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Career Exploration

Aerospace Engineers

Also called: Aerospace Engineer, Design Engineer, Flight Test Engineer, Systems Engineer

What they do:

Perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. May conduct basic and applied research to evaluate adaptability of materials and equipment to aircraft design and manufacture. May recommend improvements in testing equipment and techniques.

On the job, you would:
  • Formulate mathematical models or other methods of computer analysis to develop, evaluate, or modify design, according to customer engineering requirements.
  • Plan or conduct experimental, environmental, operational, or stress tests on models or prototypes of aircraft or aerospace systems or equipment.
  • Formulate conceptual design of aeronautical or aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements or conform to environmental regulations.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • product and service development
  • design

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • physics

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods

  • manufacture and distribution of products

Basic Skills

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem
  • reading work related information

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Verbal

  • read and understand what is written
  • communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • notice when problems happen

Math

  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Dependability
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Initiative
  • Stress Tolerance

Analytical or scientific software

  • The MathWorks MATLAB
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Development environment software

  • C
  • Microsoft Visual Studio

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $126,880

Education

Bachelor's degree or master's degree is usually needed.