Engineering Science and Technology

A large number of disciplines come under the umbrella of Engineering. It's likely that you're looking for a chance to contribute technically and creatively if you want to get into either aero engineering or auto engineering.

In Britain we have a distinguished history in aeronautical engineering, with around six hundred companies working in the aerospace industry. In addition, the auto industry also has a global influence, not least from a design and development point of view.

Highly Regarded Training

Training in the UK is excellent - in fact there are over thirty British universities offering aeronautical engineering based courses alone. In addition, some offer post-grad courses for Engineering and Physical Sciences graduates. It's also possible to find other engineering diplomas and fitting vocational courses. The option of a one year placement in industry is available with most university degree courses, and most students choose to take this between the second and final year.

Sandwich courses can also be available on certain training programmes. The Armed Forces and certain private companies will sponsor students to qualify in both of these disciplines, in exchange for an agreed period of working time. It really is good advice to do your research thoroughly, as there are such a lot of alternatives to consider.

Engineering - Automotive

Automotive engineering covers everything to do with designing and building cars, motorbikes, trucks and buses. As well as the traditional disciplines, automotive engineers now need to incorporate electronics, safety and software engineering into their skill-sets. As standards are constantly set to improve to accommodate global issues, new technologies such as ultra low emissions are being introduced.

We can split auto engineering into product or design engineering, development engineering and manufacturing engineering. The first stage involves the design or product engineers. They are the people who design and test the components and systems on a vehicle.

We have development engineers next, who are rather like systems engineers. Designers sometimes need developers to specify criteria for their designs. Finally, the manufacturing engineers will work out how to actually make the vehicle.

Auto engineering courses are very in-depth, and mastering the detail will take time and experience. Modules will cover all aspects of design, development and manufacture - and use examples to illustrate principles such as fluid mechanics.

Safety is a top priority, and so all elements of a design will be tested via crash simulations and test dummies etc.

All components have to function well for the job they're designed to do, but they also have to work synergistically with the whole vehicle. That's why automotive engineering students need to learn about the work of development engineers. 'Trade-offs' come under this function, for example balancing fuel economy with engine performance. In the end, developers must have carried out sufficient checks and tests to verify that the finished automobile will be street legal and in line with the manufacturers' demands.

The next stage of course is to work on the manufacture of the vehicle. Automotive manufacturing engineers plan both the building of the component parts and the entire vehicle. Tasks include equipment design and machine specifications as well as people layout and management.

The Aerospace Industry

Aero engineering is all about turning ideas into reality by applying scientific principles to produce sophisticated flight products. Individuals interested in aeronautical engineering must be intelligent self starters with the capacity for analytical, innovative and technical thought processes.

Only those who relish a challenge should consider a career in aeronautics. As an aside - Formula One racing cars share a common technological base with modern airliners.

Contemporary flight vehicles must endure very severe conditions such as differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure. As such, aircraft vehicles are usually the product of many aerospace engineering technologies, for example avionics, propulsion and aerodynamics. The aeronautical engineer will choose his or her speciality.

With a strong emphasis on analytics, training will include all aspects of design, materials, forces and integration of systems. Analytical methods will be developed which allow aeronautical engineers to design and analyse aircraft.

The behaviour of fluid can now be tested with computerised simulations, reducing the time and expense spent on wind tunnel testing. (However students will still carry out experiments using jet engines, large structural testing machines and wind tunnels).

When training to be an engineer you need a lot of practical design experience. Whichever programme you choose to follow, as a student engineer you will be involved with a major group design project at some time throughout your training. Other more broad based vocational skills may be incorporated into an engineering degree programme. Employers often expect graduate entrants to have additional soft skills when they get into industry.

The aerospace industry provides excellent career development into a variety of technical and managerial roles. Completing an accredited engineering degree course will allow you to obtain the status of a professional Incorporated Engineer or Chartered Engineer.