Engineering Careers
The word Engineer covers a very wide range of disciplines. If you've chosen to explore training in Automotive and/or Aeronautical Engineering, it's likely you're looking for a technical challenge and an exciting career.
The aerospace industry in the UK is world-class, and is one of the most diverse and technically advanced industries to be employed in today. When it comes to the automotive industry, over 300,000 people in the UK are employed in design, development and manufacturing.
Finding The Right Training Courses
There are approximately 32 UK Universities providing Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering Degrees in Automotive or Aeronautical Engineering. Engineering graduates can also choose to take post-graduate qualifications. (Shorter courses are available from local technical institutions as well.) BEng and MEng courses at university usually follow the same structure for the first two years, and then take on a different format for the final year or two.
Certain course options will offer students the chance to study part-time, on a sandwich course basis. If you're prepared to agree to work for a particular organisation following graduation, you may be able to negotiate a sponsorship deal. As you do your research into the different training options, look for details of graduate sponsorship programmes.
Automotive Engineers
All cars, bikes, coaches and heavy goods vehicles come under the remit of auto engineering. It takes in elements of many other engineering disciplines. With new technologies such as ultra low emissions, active suspensions, composite material structures and electric vehicles, there is much to challenge the thought processes of the student.
Generally speaking, we can separate the automotive engineering processes into three distinct fields. The designers have to create the parts on a vehicle and ensure that they meet all of the stated requirements. The engineering attributes of an automobile are the responsibility of development engineers. They may stipulate certain requirements to the design engineers. With all the design and development work complete, the manufacturing engineers have to build the vehicle.
There's a terrific amount of knowledge for an automotive engineering student to learn. Subjects will include performance, ergonomics, emissions, fuel economy, aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics to name but a few. As safety is vital, designs have to go through various crash scenarios to test their impact on the vehicle occupants.
Design engineers test individual components, but they must also be tested to prove synchronicity with the vehicle as a whole. For that reason, students must understand something about systems engineering. This can also involve understanding tradeoffs, a process which ensures that all the vehicle attributes are delivered at an acceptable level. Ultimately development engineering must meet the standards dictated by the manufacturer, the government and of course the buying public.
The manufacturing process takes over once all the design and development work has been done. Parts have to be assembled, (usually in separate plants) and vehicles built to the exacting standards of the manufacturing engineers. At every assembly plant, manufacturing engineers have to plan out the body shop, the area for engine and transmission placement and the chassis and trim area.
Aeronautical-Engineering
Man's desire for flight has led to momentous developments in aircraft technology. If you qualify at degree level or above in Aeronautical Engineering, you will have proved yourself worthy to enter the fascinating business of aerospace. (Some aerospace engineers go into Formula One design and development as well.)
Atmospheric pressure and temperature changes place huge stresses on aircraft during flights. Consequently the building of an aircraft will take many engineering disciplines and aeronautical engineers will all deal in specialist technologies.
Aeronautical engineering students will be taught design principles throughout their training, and receive a thorough insight into analytical subjects. Lectures will be given on subjects such as fluid mechanics, with laboratory sessions to back them up. Modern computing methods can now simulate the behaviour of fluid, which reduces the need for empirical testing in wind tunnels. (Nevertheless, students will still get plenty of opportunity to experiment with wind tunnels and other physical testing machines).
Both Auto and Aero engineering students will benefit from a good deal of practical application. All academic programmes will involve a mixture of group and individual assignments to design and build actual machines or components. Undergraduate engineering training programmes also provide other useful skill-sets for their students. Subjects to choose from might include European languages, presentation skills and teamwork.
Aeronautical and automotive engineers are at the forefront of technological advances, and can make a valuable contribution to society. Refer to the Engineering Council for details on becoming a Chartered Engineer (CEng) or an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).
