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What field is the most important to study if I want to become an Aerospace Engineer ?
I want to see if i want to do this as a job so i want to know what i need to study to do so.
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Stephen’s Answer
Hello Landon, I am a mechanical engineer that worked in the aerospace industry for around 5 years so I will give you some insight into what I learned about the industry and what you can do now to prepare. If you want to do aerospace engineering as a career, entering an aerospace engineering program is a great way to do it but it is not offered at all colleges/universities. Mechanical engineering would be your next best bet for getting the skills needed for a career in the aerospace industry. Working with aircraft usually brings to mind engines and wings or landing gear but the industry is extremely large and varies greatly based on the company and components that the company makes. You can work in aerospace for 30 years and just work on fatigue life and material projects, vibration mitigation, sensors, combustion, textiles, fluid dnamics, or 3D part design. Usually there will be a mix of multiple aspects in each role but the point is that there is a huge amount of variation in the industry so if find that you really like materials science or you really like injection molding or plastics, there is a lot of opportunity in aerospace to work with those topics on a daily basis. Aerospace or mechanical engineering will give you a great foundation in all of these topics and from there, while you advance in your studies, you will find what aspects you like best and then can choose courses to learn more. As an example, I was a mechanical engineering major and discovered that I loved material science my sophmore year, so junior and senior year I took some mat sci electives and then got a job working on understanding and improving fatigue life for metal aircraft components. Good Luck!
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Eric’s Answer
Landon, some engineering colleges have aerospace engineering programs. If you attend a university that does not have such a program then mechanical engineering would be the best field of engineering to study. With a mechanical engineering degree you would gain a strong background in thermodynamics, structural dynamics, fluid dynamics and material science - all of which would be a strong foundation for aerospace engineering. A masters degree in aerospace engineering would be best regardless of your undergrad degree. One thing that you might look into is whether a college with an aerospace engineering undergrad program allows you to obtain a masters degree simultaneously with your bachelors degree. This can often save you a year of studies (and money!).