What is like in the life of an aerospace engineer?

http://lifehacker.com/career-spotlight-what-i-do-as-an-aerospace-engineer-1665681663

Hi Shafia! I may be biased, but I believe that aerospace engineering is a great way to combine a love of mathematics, sciences like physics, and a desire to push the boundaries of human technological achievement and human exploration. I come from an aerospace engineering Bachelors of Science degree, and then after landing my dream job at NASA JSC, I got a graduate degree in theoretical physics with a focus on cosmology and the evolution of the universe. Aerospace engineering is very cool, and it IS rocket science ;)

Much of what an aerospace engineer does in their career is determined by their area of focus or their desires. The first big differentiation is whether you work in the arena of atmospheric flight (aeronautics) or spaceflight (astronautics) or both! I happen to support the International Space Station (ISS) program and work with astronauts to get them ready for their missions, and train the Flight Controllers who work in the Mission Control Center. A lot of what I do could be categorized as traits of a knowledge worker, someone who learns and then applies or teaches technical information in a dynamic environment by solving problems. At NASA JSC we are running the ISS 24/7/365 and it's a VERY cool environment to work in and is a very fulfilling career. But many engineers, even aerospace engineers, work in a more traditional culture where you are tasked to figure something out, deliver a product, manage projects, and apply your engineering know-how to research and design and build and test things.

Aerospace engineering can be thought of as specialized mechanical engineering. In my industry mechanical engineers and aerospace engineers work side by side on everything. Many schools do not have an aerospace degree, so you should also consider mechanical engineering, as both degrees can be utilized by most companies for the same types of jobs, even in aerospace. A good mechanical engineer can be a good aerospace engineer, and vice versa, you might just have to study up and learn something that you weren't specifically taught in school. If you are really interested in aircraft or spacecraft, then either of those degrees can lead you to your dream job. In general, engineering degrees teach you how to be a critical thinker, a great problem solver, a great technical communicator, a competent team member, and hopefully some leadership experience as well working as a project manager or a team lead. But engineers can do a lot of different things, depending on where they work or the type of work they seek out, which is why being an engineer is AWESOME!