Aeronautical Engineer
Steps to Becoming an Aeronautical Engineer
With a high pay scale and incredible job satisfaction, thousands of teens are eying a career as an aeronautical engineer. Not only do aeronautical engineers work closely with other engineers making teamwork incredibly important, but there are hundreds of jobs within the airline, space, and military defense industries for an aeronautical engineer. Men and women are needed to help design, build, and test these new airplanes, space crafts, satellites, and missiles to make sure planes, shuttles, and weaponry are keeping up with modern times. Those who become an aeronautical engineer may work long hours and spend lots of time behind a computer, but job rewards are numerous.
To become an aeronautical engineer, one must start by taking advanced math courses in high school. Colleges pay close attention to grades and course lists because aeronautics requires plenty of mathematic and scientific abilities. On top of this, often public speaking courses are required because engineering requires a lot of teamwork. An aeronautical engineer must be a team player, that is critical.
Once high school is over, a student must aim for an aeronautical engineering degree. College and university classwork can be extremely rigorous, especially for those who like to socialize with friends. Homework loads for an aeronautical engineer are heavy and the course list itself can seem daunting. Courses such as Introduction to Aerospace, Aerospace Design, Unified Engineering, Advanced Engineering, Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Advanced Mechanics, Viscous Fluid Motions, Materials, Estimation, and others are all required learning. Calculus and Statistics are other mandatory courses for an aeronautical engineer major.
During a college career, an aeronautical engineer may choose one or more specialty to help him or her land a specific job. Course lists are adapted to master this specialty. After four years of college, a bachelor's degree is issued providing the student has received passing grades in all necessary courses. If a Master's Degree is desired, an additional two years of college is required. By the end of the career, the student becomes an aeronautical engineer and is well on his or her way to landing a dream job within the industry.
