AerospaceEngineering

EdisonSotelo

PrinciplesofEngineering

StonyPointHighSchool

1/8/2015

Abstract

Theobjectiveforthisprojectistoresearchanddiscoverinformationregardingatypeofengineer
astudentwantstobecomevaryingfromwhattheydotohowtobecomeone.Theobjective
throughouttheprojectwasaccomplished,goinginorderfromeducation,jobs,andsalary.
Studentsresearchedcoursestheyneededtotakedependingonwhatcollegetheywouldattend
andhowmuchitwouldcost.Thentheyresearchedwhatjobstheycouldobtaindependingon
howmuchexperiencetheyhaveandwheretheywouldbeliving.Lastly,theyresearchedhow
muchmoneytheywouldbemakingdependingonwhatkindofdegreetheyhaveandwherethey
wouldbeliving.

TableofContents

Introduction
Background
CoursesYouNeedtoTake
JobDescription
SalaryvsLocation
WorkEnvironment
HowtoBecomeOne
Results
Conclusion
Appendix
Citations

Introduction

Thisprojectwasmadeforstudentstoresearchaspecificengineeringjobthattheywishtotake
inthefuture.Thisparticularprojectwasmadetoresearchanaerospaceengineeringcareerfor
informationaboutthelifeofanAerospaceEngineerandhowtobecomeone.First,information
abouttheclassesneededincollegetograduateforanaerospacedegreewillberesearchedand
recorded.Next,informationonwhattheseengineersdoforalivingdependingonhowmany
yearsofexperiencetheyhavewillberesearchedandrecorded.Lastly,thesalaryofan
AerospaceEngineerwillberesearcheddependingonhowmucheducationtheengineerhasor
thelocationtheyarelivingin.Thus,thisprojectwillgiveinformationaboutanAerospace
Engineertohelpstudentsdecideifthiscareerisrightforthem.

Background
CoursesYouNeedtoTake
Coursesthatwillbeneededforaerospaceengineeringthroughoutanycollegeare3yearsof
calculus,1yearofdifferentialequations,andsomewillrequire1yearofstatistics.Englishwill
require1yearofwritingand1otheryearoftechnicalwriting.Sciencerelatedcourseswill
require2yearsofchemistryand2yearofphysics.Forengineeringclasses,therewillbe
drafting,CAD,statics,materials,electrical,thermodynamics,andethics.Thetotalnumberof
creditsneededwillbeataround130,butitalwaysdependsonthecollege.Eachcreditwillcost
about$280andthedegreewillcostabout$36,000foraninstatecollege.Foranoutofstate
college,therewillstillbe130creditsbuteachcreditwillcostaround$470andthedegreewill
addupto$62,304.Sooverall,thecoursesandcreditsneededwillbethesame,itsjustgoingto
becheaperforaninstatecollegethananoutofstate.
http://aero.tamu.edu/

http://www.ae.utexas.edu/

https://files.tsquare.gatech.edu

JobDescription
Aerospaceengineersdesign,research,develop,andmaintaintheperformanceofmissiles,
spacecraft,aircraft,orsatellites.Theseengineersusuallybecomeexpertsinonefieldlike
aerodynamicsandthermodynamics.Theaveragewageofaerospaceengineersis$103,720
backinMayof2012,asthehighestpayingengineersofthisclassgetpaidmorethan$149,120.
Theengineersroleistoimprovefuelefficiency,flightsafety,reducesystemcost,anduse
advancedtechnologiestomeetthecurriculumorcustomersneeds.Theyapplyprinciplesof
scienceandtechnologiestotheworkofdifferentcomponentsthatmakeuptheaircraftand
systems.Togetajobinaerospace,peoplewillusuallyneedabachelorsdegreeinAerospace,
Aeronautical,orAstronautical.Somepeoplethatworkasaerospaceengineerswillneeda
securityclearanceduetothemworkingwithgovernmentofficials.Collegestudentswouldneed
tostudycalculus,chemistry,andphysicstograduatewithanaerospacedegree.
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/

http://www.bls.gov/

SalaryvsLocation
InAustin,TX,whenaerospaceengineersstartworkingwith0yearofexperience,theyllearn
$59,486ayearbutinNewYork,NYtheywillearn$72,812.Whenpeoplegetajobasan
aerospaceengineerlevel2with34yearsofexperience,theyllearn$81,443ayearinAustin
and$99,675inNewYork,earningmorethan$20,000ayearthanwhattheystartedwith.Asan
aerospaceengineerlevel3with79yearsofexperience,inAustintheirsalarywillbe$91,862
increasingabout$10,000andinNewYorkitwillriseto$112,441increasingabout$13,000.
Lastlyasanaerospaceengineerlevel4with1014yearsofexperience,theirAustinsalarywill
be$98,418,a$7,000increasefromlevel3andinNewYorkitwillbe$120,466,an$8,000
increasefrombefore.NowthecostoflivinginAustin,TXismuchdifferentthaninManhattan,
NewYork.Someonethatmakes$55,000inAustinwouldneedtomake$127,963inManhattan
toliveaboutthesamesincegroceriescost65%more,housingis409%more,utilitiesare45%
more,transportationis28%more,andhealthcareis10%more.Sopeoplewouldhavetomake
morethantwiceasmuchinManhattanastheywouldinAustintoliveaboutthesame.Sincethe
salarydifferencefromAustinandNewYorkisnotaboutdouble,mostlikelyengineerswilllivein
Austinsincethecostoflivingismoreaffordable.
www1.salary.com

