Technical Careers With Engineering Distance Learning
There are a great number of areas to consider in the field of engineering. Both auto and aero engineering appeal to a wide cross-section of people who want to be at the forefront of technology and science. The United Kingdom boasts a very technically advanced aerospace sector comprising of over six hundred companies turning over more than seventeen billion between them, according to Loughborough University. When it comes to the automotive industry, over 300,000 people in the UK are employed in design, development and manufacturing.
Quality Training
There are a good number of universities in the UK offering BEng and MEng Degrees in Automotive Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering, several with international reputations. Plus some go on to provide postgraduate-level study as well. (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.
Certain course options will offer students the chance to study part-time, on a sandwich course basis. There are opportunities for some students to get sponsored whilst at university. This also usually means a work placement afterwards. Take time to look into the various university, college and sponsorship options. You have many exciting possibilities in front of you.
Engineering - Automotive
This area involves everything to do with the production of motorised vehicles. As well as the traditional disciplines, automotive engineers now need to incorporate electronics, safety and software engineering into their skill-sets. There are many new technologies in the automotive arena, so a great deal to think about for the student who's just getting started.
In the life cycle of a vehicle, design engineering comes first, followed by development engineering and then manufacturing engineering. The designers have to create the parts on a vehicle and ensure that they meet all of the stated requirements.
Development engineers are concerned with the attributes or qualities of the complete vehicle. They may stipulate certain requirements to the design engineers. 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. 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. It's one thing for a component or system to work in isolation, but quite another for it to work in harmony with everything else on the vehicle. And so training must include elements of development engineering. This can also involve understanding tradeoffs, a process which ensures that all the vehicle attributes are delivered at an acceptable level. The final vehicle must also meet government regulations, which are becoming increasingly environmentally relevant.
When the design and development work are completed, the vehicle is ready for the manufacturing process. This is where it all comes together, and so every last detail has to be planned and engineered. This work includes project management of tools, machines, people and safety procedures.
Aeronautical Engineers
Aeronautical engineers are involved in the research, design, manufacture and maintenance of all forms of aircraft. 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. (Formula One design engineers use aerospace technology as well, if that appeals to you).
Many severe conditions have to be endured for an aircraft to fly safely, with immense structural loads being placed upon them. 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. Modules that deal with solving problems, like thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, are what we mean by analytical subjects. Computational fluid dynamics is used to simulate the behaviour of fluid today, which reduces wind-tunnel testing time and expense. (Students though will still carry out wind tunnel tests, and engage in experiments using jet engines).
Both Auto and Aero engineering students will benefit from a good deal of practical application. All engineering students will get the chance to contribute to a practical group assignment to create an automobile or flight vehicle. Undergraduate engineering training programmes also provide other useful skill-sets for their students. These could include time management, teamwork, organisational techniques, leadership and foreign languages.
The aerospace industry provides excellent career development into a variety of technical and managerial roles. Refer to the Engineering Council for details on becoming a Chartered Engineer (CEng) or an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).
