What Do Engineers Do?
Aerospace Engineers make a difference in the world by…
There's a Job in Engineering for You
Want to see what life is really like on Mars? Design a space shuttle as an aerospace engineer!
Enjoy making paper airplanes? How about real ones? Specialize in military fighter jets, commercial airplanes, or helicopters as an aerospace engineer!
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- Ensuring the safety of today's aircraft by helping them meet mission critical requirements and engineering all components to work together properly to achieve their goals.
- Building a more spacious airplane.
- Creating satellites that detect drought around the world.
- Designing robots that collect samples on other planets, revealing insights about our galaxy.
- Getting down to Earth by designing high-speed trains, racing cars, or deep sea vessels that explore life at the bottom of the ocean.
Even the sky is not a limit in aerospace engineering! Today's aerospace engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturer of aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. They are working to make space colonization a reality and reduce the time needed to travel around the world. Aerospace engineers apply their specialized knowledge of aerodynamics, thermo-fluid mechanics, propulsion, structures, dynamics, control, and performance to a wide variety of problems encountered in the design of vehicles or systems. They develop new technologies for use in aviation, defense systems, and space systems. They can also apply their expertise to the design and development of new earthbound vehicles — racecars, hydrofoil ships, deep-diving vessels for oceanographic research, and high-speed rail systems.
Meet JETS Extreme Engineers
Engineers in Action
Did You Know?
- Dr. Mae C. Jemison, First African-American Astronaut, CEO, BioSentient Corporation, and Founder, The Earth We Share is a JETS Alum
- During their preparations for the Olympics, the U.S. Bobsled team used the wind tunnel in the aerospace engineering department at the University of Maryland to analyze how changes in the sled's design and its crew's positions would affect its time on the track.
- Michael Crichton's book "AirFrame" is a techno-thriller set in the aerospace industry. In addition to a suspenseful read, it provides great insight into airplane components and manufacturing.
- Jodi Foster played the role of an aeronautical engineer in the movie FlightPlan. The suspense takes place on an aircraft her character helped to design.
Salary:
The average starting Salary for an Aerospace Engineer (2007):
| B.S. Degree |
M.S. Degree |
Ph.D. |
| $53,408 |
$62,459 |
$73,814 |
More to Explore
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
NASA
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