Aeronautical Engineering

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,957
Did anyone do this degree?
Was it fun?
Is it well paid?

Would you do this or Architecture?

I just need some real user opinions really apart from the stuff I get from Google.

Thanks :)
 
I did Structural Engineering which is related to Architecture I suppose. You can do mixed engineering degree but aeronautical is probably a mixture of disciplines such as structural, material science and mechanical.

I wasn't interested in aeronautics and chose the field I liked, i.e. structure. However, if you have an interest in aeronautics I would definately chose that, after all if you can design a plane, you can certainly design a building. What any decent engineering degree will teach you is the principles and their application which is the real essence of engineering itself.

Architecture is much more of an arts subject rather than technical and there are far too many of those idiots in the world. We need good engineers in this country of whatever discipline. Hope that helps. :)
 
If you like planes, then do aeronautical Engineering.
Was thinking of doing ti, till i do a work placement with British aerospace. Hated it at the time. Mainly the people. Did an IT degree, now trying to get back into engineering.
 
I do Civil Eng. with Arch. Depending when you are planning to study, Arch. varies from very arty (cambridge) to fairly normal and a bit technical (detail drawing, structure - Sheffield maybe). But keep in mind, to achieve Architect status is 7 years and probably needs more dedicatation, flair, originality and drawing skills. pay will generally be less until you reach that status or unless you are amazing and go in a very reputable office.

Engineering (3/4 years) can easily secure you a job within 3 months if you do well and starting salary may be £20k depending on area/company etc.

Personally architecture/urban design has been a passion whereas engineering is better on a practical/earning aspect. I have worked 2 summers with engineers and looks I would go back there, unless I do really well in arch, get Part 1, then find an arch placement to see what it's like.

Are you applying at unis?
 
Basically, i'm going to Uni next year. I'm in my final year in Sixth Form.

The thing is, i've always been facinated by buildings etc. So since I was 14 I always wanted to be an Architect.
However, recently, I've been having cold feet. It's late and I need to make up my mind before I send the applications to Uni's.
Now, i've always LOVED aeroplanes too. Always tried doodling cool star wars trekkie style space ships. I love aeroplanes too. So i'm beggining to sway to Aeronautics but don't know much about it.

Guys i'm almost going to break down in tears here :( :p

Edit: panthro, i'm not sure :(

And, do you need a portfolio for Aeronautical Engineering? (I've got loads of drawings of aeroplanes! :D )
 
A good thing about doing engineering is that the first year is usually the same with all B/Mengs and you can shift about after that first year after you find your favourite bit.
 
Well, from what I was told a few years ago, it may not reflect well if you put both subjects down as they differ. You look in a similar postion to me, but since you do like aeroplanes, aeronautical engineering is likely to work well for you. Have you considered taking a year and work in the field? You can still apply as normal and then if you get a placement, you can differ during spring. Look up www.yini.org.uk. Plus you get to earn loads before uni.
 
William said:
A good thing about doing engineering is that the first year is usually the same with all B/Mengs and you can shift about after that first year after you find your favourite bit.
Click to expand...


Not eveywhere though. At Soton, Mech, Aero and Ship are taught together for first 2 years (except for 1 or 2 modules) and Civil/Enviro/Arch taught separately and Elec/Comp Csi combined partially too.
 
William said:
A good thing about doing engineering is that the first year is usually the same with all B/Mengs and you can shift about after that first year after you find your favourite bit.
Click to expand...

Yep, thats why I mentioned the specialisation. It gives you a wider scope in case you change you mind about aeronautics, plus it makes you more employable if you have mech eng with aeronautics, rather than a straight aeronautics degree because of the wider scope of mechanics.
To me, it sounds like you should do architecture. You seem to have your heart set on it, and you can make a lot of money from it :)
 
A major question you have to ask is that do you prefer a stable constant job or do you prefer one that changes every week?

