Aerospace Engineering

2 Pages 583 Words

I selected to do this paper on Aerospace engineering, a field which I have always been very fond of. Forever and a day the world of aviation and space exploration has been very close to me. My Uncle has been an astronautical engineer working for independent corporations for sometime now and his occupation has always intrigued me. He has designed over hundreds of economically sound spacecraft for the general public although none of his designs have been brought to life its just a matter of time. I can really see myself in this line of work creating and designing aircraft as well as spacecrafts doing things no one has yet to accomplish.

Aerospace engineers are responsible for developing extraordinary machines, from airplanes that weigh over a half a million pounds to spacecraft that travel over 17,000 miles an hour. They design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles and supervise the manufacturing of these products. Aerospace engineers who work with aircraft are considered aeronautical engineers, and those working specifically with spacecraft are considered astronautical engineers. Aerospace engineers develop new technologies for use in flight, defense systems, and space exploration. They often use Computer-aided Design (CAD), robotics, and lasers and advanced electronic optics to assist them. Aerospace engineers typically are employed within the aerospace industry.

Aerospace engineers held about 50,000 jobs in 2000. Almost one-half worked in the aircraft and parts and guided missile and space vehicle manufacturing industries. Federal Government agencies, primarily the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, provided almost 15 percent of jobs. Engineering and architectural services, research and testing services, and search and navigation equipment firms accounted for most of the remaining jobs.

Employment of aerospace engineers is expected to grow about as fast as the ...