aeronautical engineering job prospects

Hello, I am currently studying mechanical engineering locally at my college, but have got a conditional offer for Glasgow university to study ''mechanical engineering with aeronautics'' year one entry in sept 2016. My question is if there is anyone else out there who has done this course, or a similar one and if you know of the likelihood of gaining employment in the aviation industry after a degree which isn't solely aeronautical based. Any more feedback concerning the subject/subject field would also be greatly appreciated.. thanks!

there are more jobs available there for mechanical grads than aerospace grads.

such as

Well look at pretty much all jobs which will accept aerospace grads, they'll also accept mechanical grads, and then you've got work in propulsion and manufacturing which both have a definite preference for mech grads.

I dont see why an aero engineer wont be suited for a job in propulsion, at my uni to be specific we take both a compulsory propulsion module and more thermodynamics in 3rd year which mech people dont do (Although I personally have no interest in propulsion). Also aero engineers (and electrical) are better suited for higher level systems/control design such as planes/rockets/missiles/satellites etc than mechanical engineers. so when it comes to physically building parts, yes mech but if you wanna make the thing fly, its aero

but of course with a experience anyone can get into any job, but i'm talking about the average mech and aero engineer

Thanks for the replies. I feel that an aero engineer should have a slight advantage in the aero sector due to aerodynamics/propulsion modules but as it has been said this may not be recognised within the industry. I can't see how a purely mechanical engineer would have an advantage here if they have equal other credentials. I feel that if you're very much looking for an aero job at the end of it then there shouldn't be a disadvantage in that degree. Any comments welcome.


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There are plenty of job adverts which don't specify solely aerospace qualifications. A mechanical engineer doesn't have to be part of the manufacturing process, they can design components and form part of a team within an aerospace project.


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Thats because you're not looking for a job in the aerospace sector, also uk doesnt do much aerospace.

Also yes maybe before when there were only 11,000 aerospace engineers in the world you will see a lot of people with mechanical degrees in jobs that seem to be aerospace but now a lot of people are doing aerospace so whoever is relevant will get hired for the job, which in the aero industry is a no brainer.

Edit:

Also let me add, a mechanical engineer (or any other engineering for that matter) isnt automatically ready to work in any company they want doing any role because 'mechanical engineering is broad'. If you are a mechanical engineer wanting to go into aerospace, either 1. You choose some aero modules whilst you're at uni, do a masters project related to aerospace, aero related phd or get a job in an aero company working your way up. Someone with an aero degree wont have to go through all that, they could be working on real projects after a year or 2 because they actually know stuff

Why would a company hire an aerospace engineering graduate who has a broad background but doesn't master it as well over a mechanical engineering graduate or a EEE graduate who has a more specialised and useful skillset? At university you should be (and are) taught how to apply your knowledge generally, so even if you have done work in the context of planes it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

wait so now mechanical and EEE is more specialised in aerospace engineering?

editt: i was in the middle of LoL

but who said aerospace engineers dont specialise? Why is it called aerospace and not mech then looool. What are the extra compulsory modules in aerodynamics, aircraft design and control for? Whats the masters degree for? If anything in aero you get more 'useful' skillset as in mechanical engineering you could in theory pick quite easy and even non-engineering modules. you dont get that in aero. What you're saying is just as invalid I could also say you dont know what you're talking about.

at the end of the day depending on hardwork, anyone can get into any field. end of argument

How far are you into your aerospace engineering degree? I've had 3 years on my course so far, I go to what I'd like to think is a respected engineering school, my personal tutors have been leaders in their field and I've met and talked with quite a few people involved in industry alongside having many friends who have gone above and beyond what I've done. Honestly I don't know why it's called aerospace, probably because it's a more succinct name than Electrical, Mechanical and Materials engineering. Have you studied those modules? It's not aerodynamics, it's fluid dynamics in the context of air. It's not aircraft design, it's vehicle design in the context of aircraft. The difference between an aero module and a similar mech module is maybe two lectures if you're lucky.


No, no they can't. Quite a few companies contact our department to tell them that they don't want aerospace students, we all got an email about it. It's a nice thought but realistically you're going to have to do a separate masters if you want into another field.

Also aero engineers (and electrical) are better suited for higher level systems/control design such as planes/rockets/missiles/satellites etc than mechanical engineers

chinny reckon

go on youtube, find the best channels that teach control theory, I'll bet any amount they studied aerospace. Lars Blackmore, he was in 'Times under 30' for his great work he's done, wrote a lot of control algorithms including coinventing GFold for NASA. he did a general engineering degree at cambridge and did a phd in control with focus in aerospace applications. Control theory get x10 harder when you are applying to situations such as in stochastic systems which examples include aircrafts/rockets/etc. Hence why I'm saying an aero degree does better in control because you will always be applying and designing controllers for hard core unpredictable systems. Of course not all aerospace graduates will come out with the best knowledge in control, likewise you will also get people in mech who are pretty good in control, but on average aero control is harder.

I personally wanna work in control after uni and I am currently working with 3rd year electrical and mechanical engineers as well as with phd students in a project and so far on the electrical engineers seem to have more knowledge of control, because they do it more.

I don't know how you can state these things to be true, based on what? If I still had institutional access I could easily look for a control journal and see whether contributors work in aero or mechanical, or initially studied aero or mechanical, but I don't think this is important, and I cannot accept these claims. As people find their niche and start making new contributions to the field they can move in all kinds of directions, so what they initially studied, as long as they have some experience with control, can't possibly be of great importance.

Many, many systems will be 'stochastic', not just aircraft. That's kind of the point of control, to bring stability to uncertain (I can't bring myself to say unpredictable because Model Predictive Control exists ) systems, or rather to control them in a stable manner.

That's cool, but what do you do?

but the course will teach you more advanced control methods than in a mech degree. At my uni after second year, control modules are optional for mech where as aero still have compulsory control so unless someone in mech is super keen on control and decide to take them as optional they probably wouldnt touch it.

Give me an example of an application of real world control that is on par with space x rocket landing or autopilots in planes that is non aerospace based.

*snip*