Responsibilities
Aerospace engineers can work in a variety of fields. In industry, they develop, design and manufacture aircraft or individual components such as engines or passenger compartments. Depending on the main area of activity, they organize the production, take over management, quality assurance and testing tasks or work in the flight testing, are active in sales or customer service. At airlines they plan and supervise the flight operations and the use and maintenance of the aircraft fleet. In space technology, for example, they are developing rocket engines, space stations and research satellites. They investigate which systems can bring commercial satellites into orbit at low cost. At the authorities, aerospace engineers develop regulations and guidelines for the traffic safety of aircraft. As reviewers, they reconstruct and assess, for example, accidents.
Typical Places of Work
Engineers for aerospace engineering are finding employment, e.g.
- in companies of the aerospace industry and the supply industry
- at airlines and at airports
- at authorities, e.g. Luftfahrt-Bundesamt
- in engineering offices
- in research and development facilities
Salary
The salary level for Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineer in Germany is:
from 4604
up to 5819 EUR per month
Задачи
Why is?
Aerospace engineers develop and construct aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft and satellites, and plan and monitor their production. In addition, they work in sales and maintenance or as technical experts or develop regulations and guidelines for flight safety.
Development and research
Aerospace engineers work in the development and design of aircraft such as airbuses, helicopters, spacecraft or satellite CAD systems. Stability calculations show them whether the aircraft is spinning in case of disturbances, such as gusts of wind. In doing so, they take research findings into account and use simulation programs to estimate the motion and behavior of the missiles in the air. In sometimes months-long flight simulation procedures, various potential dangers are played through in order to rule out possible sources of error. The aim is to produce missiles that remain safely afloat even in extreme weather conditions, human operating errors or system failures. They also conduct flight tests with test pilots, taking measurements both on the aircraft and on the ground. They evaluate them and prepare test reports.
Aerospace engineers also inspect components such as camera systems or sensor detection systems prior to e.g. a satellite is launched into orbit. In addition, they make calculations on thermal stresses and select the insulation materials that protect the sensitive technology from extreme cold or other influences. In the development department of a company they work in a team with other specialists from neighboring technical disciplines, but also with economically oriented experts. When performing tasks in validation, they evaluate test results, measurement data and testing strategies for testing, e.g. of new engines and other components. They show the effects of deadline, standard and quality deviations and initiate appropriate countermeasures if necessary.
Manufacturing and maintenance
In production planning, quality control or production, aerospace engineers ensure that, for example, a large-capacity aircraft with its large number of parts and assemblies is completed at the planned time. They plan and monitor the production processes, ensure the operational readiness of the technical equipment and monitor compliance with quality and legal regulations. For example, they test the performance of engines or the load capacity of wings and optimize the environmental performance of aircraft. Engineers are also involved in quality assurance and certification of components and systems. Here they examine sources of error, investigate their causes and document their analyzes and measures to eliminate the errors.
In the aircraft overhaul engineers working in aerospace engineering work under enormous time pressure. On behalf of airlines they create maintenance and repair guidelines, plan and monitor the use of the aircraft fleet.
Further uses
Engineers of aerospace engineering may also be employed by authorities. There, they develop regulations and guidelines for the use, safe operation and monitoring of aircraft and the ground facilities required for aviation, such as airports and air traffic control facilities. In addition, they can work as appraisers in accident research. In the area of air traffic control, for example, they develop and optimize air traffic management or satellite navigation systems. In addition, they also partially perform sales tasks.