If and when I decide what I want to do and if it is engineering it will be Civil because most other engineering sections are slow and you could spend years designing a spring which goes onto a bit of landing gear for example. Whereas in Civil & Structural (especially industry) you build the thing in 18 months and then start from scratch again.

That said, Civil and Aeronautical are both great ones to go in since we have no Civil engineers so you will walk onto a job anywhere in the world and you can expect the British Aerospace industry to stick around for 40 years at least.
 
eXSBass,

I think you were in the same position I was about 20 years ago ( :eek: ). I was fascinated by building and thought I wanted to be an Architect, it is a common misconception. I didn't go staright to uni but tried to get a job, I went to collage and then uni later.

Anyway, I applied for lots of jobs in both architects and engineers practices. I got offered two trainee architects jobs and one trainee engineer, both included sponsership for college. After spending a day in one of the architects offices I wasn't really convined it was what I wanted to do. However, as soon as I went to the engineers offices I was absolutley sure that structural engineering was the thing for me. In those days it was manual drawing and to look at the details of steel frames and reinforced concrete, the real 'nuts and bolts' of the building, I couldn't wait to get stuck in.

You will never be a millionaire from engineering but you will get something worth much more, an intersting and rewarding career that you will never tire of. You need to decide what you like the best and then go with that.
 
AJUK said:
eXSBass,


You will never be a millionaire from engineering but you will get something worth much more, an intersting and rewarding career that you will never tire of. You need to decide what you like the best and then go with that.
Click to expand...

Thats very very true.

Still.....I went for the money option rather than use my engineering degree after uni. I admit that I miss engineering a lot as it was so rewarding. I dont like my job :( You will never get bored.
 
Whats the difference between this and Aerospatial Engineering?


I've selected my A-levels so I can go into some form of Engineering, hopefully Aircraft, probably specialising in Avionics.

I hope i get there! :o
 
I did aero eng, but a long time ago now. The first thing to understand is that the course is hard. General opinion is that probably only law and medicine are harder. Don't be put off for that reason, but be aware of it.

Next: do you like maths? If you don't like it, are you at least some good at it? Because the course is pretty much entirely degree-level maths for the first year or two. All engineering involves a fair amount of maths, but aero probably has the most.


M
 
eXSBass said:
Did anyone do this degree?
Was it fun?
Is it well paid?

Would you do this or Architecture?
Click to expand...

I did :) Finished a 4 year MEng in Aero at Imperial College this year. It is the only degree I can see myself ever having done. You do have to be dedicated and hard working though (as with any degree really, apart from liberal artsy fartsy crap :p ), but its hugely interesting and once you start understanding stuff, very rewarding. There was a lot of work, I missed out on several family holidays and even several Christmas Eve's just to revise for exams, and at IC we had a good 30-35 hours of lectures a week for the majority of the degree.

I think you are confused, you have to pay to do the degree. they dont pay you :p hehe, j/k.

Engineering on the whole isn't paid extroardinary amounts. But the work is awesome. Some of my fellow graduates have gone straight into Investment Banking at starting salaries of just under £40,000. Most engineering graduate positions (be it aero or whatever) will be around the £21k mark with companies like BAE, QinetiQ, or Airbus. Rolls Royce pay "well" and they give you £23k. Engineering jobs will be "normal" jobs (9am-6pm) as opposed to uber high stress IB jobs (6am-8pm)

I was fortunate enough to get a job in the aero department of Renault F1 team, so I'm pretty much sitting exactly where I could ever want to be in terms of aeronautics :)
 
AJUK said:
You will never be a millionaire from engineering but you will get something worth much more, an intersting and rewarding career that you will never tire of. You need to decide what you like the best and then go with that.
Click to expand...

As panthro said earlier, this man speaketh the truth!

edit: I'll post some sample exam papers tomorrow from a couple of the different courses I took. It might help give you an idea of the sort of stuff to expect.
 
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