a small company where I would see the whole job, and my efforts could be seen, good or bad. I now work in a small company along side some really talented engineers, I also own that small company. I agree with the other posters that the qualifications are one part, experience is a bigger part. As an employer of engineers, I look at other stuff such as hobbies and pastimes, I'll hire the guy who fixes up cars and motorbikes with the EE over the guy with the PhD who has only been to school and finds the answers at the back of the book. I don't have a problem with PhD's but I've only met a few good hands on engineers with a doctorate. Most PhD's that I know now work in an industry not associated with their thesis, Chemists and Physicists now working as software engineers. In our company our in-house mechanical engineer and board designer is an aeronautical engineer, trained at Bae, but had to change career after a big lay off.
I have got to admit when you are starting out the grass is always greener somewhere else, In my early years I almost packed it all in to work as a sound engineer in a London studio. It is my point of view based on my experiences that Elec Eng would offer you more flexibility in the job market place, whether that was in Aerospace, Avionics,Cellular or the latest incarnation of WiFi, whatever. I also admit that some sexy electronics for aircraft are being produced by small dynamic companies, rather that the lumbering giants of 20 - 30 years ago. What ever you chose to do, give it your best shot, nobody owes you a break, you have to go out there and grab it with both hands.

I wish you very good luck in your future career, because that's gonna have to pay for the Cub.

Regards Pete

champ_chump, I disagree with the advice that you get a Master's degree before starting work, unless you are independently wealthy. Many companies will pay for an advanced degree while you are working.

And if you want to stay in engineering (whatever kind), don't get an MBA. You'll end up in management instead. Most engineers I know, including myself, don't trust undergrad engineers with an MBA - for many years it was the hot ticket to the top of the management ladder, where you no longer do any sort of engineering.

Get your undergrad first, then start working. After you've been working for awhile, you can decide if you want or need an advanced degree.

Good luck with your decision.

Anne.

My Dad ended up in managemant. He hated it. Said he felt like a babysitter. Now he works on his airplanes and consults for more money.

C -C:
Cal Poly SLO has a great reputation for producing BSMEs who really know engineering from a practical sense. The Cal Poly grads will go on to do honest-to-god engineering. By contrast, UCSB produces engineers who are long on theory and short on reality. [I can say that because that's where I got my BSME.] Many of my UCSB classmates went into professions that required an engineer's analytical capability, but less true engineering design capability. So if you switch to BSME, you need differentiate between applied engineering programs (CPSLO) and theory-based programs (UCSB).

As for an MBA, take a look at the starting salaries from various b-schools. The graduates of the top 10 schools make significantly more than the rest. However, this mostly applies if you plan to work for a Fortune 500 company. If you want to work for yourself, the MBA may be beneficial, but you probably don't need to spend the big money to go to a top 10 school. [The conclusion you should draw is that the schools teach much the same material, but the employment markets value the schools differently.] If you are considering an MBA, you should work for several year - at least until you have had two years of management experience - before applying. Attend any sooner and many of the discussions will be lost on you. Also, give serious thought to a weekend or executive MBA program. This is often a better choice because a) there is no income interruption, and b) because you can immediately test your profs' theories in real life. If you have to wait two years to test a theory, it's almost a gaurantee that you will forget it.