Aerospace engineers are in charge of designing, developing and testing aircraft, spacecraft and missile systems as well as supervising the manufacturing process of these products. Aerospace engineers may have to figure out how to make half a million pounds of material fly in space. They deal with aviation, space exploration, and defense. Aerospace engineers may specialize in structural designing, guiding, navigating and controlling aerial parts. They may also specialize in aerodynamics, thermodynamic, propulsion systems, acoustics, or guidance and control systems.
The current starting salary for a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering is $56,311 a year.
The average salary for Aerospace Engineers is $92,520.
The number of aerospace engineers employed in 2008 was 71,600.
New technologies and new designs for commercial and military aircraft and spacecraft produced during the next decade should spur demand for aerospace engineer.
A professional society of aerospace engineers is the SPEEA. Aerospace Engineers sometimes will go and get a professional license called PE(Professional Engineer) and can be obtained by passing a Fundamentals of Engineering exam, working under a PE for four years, and passing the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.
The Leading Schools
1. California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