http://money.cnn.com/

WorkEnvironment
Aerospaceengineersusuallyworkinanofficeenvironmentwheretheyusecomputersoftware
todesign,model,andtesttheiraircraft.Theyprimarilyworkforfirmsthatfocusondesignand
analysis,researchanddevelopment,andmanufacturingforthefederalgovernment.These
engineersneedtohavegoodcommunicationskillssincetheywillworkwithotherprofessionals
toreachacommongoalanddivideworkintomanageabletasks.Thislineofworkisafulltime
jobwithdeadlineshavingtobemetwhichmeansthatextrahoursforprojectdirectorsmaybe
needed.Thedirectorswillcheckthedesignprogress,checkthatthedesignmeets
requirements,aircraftperformance,andtomakesuretheproductmeetsdesignstandards.
Theycouldbeexposedtohazardsfromequipmentlikepropellersorfromtoxicmaterialsbut
incidentsareraretocomebyaslongastherightproceduresarefollowed.Thisjobdoesntneed
aspecificgeographiclocationaslongasthelocationyouareplanningtoworkinhasaerospace
occupations.Theywillalsotravelonairplanestotesttheaircrafttheydesignedorfor
maintenanceofthecompaniesaircraftthattheyneedtowatchover.
http://www.bls.gov/

HowtoBecomeOne
Aerospaceengineersneedtohaveabachelorsdegreeinaerospaceengineeringoranyother
typeofsciencerelatedaerospacesystems.Studentsinhighschoolshouldstudychemistry,
physics,andmathclasseslikealgebra,calculus,andtrigonometry.Experiencedaerospace
engineersusuallyearnthePE(ProfessionalEngineer)licensewhichrequiresapassingscore
onthePEandtheFE(FundamentalsofEngineering)exams,adegreefromanABET
engineeringprogram,andworkexperience.TheFEexamcanbetakenaftergraduatingwitha
bachelorsdegreeandwhenpassedtheywillbecalledEI(EngineeringInterns),afteryearsof
experience,theycantakethesecondexamforPE.Someaerospaceengineersworkfor
nationaldefensewhichrequiressecurityclearance,whilesomelevelsofclearancewould
requireU.S.citizenship.Afteryearsofexperience,theseengineerswillbeabletoleadateamof
otherengineersandtechniciansasanengineerorprogrammanager.Beforebeingamanager,
theywillneedtoserviceinanapprenticeshipwithamoreexperiencedengineer.Thiswillhelp
themwithanideaonhowtoleadothers,themoreexperiencedengineerwillserveasarole
modeltotheapprentice.
http://www.bls.gov/

Results

Theobjectiveofthisprojectwasaccomplishedsuccessfullybyobtainingallthenecessary
informationneededtobeinformedaboutthecareerpathofanaerospaceengineer.Information
regardingdifferentcollegestostudyaerospaceandthecoursesneededforeachofthem,
differentjobstohavedependingonhowmuchexperienceoreducationobtained,andthesalary
dependingonlocationandhowmucheducationsomeonehaswasacquiredinthisproject.
Findingoutjobsforaspecificlevelofexperiencewashardtofind,especiallysincedifferent
levelswouldmeandifferentlocationsorthatacertainjobonlywentupsomanylevels,butwith
moresearching,theresultswereeventuallyfound.Maybeawebsitewhereallthelevelsfora
specificthinglikeanalystcouldbemadetopreventanotherproblemlikethistooccurforanother
student.Inthefuture,thisprojectcouldbemadewherepeoplecomparetwotypesofengineers
throughouttheprocesstoseewhichonewouldbeabetterpickforthem.Thiswholeproject
overallprovidedtheinformationneededtosatisfythepurposeofthetypeofengineersomeone
wantstobe.

Conclusion

Thisprojecthelpedprovideinformationneededtobecomeanaerospaceengineerandwhata
lifeasanaerospaceengineerwouldbelike.Thisactivitymadestudentsresearchmanythings
involvingthetypeofengineertheywanttobewhentheygrowup.Thisoneinparticularwas
aboutaerospaceengineering,soinformationregardingcourses,jobs,andsalaryforaerospace
wasresearchedandrecorded.Differentcollegeswerediscoveredtobegoodtotakefor
aerospaceandallthecoursesandcostforthedegreeneededwasresearched.Jobstotake
afterpeoplegraduatefromaerospacedependingonhowmanyyearsofexperiencetheyhave
wasalsoresearched.Lastly,informationonthesalaryaerospaceengineersmakedependingon
wheretheyliveandhowmucheducationtheyhavewasresearchedanddiscoveredaswell.

Appendix

Citations
http://aero.tamu.edu/sites/default/files/Catalog135.pdf
http://www.ae.utexas.edu/attachments/article/322/20142016DegreePlanFlowChart.pdf
https://files.tsquare.gatech.edu/access/content/group/f04300e39de14f7b80dcadf125480171/
Registration%20Forms/Program%20Flowchart%202011_June%202011.pdf

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/aerospace_engineer_entry_requirements.htm
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architectureandengineering/aerospaceengineers.htm#tab1

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/costofliving/
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerISalaryDetailsAustinTX.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerISalaryDetailsNewYorkNY.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIISalaryDetailsAustinTX.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIISalaryDetailsNewYorkNY.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIIISalaryDetailsAustinTX.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIIISalaryDetailsNewYorkNY.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIVSalaryDetailsAustinTX.aspx
http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/AerospaceEngineerIVSalaryDetailsNewYorkNY.aspx

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architectureandengineering/aerospaceengineers.htm#tab3

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architectureandengineering/aerospaceengineers.htm#tab4