Technically Challenging...

The term 'engineering' is used in many different ways. Both auto and aero engineering appeal to a wide cross-section of people who want to be at the forefront of technology and science.

According to Loughborough University, there are more than 600 companies in the aerospace industry in Britain alone, with a combined turnover in excess of 17 billion pounds. Similarly the automotive industry here provides design, development and manufacturing work for around three hundred thousand people.

Quality Training

You'll find a very high concentration of aero and auto engineering based undergraduate degree courses in the UK - many with international reputations. Plus some go on to provide postgraduate-level study as well. (Other colleges and institutions offer training in the subjects as well). Undergraduates can take the opportunity to put the knowledge and experience they've gained in the first two years of their degree programme into practice by taking a one year industrial placement in year three.

There may also be options for part-time study in some educational establishments. Students on engineering courses can sometimes arrange sponsorship in exchange for a certain time working for the sponsor after graduating. It's important to take your time and really explore all the different training possibilities that are available.

Automotive-Engineering

Auto engineering concerns all aspects of motor vehicles, from conception to assembly. Today's auto engineers need to understand electronic and software engineering as well as mechanical and electrical. Things are changing all the time and modern engineers need to lead those changes, for example to produce greater efficiencies in materials and emissions.

In the life cycle of a vehicle, design engineering comes first, followed by development engineering and then manufacturing engineering. Product or design engineers will first design all the parts and test them to make sure they perform properly. The development engineers' co-ordinate the engineering attributes of vehicles. They liaise with designers with regard to technical specifications and so on. Their work is then given to the manufacturing engineers, who establish how the vehicle will be built.

An automotive engineering student will be taught many product disciplines. Throughout your training you will learn about all three stages of the automotive engineering processes. There are also very strict regulations to be learned and adhered to in safety engineering.

Whilst each individual system has to perform its job properly, it also has to complement the rest of the vehicle. Thus students will be taken through aspects of development or systems engineering. Sometimes opposing requirements have to be taken through a trade-off process, to ensure each system doesn't compromise another. Development engineering is also concerned with testing and ensuring the finished vehicle will comply with legal requirements.

The process is ready for the manufacturing engineers once all the product design and development work has been done. Manufacturing engineering is involved with a wide assortment of tasks related to the planning and engineering of assembly. This work includes project management of tools, machines, people and safety procedures.

Aero Engineering

Our obsession with flight over the years has created this very diverse and exciting branch of engineering. Those who study aeronautical engineering should be able to challenge conventional thinking.

The aerospace industry needs people who are technical, analytical and lateral, who can also work well with others. (That said, engineers working in Formula One use aerospace technology too!)

Modern aeroplanes have to undergo many severe conditions in order to safely negotiate the skies. 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.

Degree courses will cover design, systems (such as landing gear), flight mechanics, forces, materials, performance and stability. A thorough treatment of analytical subjects will be included. Analytical subjects like thermodynamics are usually taught through lectures and tutorials. In recent years advances in computing mean that simulations can be used to test the behaviour of fluid, which lessens the need for expensive wind tunnel research. Nonetheless, university students will still benefit from wind-tunnel experiments and other physical testing methods.

Engineering students will get a lot of practical hands-on experience. Degree course students will have a practical group assignment at some stage to design their own functional vehicle.

Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering training courses may also cover more broad-based subjects and transferable skills. These could include time management, teamwork, organisational techniques, leadership and foreign languages.

Highly skilled engineering professionals can pursue a variety of extremely rewarding career opportunities that involve leading-edge technology. Graduate engineers can apply to Professional Institutions to become certified with the Engineering Council - an organisation that works to ensure the UK is well served by its engineering resources.