Aerospace Engineer

Aerospace Engineers design, create, and test prototypes of aircraft, satellites, spacecrafts, and missiles. They direct and coordinate the design and manufacturing of these products, determine whether proposed projects will result in safe operations, evaluate designs and check if they met protocol, or inspect malfunctioning or damaged products to find sources of problems and possible solutions.

Aerospace Engineering can branch into two different types of engineering: aeronautical and astronautical.

- Aeronautical Engineer: People in this profession work and are involved in designing aircrafts and propulsion systems. They also study the performance of aircrafts, work with technology, and observe its flight in Earth's atmosphere.

- Astronautical Engineer: These individuals work with spacecrafts and test and observe how the perform inside and outside of Earth's atmosphere. They usually work on small satellites, CubeSats, and large satellites.

Education/Licenses:

- Minimum Degree: Bachelors

- High School: Students interested in this field should take courses in chemistry, physics, advanced mathematics, computer programming and languages.

- College: Some colleges work with regional businesses and offer students more technical/practical experience. In other universities, students can enroll in 5 year programs where students can finish both their bachelors and masters degree.

- Licenses: For obtaining higher level jobs and leadership, a Professional Engineering (PE) license should be acquired. This license requires individuals to pass certain exams, have at least 4 years of working experience, and get a degree from specific engineering programs.

Skills Needed:

- Engineering and Science Knowledge

- Design Skills and Knowledge

- Verbal and Communication Skills

- Analytical Thinking Skills

- Computer Software and Usability Skills

- Attentiveness

Working Environment:

- Nowadays aerospace engineers spend more time working in an office environment and use computer equipment and technology for designing, simulating, and evaluating their work. These engineers often collaborate with other professionals and need to be able to communicate, divide work, and push a team towards a bigger goal.

- Aerospace Engineers work for firms that engage in manufacture, design, research, etc. or for the federal government. Many of them typically work full time and some engineers, who direct projects, work over time.