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Technically Challenging Engineering Courses...

Engineering covers a multitude of career options and skill levels. 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. In Britain we have a distinguished history in aeronautical engineering, with around six hundred companies working in the aerospace industry. Similarly the automotive industry here provides design, development and manufacturing work for around three hundred thousand people.

Finding The Right Training Courses

Training in the UK is excellent - in fact there are over thirty British universities offering aeronautical engineering based courses alone. Students can also go on to do post grad work at many institutions. (Shorter courses are available from local technical institutions as well.) Most degree courses last from between three and five years, depending on whether the student is working towards BEng or MEng, and whether a year in industry is opted for.

There may also be options for part-time study in some educational establishments. Equally, it's also possible for some students to arrange sponsorship (for example from the Army) if they're prepared to commit to them after training. With so many variables open to you, it's a good idea to really research everything that's on offer.

Automotive Engineering

Every facet of a motorised machine has been developed because of automotive engineering. The automotive engineer's skills are tested right from the initial design concepts. As standards are constantly set to improve to accommodate global issues, new technologies such as ultra low emissions are being introduced.

If you take the critical path of a vehicle, you have design, development and then manufacture. The first stage involves the design or product engineers. They are the people who design and test the components and systems on a vehicle. Development engineers are concerned with the attributes or qualities of the complete vehicle. Designers sometimes need developers to specify criteria for their designs. Working out how to actually assemble and produce the vehicle is the manufacturing engineers' job.

Students will find their training is both extensive and intense. In addition to gaining comprehensive knowledge of automotive engineering and design, students should also learn transferable skills on a graduate programme. As safety is vital, designs have to go through various crash scenarios to test their impact on the vehicle occupants.

As well as performing well by themselves, each component and system has to work in synergy with everything else. For that reason, students must understand something about systems engineering. Development engineers have to look at tradeoffs to gain an acceptable level of performance in all areas. Finally the development engineer has to conduct tests on the full vehicle, such as level testing, validation and certification.

The next stage of course is to work on the manufacture of the vehicle. Manufacturing engineers need to learn how to plan and engineer both the individual parts and the whole vehicle assembly. This complex discipline is sometimes regarded as the most esteemed area of automotive engineering.

Aeronautical Engineering

Man's desire for flight has led to momentous developments in aircraft technology. If you are very analytical by nature and have a great capacity for highly technical and innovative thinking, you could do very well building a career for yourself in the aerospace industry. (Some aerospace engineers go into Formula One design and development as well.)

All aircraft have to endure severe conditions and stresses, such as changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature, and structural loading on the components. Aeronautical engineering requires a great deal of specialist knowledge, and so teams of engineers who each specialise in their own branch of science work together on projects.

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. The behaviour of fluid can now be tested with computerised simulations, reducing the time and expense spent on wind tunnel testing. Nonetheless, university students will still benefit from wind-tunnel experiments and other physical testing methods.

Applying yourself to practical applications is an important engineering principle. 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. Aeronautical and Automotive Student Engineers are often also taught a variety of soft skills that will be useful for their career. Such areas as time-management, writing skills and presenting can all help at interview.

The aerospace industry provides excellent career development into a variety of technical and managerial roles. For information about joining a professional body upon completion of your training, refer to the Engineering Council, or SARTOR (the Standards and Routes to Registration).