What is the work of the space engineer? The aerospace engineer, also called an astronautical engineer, is a highly specialized professional who designs, manages and realizes projects of vehicles that are able to fly in the Earth’s atmosphere or outside it (airplanes, helicopters, seaplanes, missiles, aerospace spacecraft, satellites, orbiting platforms, drones, etc.).
Given the extreme complexity of their design work, aerospace engineers must possess different skills in engineering and non-engineering fields. They must, for example, be able to choose which materials are suitable for the construction of a given product, but must also have broad knowledge in the field of meteorology to know the atmospheric phenomena with which the aircraft will have to deal with.
Aerospace engineer: What does it do?
What does the aerospace engineer do? There are several specializations within the profile of astronautical engineers, which can therefore be configured in several ways:
- Structural aerospace engineer that is the aerospace engineer who designs the structure of the aircraft
- Aerospace propulsion engineer, who deals with engines and propulsion systems
- Aerodynamic aerospace engineer, who takes care of the aerodynamics of an aircraft
- Aerospace engineer plant engineer, in charge of design and air-electro-mechanical system management
Its extensive skills mean that the aerospace engineer is often called upon to work on vehicles not designed for flight (think of the aerodynamics of automobiles or motorcycles), or even on other types of building construction (e.g. bridges, dams, complex buildings, etc.).
More generally, the aerospace engineer in his work can hold different roles in the aeronautics industry and in large air transport companies (for example in aircraft maintenance activities) or in airport management companies, with competences centered on the integration of different specialized figures and on the innovation of the airport service.
The continuous growth of air traffic worldwide and the commitment of several governments in the space race, as well as the increasingly refined automotive design techniques, make the aerospace engineer a particularly desirable and highly requested profile in the labor market.
What does the aerospace engineer do, then? Among the main tasks of the astronautical engineer, we recall the following …
- Designing and testing aircraft and aerospace means of transport taking into account every single technical element and component and the needs of future users;
- Prepare maintenance plans for vehicles;
- Verify compliance with the standards of the products and materials used;
- Certify everything through special forms;
- Carry out feasibility studies by processing data and information;
- Make improvements to air and aerospace transport vehicles.
Aerospace engineering: Which job opportunities?
The aerospace engineering outlets are manifold. An aerospace engineer can work as an employee for public or private companies, but can also hold a VAT number and work as a self-employed person (for example, providing consultancy services to industrial metallurgical companies and companies that work in construction).
The aerospace engineer, like many engineers, begins to work as a technical-professional figure. In many cases, his career nevertheless overlooks the managerial dimension. In this sense, young engineers are increasingly used by companies as promoters of the innovation of a product or a production process.
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